Beaufort, South Carolina

Unified Development Ordinance
   

For the City of Beaufort, Duncan Associates revised the City's existing zoning and subdivision regulations. The effort culminated in a new unified development ordinance for this historic southern coastal community. Since it had been many years since Beaufort's zoning and subdivision regulations were comprehensively updated, an overall reorganization and reformatting of the existing regulations is needed to make them easier to use and understand. The City code update was also timely because of the recent update of Beaufort County's land development regulations. As part of the

update effort, the City's existing zoning districts were reviewed and opportunities for elimination or consolidation of existing districts were identified. The need for new zoning districts (including overlay districts) was also identified. As is true in many communities, Beaufort's PUD regulations no longer met the needs of the community in regard to encouraging creative design sensitive to natural systems and neighborhood character. Revisions to PUD regulations were proposed. Many older ordinances do not provide opportunities to develop projects according to emerging patterns of development, including neo-traditional or new urbanist concepts. Opportunities for smaller lots, mixed uses, and narrower streets were proposed. The review also included discussion of other barriers to good development, including infill and redevelopment opportunities. The primary concern was to ensure that the revised zoning supports and stabilizes existing neighborhoods. A new "definitions" chapter was drafted that consolidated existing zoning, subdivision and related terminology. New and revised definitions were also proposed. The new ordinance was illustrated with graphics that provided a visual representation of complex text.

Period:     April 2000 - January 2003       Contact:    Libby Anderson
Team:       Duncan Associates                                  Community Development Director
                                                                           843.525.7011