In addition to the Town of Kiawah Island’s Comprehensive Plan Update, Charleston County is going through their five-year review of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. The Town continues to encourage residents to engage in the County’s planning processes. The Charleston County Comprehensive Plan is the future vision for preservation and development in Charleston County for the next five to 10 years. The Plan establishes strategies for the County to pursue to maintain and enhance its high quality, unique landscapes with a focus on strategies that the County government can directly influence and achieve.
The Plan is a guide for public decision-making. The County’s elected and appointed officials use the Plan to evaluate future proposals and policy changes to ensure consistent decisions are made. Furthermore, the Plan provides guidance to landowners and developers on what is appropriate in the County.
The Plan contains a few terms that are use to describe the various policy recommendations:
• Vision: The comprehensive, overarching statement of the desired future of the County.
The ultimate set of ideals to which the County should aspire.
• Goal: A statement of desired end-state or target. Tied very closely to the Vision and focused on a specific element of the Plan. Provides particular guidance for where the County should be in the future, and sets the tone for the individual strategies for each element.
• Strategy: A recommended course of action or task the County or its designated agency could undertake in pursuit of a Goal and the Vision. Provides focused and achievable guidance on specific topics under the Plan element headings. Ties the implementation of the Plan to the Goals and Vision.
While the Town’s Comprehensive Plan update is critically important to the Kiawah community, so is Charleston County’s Plan. The plan will provide guidance to the County’s decision makers as they evaluate future proposals and policy changes, particularly on how the County will be developed in the next five to 10 years. The County is asking the community to please complete Charleston County’s Comprehensive Plan Five-Year Review Survey. The Town highly encourages residents and property owners to complete the survey. Town staff will also be engaged with county staff on priorities of the two comprehensive plans through each of these processes.
All survey submissions are due by Jan. 3, 2023. If you have any questions, please contact the Zoning and Planning Department at planning@charlestoncounty.org or via phone at: (843) 202-7207 or (843) 202-7238.