Planning is Important: The Urban Waterfront District
UPDATE:
At the February 19th City of Charleston Planning Commission meeting, the Urban Waterfront Future Land Use District was approved unanimously (see language below). We believe this comprehensive plan language reflects our priorities, and we will continue to advocate for development on Union Pier that reflects historic Charleston’s development patterns, centered around an accessible and vibrant public realm. Watch the full meeting below, including comments from HCF President & CEO, Winslow Hastie (timestamp: 1:21:37).
APPROVED LANGUAGE:
URBAN WATERFRONT FUTURE LAND USE DISTRICT: “These vibrant and inclusive mixed-use districts are located along portions of the Peninsula’s waterfront and areas designated as Neighborhood and City Centers. Development in these areas preserves Charleston’s rich cultural and maritime heritage and facilitates recreational, civic, and economic connections between urban areas and the waterfront. Building and site design prioritizes resilience, maintains continuous public access along the waterfront in coordination with perimeter protection, creates public access and street view corridors toward the water, and is compatible with the city’s skyline. There are a mix of uses, including a variety of housing types for residents of diverse incomes, civic, commercial, outdoor public gathering places, and opportunities for small and local businesses. The waterfront is activated with public parks and open spaces, as well as restaurants, events, and other public and commercial uses that engage and serve the Charleston community. Maritime recreational and transportation uses are encouraged on a scale consistent with landside uses, to replace prior cargo and cruise ship uses. Block patterns, street design and building scale and massing, which will include varying heights and densities, are compatible to the neighboring commercial and residential districts to create a properly scaled extension to the city.”
NEXT STEPS: The language approved by Planning Commission will move to City Council for first reading. We will keep you posted as it moves forward.
BLOG:
Engaging even the most thoughtful residents in city planning can be a challenge. Wearisome nomenclature such as “public planning processes” and “comprehensive planning efforts” often serve as deterrents for busy people who save their energy for more exciting topics. Now, the Charleston Planning Commission has placed an even more cumbersome set of letters on February 19th’s Agenda to “amend the City Comprehensive Plan to rename the ‘Future Planning Area’ district and replace with ‘Urban Waterfront’ district.”
There is a diverse group of heavily invested residents and organizations who understand exactly what this agenda item implies. The rest of the community may need a dictionary, a translator, and compelling reasons to care.
Dictionary
- Comprehensive Plan – Any municipality regulating land use in South Carolina (meaning, every city) is required to have a comprehensive plan as outlined in state law (1994 State Comprehensive Planning Act, SC Code Title 6, Chapter 19). The comprehensive plan, updated every five years and rewritten every ten years, is intended to serve as a guide for land use decision-making, zoning, and growth. The City of Charleston adopted its comprehensive plan in October 2021.
There are nine elements in the plan. For the purposes of this post, let’s focus on the Land Use element, which includes Future Land Use maps that are intended to guide land use decisions for ten years.
- Planning Districts – These future land use designations appear on page 112 of the comprehensive plan and are general descriptions of areas, ranging from rural to industrial (see table 1, pt. 1 and 2, at bottom of page)
- Amendment – Changes made to a comprehensive plan must go through a lengthy process that involves public input opportunities. First, an amendment must go before the Planning Commission (that’s what is happening on February 19). Then, it must pass three readings at City Council before it is formally adopted.
Translation
The February 19 plan amendment before Planning Commission is all about Union Pier. In 2021, when the City of Charleston was in the process of passing their comprehensive plan, the future of the Union Pier site was in flux. The SC Ports Authority had just decided to abandon plans to expand the cruise ship terminal, and there were tentative discussions with a developer interested in purchasing it.
In addition to the undetermined status of the parcel, no single district (as outlined in the table) seemed to fit what the City and the public envisioned. To give the community and the City more time to define their vision, the “Future Planning Area” placeholder designation was applied to the entire Union Pier site.
The proposed designation through the comprehensive plan amendment is just the first step in what will ultimately result in zoning changes through a Planned Unit Development (PUD), site plans, and much more specificity around the types of land uses that the development will contain.
Reasons to Care
The roughly 70-acre Union Pier site represents the largest redevelopment opportunity on Charleston's peninsula in decades. Currently owned by the SC Ports Authority, Union Pier is poised to be developed by local billionaire Ben Navarro, with assistance provided from the recently approved Union Pier Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.
Although the general comprehensive planning language that is being considered at the Planning Commission will not provide a specific blueprint for the site, it will establish the City’s vision for what it should become.
HCF has been a part of a team of valuable partners meeting with city planners to outline what we believe is important on this site:
- Development that incorporates resiliency principles
- Continuous public access along the waterfront
- View corridors toward the water
- Compatibility with the city skyline as seen from the city and the water
- Mix of uses, including civic, retail, commercial, parks, greenspace and a variety of housing types
- Block patterns, street design and buildings that include varying heights and densities (more to come on densities in my next blog!)
- Properly scaled extension of the historic district
Being out in front of this visioning process is the best way to ensure that we don’t see highly dense, uniform, single use, and poorly designed development. We hope that you will join us to let the Planning Commission know what you envision for Union Pier. This is the first step before the district goes to City Council for consideration.
Planning Commission Meeting Details
- Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
- Public Meeting Room, First Floor, 2 George Street.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting in person to speak in order for comments to be fully heard. Written comments must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, ONLINE or delivered to the address listed below. Written comments will be provided to the board members 24 hours in advance of the meeting and will be acknowledged in the record and summarized.
Table 1
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