County Tables Moratorium on New Housing Developments

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

After a lengthy discussion and early comments from citizens, Anderson County Council on Tuesday tabled a second vote on an ordinance which would have allowed individual council districts to place a six-month moratorium on new housing developments of more than 25 units.

Some council members expressed concerns the current ordinance might not stand up to legal challenges, but vowed to work together for a solution they can agree on before the next meeting.

The stated intent of the moratorium is to address public concerns about the impact of new developments on infrastructure and essential county services, including police, fire service, emergency medical services, schools, water, sewer, road safety, and road convenience, The resolution says county council “recognizes strategic growth is important to the local economy and keeping taxes low while increasing services for residents, and that employment growth must be proportionally supported by residential growth.”

The original plan called for a 60-day countywide pause in allowing new housing developments over 25 housing units without additional approval of full council. The hybrid plan approved would allow each council member to choose whether to pause building in their district.

“I am still troubled by leaving it up to each individual council member's district,” said Councilwoman Cindy Wilson, who has been spearheading efforts to push for more quality controls on construction and for encouraging good development and not large tract home subdivisions.

Wilson, who represents Dist. 7 which includes Midway Road, offered a motion to return the proposal to its original form which would have required the moratorium in all districts, but the move failed 5-2.

Councilman Chris Sullivan, who represents Dist. 1, said the move would just encourage developers to reach out to the City of Anderson to annex their property to avoid any county regulation.

“The City of Anderson has an active annexation plan in my district,” said Sullivan. “They are gobbling up land and plan to gobble up more. I don't want developers to turn to the city for annexation, so I think it is the wrong time and wrong place for a moratorium (on development) for district one.”

Council Chairman Tommy Dunn said that the only way to truly regulate the kind of development standards many citizens have said they want is through zoning.

“Zoning will give us the opportunity for better requirements,” said Dunn. “We need a plan to move forward.”

“The purpose of this moratorium is to work on our development standards to achieve those goals,” said Dist. 6 Councilman Jimmy Davis. “I want it to work, I would like for us to work together. Sometimes it takes a pause in something to get things right.”

Also on Tuesday night, county council:

Approved an $8.3 million bond for repairs and rennovation fo the historic courthouse.

Approve tax incentives for Project Elk, which promises a $15.5 million investment and a first-year community impact of $11 million, according to Anderson County Economic Development Director Burriss Nelson.

Approved the lease of county property at 313 South Towers Street to Love Well Ministries for a residential treatment site for women with addiction issues.

Approved on second reading giving 24 county-owned properties to non-profit corporations to help improve the challenge of finding affordable housing. The measure will use $2.1 million of a grant allocated funds to address affordable housing for these projects.

The following properties are slated to change hands: 129 Stone Drive, 1735 Belton Street, 1739 Belton Street, 2012 Oliver Street, 601 Hall Street and 700 Hall Street to Habitat for Humanity. 103 R Street, 104 Q Street, 106 R Street, 21 Q Street, 215 Richey Street, 259 Nixon Street, 5 P Street, 253 Nixon Street, 105 Masters Drive, 197 Cheek Street, 309 Corning Street, 120 Flowe Road, 219 Guy Street, 222 Hall Street, 28 South Hammett Street and 57 Harris Street to the Anderson Housing and Homeless Alliance.

1514 Minor Street and 1521 Minor Street to Hope Missions of the Upstate. These properties are part of the old Riverside Mill site, which have limited uses, but which allows for the construction of multiple housing units which will serve as transitional housing as the ministry works to move those who are homeless into permanent housing. Hope Missions helped more than 200 individuals find permanent housing in 2024.