S.C. Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994 — Procedural Floor (SC)

Tracked preemption from the South Carolina overlay bundle.

Overview

Effective
1994-05-03
Sunset
Authority
state
Scope
state:SC

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

always true

Preempted fields

5 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
zoning_decision_procedure.requires_adopted_comprehensive_plan_predicateoverrideTrue§6-29-720(A): a zoning ordinance must be based on a current adopted comprehensive plan. An ordinance enacted without a current plan is void.
zoning_decision_procedure.requires_planning_commission_recommendationoverrideTrue§6-29-760(A): planning commission must review and recommend before adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance/map.
zoning_decision_procedure.public_notice_min_daysfloor_at15§6-29-760(B): published notice of public hearing required at least 15 days before adoption or amendment.
comprehensive_plan.required_elementsadd['population', 'economic', 'natural_resources', 'cultural_resources', 'community_facilities', 'housing', 'land_use', 'transportation', 'priority_investment', 'resiliency']§6-29-510 mandates 10 plan elements with a 10-year review cycle and 5-year element-update cycle. Priority Investment element added by 2007 Priority Investment Act; Resiliency element added by Act 108 of 2023 effective Nov 2023.
comprehensive_plan.review_cycle_yearscap_at10§6-29-510(E): full comprehensive plan review at least every 10 years; element-by-element updates at least every 5 years.

Citation

Authority source
S.C. Code Ann. §§6-29-310 through 6-29-1200 (Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994, Act 355 of 1994); §6-29-510 (plan elements); §6-29-720 (plan predicate); §6-29-760 (procedural notice/hearing); Act 108 of 2023 (resiliency element)
§ §§6-29-310 — 6-29-1200; specifically §6-29-510, §6-29-720, §6-29-760
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t06c029.php

Research notes

Procedural-floor preemption — applies to every SC city and county exercising zoning power. Non-compliance is a common ground for facial invalidation. Substantive zoning content is left to local home rule. The Priority Investment Act (2007) added §6-29-1130 authorizing (but not mandating) traditional neighborhood design, priority investment zones, and affordable-housing density bonuses. Bear Enterprises v. County of Greenville, 319 S.C. 137 (1995) is the pre-1994 precedent for the comp-plan predicate. Resiliency element under Act 108 of 2023 must be adopted on the next Chapter 29 cycle or downstream zoning is vulnerable.