Ridgeland Town Council voted last week to accept the first reading of an ordinance that would enact form-based coding to replace the existing zoning ordinance.
The code, often referred to as "smart planning" or "smart code," has been in development with the town for about a year.
Josh Martin, director of land use and communities at the Coastal Conservation League, helped coordinate the code with the town through a series of workshops, including in-depth sessions with the planning commission and open forums with the public.
With the code, Ridgeland aims to allow its small town to grow and keep its personality. Growth would be broken down into tiered stages, which begin downtown at the core and branch outward into specified zones rather than sprawling into random areas.
Current examples of the code can be found in Old Town Bluffton and Johns Island near Charleston.
"This code is setting a new standard and would put Ridgeland more than ahead of the game by adopting it," Martin said. "It's tailor made to each community and allows it grow as it should, as it was intended to."
A draft of the ordinance was presented to the Council during the meeting, but Ridgeland Mayor Gary Hodges wanted to make sure a final revised version would be available well before the second and final reading.
To do this, Hodges asked Martin and the town's staff to get together this week to make revisions. A final version should be available for the public, more specifically property owners, to read once they are finished.
Hodges said the second reading, along with a public hearing, won't be held until Town Council's March 18 meeting.
"I want to be able to make sure everyone has the opportunity to sit down with the final changes by early March," he said. "Then, they'd have time to come to us with questions during the public hearing, or even the meeting two weeks prior if need be."
Martin said he had received calls from a few property owners during the process and worked with them to explain the code and answer questions. He reported that none of the concerns have been in a negative fashion.
"Mainly it's just people with questions wanting to know what it means to their land or someone who has plans already and just wants further clarification," he said.