Richland County unveils 'Reimagine Richland' draft comprehensive plan; Planning Commission review set

Richland County on day two of a strategic planning forum presented the draft comprehensive plan, Reimagine Richland, a 20-year framework officials say is intended to guide land use, infrastructure and community investments as the county grows. Senethia Williams, the county planning director, told attendees the estimates show "50 to 75,000 people will move to Richland County by 2045," an influx she framed as an average of "10 to 15 people a day" who will need housing, jobs and services.

Williams described the draft plan as a nonregulatory guide required by the State Planning Act that goes beyond rezoning to include policy, program and systems recommendations. She said the plan update included three phases of public engagement — a discovery phase, scenario testing and recommendations — and cited the outreach numbers in the draft: 18 public meetings (not counting additional town-hall or neighborhood sessions), seven stakeholder meetings, four advisory-committee meetings and about 1,500 visits to the comp-plan webpage over the past year.

The presentation flagged several issues for county officials. Williams said Richland County could reach about 450,000 residents by 2040 under some estimates and noted the county's median age is 33.9, which she said should inform housing and economic strategy. She also told the forum the county faces an estimated $418,000,000 in annual retail leakage — spending by residents that occurs outside the county — and called that a clear opportunity for local investment and reinvestment.

To address where growth should occur, Williams introduced the draft conservation and development map, which staff say encourages more compact growth around economic hubs, supports mixed-use and transit-oriented development, and identifies priority investment areas. She said the plan adds a "countryside" land-use category (between agricultural and low-density) in response to public feedback and recommends tailored strategies for named areas including Decker, the Village of Sandhills, Broad River Road and parts of Lower Richland.

Williams referenced Charlotte-Mecklenburg's recent planning work as an example, noting the county there adopted "Charlotte Future 2040" in 2021 and tied implementation to updates to its Unified Development Ordinance. She said similar updates to Richland's land development code are likely to follow plan adoption to align subdivision and zoning standards with the comp plan's goals.

On next steps, Williams said the Planning Commission will hold a work session next week to review the draft and that staff aim for the Planning Commission to recommend the plan to County Council in March. She said adoption would occur by ordinance and would require three readings; any necessary updates to the county's land development code would be considered after adoption.

Participants then moved into breakout sessions to review land-use maps in more detail. Williams assigned four table groups and facilitators, including comprehensive planners Mark Reidel Hoover and Matthew Smith, zoning administrator Tommy DeLayge and land planner Rodney Tucker, and listed council members who would join each group.

County administrator Leonardo Brown opened the day by welcoming attendees and introducing the planning director. "I wanna welcome you back, to today's session," Brown said, noting the forum builds on prior work and interjurisdictional visits to neighboring Mecklenburg County.

The Planning Commission work session, public feedback posted on the county website, and the scheduled County Council consideration in March are the immediate procedural steps described by staff; no formal vote or ordinance adoption took place during the forum itself.