All proposed amendments to these regulations, official zoning map, or any other part of this document shall be reviewed by the county planning commission, who shall issue a recommendation to county council. Upon receipt of the planning commission report, county council shall act on the proposed amendment within 60 days.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017)

(a)

Public hearings. County council shall conduct all required public hearings for amendments and rezoning. No amendment to these regulations or official zoning map shall be considered for third and final reading until after the public notice and hearing requirements set forth in the South Carolina Code of Laws and this chapter have been met.

(b)

Notice of hearing. Notice of public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least 15 days prior to hearing. The notice shall carry an appropriate descriptive title and shall state the time, date, and place of the hearing. All interested parties shall be heard at the public hearing.

(c)

Posting. Pursuant to the provisions of the South Carolina Code of Laws, signs noting a rezoning for the small area method shall be posted on or adjacent to affected parcels along public thoroughfares. In the event less than ten effected parcels are so situated as to share frontage along the same public thoroughfare, a sign shall be located on each parcel, provided no two signs are closer than 100 feet of each other. In the event ten or more affected parcels are so situated as to share frontage along the same public thoroughfare, or any number of parcels are located off of the public thoroughfare, signs shall be posted as close as is practical in a manner sufficient to ensure due public notice. At a minimum, signs shall be posted at the beginning and end of any continuous shared public frontage, with no more than one mile between signs; at least one sign shall be visible from all directions in each intersection adjacent to a parcel for which rezoning is proposed. The rezoning of lands owned by the United States, the State of South Carolina, public universities, or the county shall be posted at any major identifying signs stating the identification of the property; in the event that no signs are present, state posting guidelines shall be followed. For all other rezoning, state posting guidelines shall be followed.

(d)

Notification of property owners. A written notice containing all pertinent information related to any public hearing shall be sent by first class mail to the registered owner of each affected parcel at least 15 days prior to the event. For the purposes of this section, the name and address of the owner of the parcel shall be that listed on tax records maintained by the county tax assessor.

(e)

Action by council. After conducting a duly advertised public hearing, county council shall consider all information presented at the hearing, staff review, and the recommendation received from the county planning commission, prior to making their decision.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017)

When county council shall have denied a request for an amendment to this chapter, it shall not consider the same or a less restrictive reclassification for an amendment affecting the same property until one year from the date of said denial. A more restrictive classification is not subject to the one-year period.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017)

Any ordinance effecting a change in the text of the zoning chapter or zoning maps shall become effective upon final adoption by council.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017)

Upon adoption of this chapter, rezoning of a parcel or group of parcels shall be initiated by one of the following methods:

(1)

Method 1—Planning district request initiated by citizens.

a.

Any group of citizens living within any planning district described within this section may petition for initial rezoning for the entirety of their district. The planning districts, which are based on the approximate boundaries traditionally used by local fire stations as service areas, are as follows:

1.

Oakway District

2.

Salem District

3.

Corinth-Shiloh District

4.

Mountain Rest District

5.

Walhalla District

6.

Westminster District

7.

Seneca District

8.

Fair Play District

9.

Long Creek District

10.

Cleveland District

11.

Keowee Ebenezer District

12.

Friendship District

13.

Cross Roads District

14.

Picket Post-Camp Oak District

15.

South Union District

16.

West Union District

17.

Keowee District

The boundaries of each planning district shall conform to the exterior property line of all parcels lying within; in no instance shall a single parcel lie in more than one planning district. Parcels shall be assigned to a planning district based on the location of its centroid, which shall be determined by the county geographic information system (GIS). The boundaries of the various planning districts are shown on the map of planning districts, which shall be adopted as part of these standards.

b.

Petitions by citizens to county council to initiate a rezoning of an entire planning district shall be made in the following manner:

1.

Citizen petition. Citizens wishing council to amend the map of their planning district shall acquire the signatures of a minimum of 15 percent of the owners of parcels lying within the boundaries of the said planning district. The petition shall contain the following statement of support:

2.

"I hereby certify that I own a parcel lying within the ___________ Planning District, and I support the consideration by Oconee County Council of amending the zoning map."

3.

Presentation to county council. If county council finds the petition is within the parameters of this chapter, they may direct the planning commission and planning department to proceed with amending the zoning chapter and map. Council may take first reading, in title only, on the zoning amendments at this time.

4.

Review of land use map. The planning commission shall undertake a review of the district's portion of the future land use map.

5.

Initial zoning meeting in district. Following the review of the future land use map, the planning department will schedule a public meeting to begin working with citizens to develop a proposed zoning map. Nominations for the district planning advisory committee will be called for at this time.

6.

Appointment of district planning advisory committee. County council will review the nominations for the district planning advisory committee and appoint individuals to the committee. The committee shall consist of seven owners of parcels lying within the district. The committee shall elect a chair who shall conduct committee meetings, call subsequent meetings as necessary, and set forth the agenda for subsequent meetings.

7.

Creation of proposed district zoning map. With assistance from planning staff, the district planning advisory committee will use the future land use map as a guide in creating proposed changes to the district's portion of the official zoning map. All proposed amendments shall be chosen from the zoning districts and their corresponding regulations established in this chapter.

8.

Planning commission review of proposed zoning map. When completed, the committee shall present their draft map to the planning commission for review. The planning commission shall review the changes to ensure that they are compatible with the comprehensive plan. During this time, the planning department shall mail a survey to all district property owners soliciting their opinion of the proposed changes, with a deadline to respond of 30 days. At the end of the survey period, the commission shall forward a recommendation regarding the proposed changes to county council. A positive recommendation of the commission shall require both a finding of compliance with the comprehensive plan, and a minimum of 51 percent of the returned responses to the survey favoring the proposed changes.

9.

Consideration of recommendation. County council shall consider the proposed zoning map amendments and may take second reading on the chapter at this time.

10.

Comment period. A comment period of no less than 30 days shall be held at this time.

11.

Consideration of survey results by county council. Upon the completion of the comment period, county council may hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments. Once the public hearing has been completed, county council may take third and final reading of an ordinance to amend the planning districts portions of the official zoning map.

12.

Failed attempts to amend the zoning chapter. In the event county council formally rejects a citizen-initiated petition to amend a planning district's portion of the official zoning map for any reason, a new attempt to amend the map through citizen petition shall not be considered sooner than two years from the date of council's decision.

(2)

Method 2—Small area rezoning.

a.

Any property owner, or group of property owners, of a parcel or parcels with a combined minimum ownership of at least 50 acres may petition county council for initial rezoning. No parcel may be included within the rezoning petition under this method which is not contiguous to at least one other parcel that is included in the rezoning petition. Contiguous properties are those properties which are adjacent to one another and share a common border. Contiguity is not established by a road, waterway, right-of-way, easement, railroad track, or utility line which connects one property to another; however, if the connecting road, waterway, easement, railroad track, or utility line intervenes between two properties, which but for the intervening connector would be adjacent and share a continuous border, the intervening connector does not destroy contiguity.

b.

Reserved.

c.

All persons owning a legal interest in the subject parcel(s) must sign the petition for rezoning under this method.

d.

Proposed rezonings pursuant to this method shall be subject to review by the planning commission, as set forth in section 38-8.1, the public notice requirements contained in section 38-8.2, and all standards set forth in these regulations, including compliance with the goals established in the Oconee County Comprehensive Plan, as well as all other applicable local, state, and federal laws.

(3)

Method 3—County initiated. The governing body of the county may at any time after adoption of these standards rezone any parcel or parcels owned or maintained by the county. Additionally, notwithstanding any effort to accomplish a prior rezoning, county council may at any time rezone any parcel or group of parcels to bring them into compliance with the goals established in the Oconee County Comprehensive Plan. Proposed changes to any part of these regulations shall be subject to review by the planning commission, as set forth in section 38-8.1 (above), and public notice requirements contained in section 38-8.2 (above), as well as other as well as all other applicable local, state, and federal laws.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017; Ord. No. 2019-12, § 1, 6-4-2019)

(a)

Subsequent to the initial change of zoning of any parcel or group of parcels following adoption of these regulations, any individual property owner may make application for rezoning of a parcel(s). All such rezonings shall be subject to the standards set forth in these regulations and South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, as amended.

(b)

Notwithstanding any effort to accomplish a prior rezoning, county council may at any time rezone a parcel or group of parcels pursuant to the goals established in the Oconee County Comprehensive Plan.

(Ord. No. 2017-25, § 1(Att. A), 12-5-2017)