Charleston County Planning Commission and County Council are reviewing amendments to the Zoning & Land Development Regulations Ordinance (ZLDR), which are in different phases of consideration and/or the adoption process, grouped in different "rounds".  The various text amendments include in each "round" are detailed below.

 ZLDR Amendments Round 5

Charleston County Council will consider the following proposed text amendments to the Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance (ZLDR) on May 12, 2026:

Infrastructure Criteria:

• Sec. 3.2.6, Approval Criteria: Add an approval criterion to address transportation and stormwater management infrastructure for Comprehensive Plan Amendment applications that propose changing to a more intense future land use category.
• Sec. 3.3.6, Approval Criteria: Add an approval criterion to address transportation and stormwater management infrastructure for Zoning and Land Development Regulations Text Amendment applications that propose changing the zoning district designation of a property to a more intense zoning designation.
• Sec. 3.4.6, Approval Criteria: Add an approval criterion to address transportation and stormwater management infrastructure for Zoning Map Amendment applications that propose changing the zoning district designation of a property to a more intense zoning designation.
• Sec. 4.25.8.A, Planned Development Procedure, Approval Criteria: Clarify and expand the Planned Development application approval criteria for proposed Planned Developments to include criteria addressing compatibility with the surrounding area and infrastructure, providing consistency with the approval criteria for rezoning and other related applications.

Planned Development Guidelines:

• Sec. 4.25.9.A.10, Planned Development Guidelines and Sketch Plan Requirements, Traffic Impact Study Requirements: Clarify the traffic impact study requirements for Planned Development applications including the requirements for applications that propose more intense development than allowed by the existing zoning district.
• Sec. 4.25.9.A.20, Planned Development Guidelines and Sketch Plan Requirements, Letters of Coordination Requirements: Clarify letter of coordination requirements. Allow the Zoning and Planning Director to waive requirements, upon request of the applicant, for Letters of Coordination from CCSD, Emergency Services, and CARTA, if applicant can demonstrate efforts made to obtain the letters(s).

Lapse of Approvals:

• Sec. 3.7.10, Lapse of Approval: Clarify that the lapse of Site Plan Review approvals shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Charleston County Vested Rights Ordinance, Ordinance # 1393.
• Sec. 8.4.6, Lapse of Preliminary Plat Approval: Clarify that the lapse of preliminary plat approvals shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Charleston County Vested Rights Ordinance, Ordinance # 1393.