Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order this meeting of the Lancaster County Planning Commission on August the 18th, 2026. Will the clerk please call roll?

Richard Crandall?

Present.

Lynette Henson? Here. Juliana Tinklenburg?

Here.

Sheila Henson?

Here.

Michelle Richards? Here. Frances Liu? Here.

Thank you. Will the clerk please make a note in the record that a quorum of the Planning Commission is present. Public notice of the meeting, including the meeting agenda, has been posted the required length of time in the lobby of the county administration building and on the county website. The news media was notified of the meeting place and time. Welcome everyone to the Lancaster County Planning Commission meeting. Please make sure that all of your electronic devices are turned off. and silenced and please please abide by the posted rules of the meeting please remove any hats no profanity please be respectful the other people and don't interrupt them sign-up sheets were provided at the entrance of the room if you haven't already please add your name to the list of the relevant item agenda and you will be called up to speak at the appropriate time There's no questions. If everyone will please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussions that nurture the bonds of this community. Fill us with your grace, Lord God, as we make decisions that affect all of the residents of Lancaster County. And continue to remind us that all we do here today, all that we accomplish is in the pursuit of the glory of your greater life. And for this and the service of humanity, for all these things we ask in your name, amen.

so commissioners before you you have the agenda for tonight's meeting do i hear a motion um i'd like to i'd like to make a motion to move the uh udo draft item to the end of the meeting a second

So we have a motion to accept the meeting agenda except for moving item 6A, which is for the voting on the unified development ordinance draft to the end of the agenda. So we have a motion and we have a second.

Are you saying all these fine people won't want to sit through all of this before we get to our other action items? Yes.

I thought it was the polite thing to do to our applicants.

All right. Let's see. Where am I? I've got too much going on tonight. Commissioner, can we have a show of hands in favor of the modified agenda as motioned and seconded? Yes, Ms. Mora, you were getting ready to say something. I can tell.

MS. The motion made by you was just to modify the agenda. Would you like to add the approval as well? MS. Oh, yes. I'm sorry.

She's correct. Yes, so motion to approve the modified agenda order.

And a second?

Yes.

Second from Melissa. Now, commissioners, can I please have a show of hands in favor of the modified agenda? Motion passes 6 to 0. Thank you. All right, the next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes for the July 21, 2026 regular meeting. Do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve.

Do I have a second? I'll second it. Do we have any questions or comments? All right. So we have a motion to accept, as written, the minutes from the July 21, 2026 regular meeting. Show of hands in favor. Motion passes.

Was I at that meeting?

It doesn't matter whether you're there or not. Remember, we changed our rules. You can vote. I still won't. OK. Just in case, I'm going to up. Motion passes 5 to 0 with 1 abstaining. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the August 6th, 2026 workshop. Do I have a motion?

Motion to approve.

Do I have a second? Second. All right. Any questions or concerns? All right. So can I have a show of hands in favor for accepting the minutes of the August 6th, 2026 workshop minutes as presented? Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. All right, next item on the agenda is citizens' comments. I wasn't given anything extra. And I am sitting here looking at, and it appears that no one has signed up under general citizens' comments. So we will consider ourselves out of, what's today? The 18th. We will consider ourselves out of, oops, citizens' comments. since no one signed up to speak. So next item on the agenda is public hearing items for recommendations to council. We will start with item 6B, CU 2026, 1423, McDonald. Greetings, commissioners.

Before you, you have CU 2026-1423 McDonnell, located at 1949 and 1951 Great Falls Highway. The applicant is Gary Pagodze. The intention here is to seek a conditional use permit to operate a restaurant, bar, and grill. It's currently located in the general business zoning district in the future land use is growth area. And you can see the location of the parcel in the illustration on your screen. The surrounding transitional districts are GB, MH, and MDR. And to the left there, you see a photo of the parcel itself. The application procedures per chapter five have been met, and additional UDO provisions via chapter nine. have been communicated and will be reviewed if the applicant continues through the development process. Both of these reports should be in your packets. The TRC has vetted this particular case, and during initial site assessments with approval contingent upon this PC meeting, as well as all other applicant UDO conformities being met. Lexington County Water and Sewer District had no review comments due to all the utilities already being in place and to that end, staff recommends approval of this application. Do you have any questions? And I do have the applicant here if you have any further questions that you would like to ask of him.

I have a question.

Yes, ma'am.

I was noticing that this is directly across the Great Falls Highway from the new Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall. Does it meet the distance requirement? I mean, is there a special requirement if they're going to put in, if they're going to have a bar in their restaurant that has to be a certain distance from a place of worship? I tried to see if that was in the UDO. I couldn't find it.

It's not.

Okay, I wasn't sure, so I was just asking. Yes, ma'am. OK. All right. Thank you. Like I said, that was the only thing, that was the only question that I had. Does anyone else have any other questions for Corey before we speak to the applicant? So thank you. You're welcome. The applicant was here. If you would like to get up and speak, please state your name and address for the record, please.

1112 Highway 9 bypass West.

In regards to your question about that, I've actually already obtained the ABC license and it's on contingency for a nine-month holdover. That was one of our major questions also. And the building will be a complete remodel that we're still working with the county building department.

Which one are you going into, the long one?

It used to be South 200 Party Shop, the long one, the old one. Okay.

I've lived here 30 years, so I knew the building.

Exactly. We're going to raise the roof and do everything to bring it up to today's standards.

Like raise the roof and have a party? No, I'm making a joke. Are you going to have any outdoor seating?

No, ma'am, not at this time. Space is kind of limiting us what we can do.

Yeah, that was my only concern was having residential right behind it. Even though you do have a nice easement there with some trees and stuff, you do have some houses right behind there. So if you had, you know, outdoor seating somewhere. I know how I am if I'm on the outdoor seating. My volume control is not as good as it is on the inside of the restaurant. Anyway, any other questions for the applicant?

I do. Yes, sir. What will the operating hours be?

A lot of that will depend upon the tenant, ma'am, and meeting county restrictions. We're the owner of the property and just will lease it to a restaurant operator.

Okay. I have a concern with that. With a neighborhood being across the street and all MDR behind them, I would have a real concern as to what the operating hours would be.

Would that not be governed by the business license?

I think it could also be governed by us as to conditions.

Yeah, if it says hours of operation and issuing a conditional use permit for the site, the Planning Commission shall consider the surroundings and restrict the hours operation of the business if they deem was warranted. I can tell you, I just know, I know the area the MDR on the other side is if the noise gets from here to over there, Yeah, he knows it's really, really far away. And then the MDR behind it, there aren't any houses real close to it. I pulled this up on the GIS and looked at it just because of concerns like that.

Are there houses in this blue shaded area already?

What's the blue shaded area? Sorry, I'm looking at the different houses.

Where's this MDR right behind the...

actually a lot of that directly behind it is just vacant with a whole bunch of cars parked in it and then there's used to be a junkyard yeah and then you've got to go to those ones that look at the three lots that are that go up to the other street right yeah there's like one house on each of those so you can see that's a pretty good distance and you got that stance of woods in between it there's already a pretty good natural buffer buffer there okay two of those houses are actually gone they were okay damaged So yeah, there's not a whole lot of houses really close to it. And then, of course, what is that? It almost looks like the golf course, but it can't be the golf course. Really?

Yeah, I'm back number, what would that be, 15, 16?

OK. As many times as I've been to the golf course, I never paid a t-shirt. Sorry.

Yeah, you come out 10, 11.

Yep.

So it'll be 12, 13.

OK. Good to know.

Well, any other questions or concerns?

Thank you, sir. We will now consider ourselves into public hearing. We have, make sure, oops, I gotta move that one to the back of the list. We have no one signed up to speak, so we will consider ourselves out of public hearing. I was about to say we have people, but that's the wrong one. So commissioners, we have before us case number CU-2026-1423, the McDonald track. Do I hear a motion to approve? I'll make a motion. To approve the project because as it's been presented to us, it meets all the qualifications for a conditional use permit in this area. I said all the right legal things, right?

I'll make a motion to approve.

So I have a second. OK. Is there any discussion? Regarding the buffering, you said there is already relatively a good natural buffer. Is there a buffer all the way around, though?

It's on all the sides but up against where there's housing on that side of the road. And it's a pretty good wide stance of trees. I mean, if you ever go down there and look at it, you can see that big stance of trees behind it.

OK, that's what we have in our things. I was asking if there was a complete buffer. Yes.

Up against all of the housing parts, yes. All right, so any other discussions? All right, so we have before us CU 2026-1423 McDonald with a motion to approve. I'm going to find my magic piece of paper. With a motion to approve because it does meet REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONDITIONAL USE IN THIS ZONE. CAN WE HAVE A ROLL CALL VOTE, PLEASE?

RICHARD CRANDELL.

FOUR.

LYNNETTE HENSON. FOUR. JULIANA TINKLENBERG. FOUR. SHEILA HENSON.

FOUR.

FRANCIS LUE. FOUR. MICHELLE RICHARDS.

FOUR. So this motion passes a vote four to zero, and it will be referred up to county council for final decision. And the applicant, you will be notified at the time and the place. Next item on the agenda is RZ 2026-1441, Justin's Tree Service.

Okay, as Commissioner Richards just stated, before you have RZ 2026 for 1441 Justin Street Service at 9546 Olin Yarborough Road. The owners are Justin, Brandon, and Greg Roop, and they are requesting to rezone to allow for the regional business use type that's outlined in our UDO use chart. It's currently zoned low-density residential, and they're proposing a regional business in the future land use designation's growth area. And an illustration of the parcel itself is pictured on the screen. One too many. Come on. Here are some site photos of the entrance that will be used to access the parcel and is an aerial view of the parcel itself. The surrounding transitional districts are LDR and it's mainly surrounded by PDD. And the request aligns with the comprehensive plan objective PA 1.1. as well as it has met all of the application UDO provisions detailed in chapter nine, and those are detailed in your staff report. Staff recommends approval of this application. Do you have any questions?

Commissioner, do you have any questions for staff at the moment? All right, thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry, the applicant is here as well.

I recognize them because they were just here, what, two meetings ago? Yes. All right, so if you'd like to come up. Thank you, Corey.

You're welcome.

Please state your name and address for the record. Yeah, when this came up, I was like, didn't we just do this? Looks familiar, right?

My name is Brandon Rupp, 8821 Houston Ridge Road, Charlotte 28277. My name's Justin Roop, address 8821 Houston Ridge Road, Charlotte, 28277. I'm happy to answer any questions.

What do you plan on doing with the property?

Same intentions as the last property. Unfortunately, that seller withdrew its application. So that kind of sparked us to move over to this one instead. So the intentions are just going to build a garage and for outdoor storage for our trucks and equipment.

Commissioner, do you all have any questions? Go ahead.

Okay, so this is in my district. I do have a lot of questions. I'm not sure if they're best suited for you or for staff. I guess my biggest question is why are we jumping all the way to regional business?

So that was recommended to us. So I know general business and regional business were kind of tossed around. And I think the suggestion was to go with regional business because of that outdoor like storage usage for it. That was going to be better fit because I think the puzzle piece was the maintenance, because if we need to like change the oil on a couple of our trucks, I think that fell under regional business versus general business. So that was kind of the back and forth on that. So.

Okay. I do have great concern. I know we heard your proposal before and under the previous conditions of the site you know we voted for it I'm having great difficulty with this because with rezonings we're forever changing the zoning of that property so should whatever reason you decide to relocate it's forever zoned that so any of the uses that fall under regional business would then be by right on this site which is greatly of great concern considering the location of this site being completely surrounded by residential if you've as I'm sure you've driven back there it's not on a main thoroughfare which per the definition of regional business is a requirement that it should be and then through what it is, is it's to attract regional business. And I'm struggling with the definition of how that's applicable here. I understand that it kind of meets the needs, but it doesn't. in my opinion, based on the location of this site. So I'm really struggling with what to do because I love what y'all are asking to do, but I don't love the location and the zoning of this site. I don't think that it makes sense. I don't think it goes with the character of the surroundings with it. So I'm struggling with this one in all honesty.

Yeah, yeah, no, I totally understand. Just a quick comment on that part of it. Almost the entire southern part of that parcel, there's like 25 acres of floodplain, which, in my opinion, is a pretty natural barrier from the parcel and the... LDR on the south side. And we don't have any plans on developing. I mean, I don't think we can even if we wanted to on floodplain. So I mean, our garage is going to be on the very like top northern side of it. So and then the parcel above it is owned by Duke Power. So yeah, just a couple, you know, thoughts on what I threw out there.

we also don't plan on you know selling anytime soon like this you know it's intended to be in our family for forever if we can okay you done for now okay I had a quick question you can see that the the entrance road is very small you're gonna have to make some improvements to that

get in and out because that looks more like a trail than a road yeah yeah we we spoke with uh the public works briefly about that little because like it's it's paved all the way to like you know 10 feet and then it cuts off the gravel um so yeah but i meant you're gonna have to improve it like onto your property aren't you more than likely yeah it looked like there were two small ponds and there's some existing building down in there Yeah, there's like an old residential house on there that is not usable. So I would have to be knocked down, obviously.

I'm just asking general questions.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So yeah, I did see that a vast majority of it is in, in fact, can you even get to that little arm over there to the side? Because it looks like you just got a little teeny tiny strip that you can go around the little piece.

Yeah, and there's also a huge cliff. So like, it's, we can't even access that if we wanted to either way, so. So really the only usable part is kind of at the top. Like the 20 acres are still at the top.

Yeah. Just that little spot up there.

Yeah.

Okay.

Any other questions for the applicant? Everybody's awful quiet tonight. I don't know if it's a question or more than an observation that I understand that you hope to have this in your family or your plan is to have it in your family. But plans can always change. And especially the panhandle part of the county is suffering from decisions that were made 20 years ago that seemed like a good idea at the time. If something were to happen that you had to sell this, as Commissioner Tinklenburg said, the regional business stays and someone could put in some undesirable business around all this LDR, And I understand that some of it's not usable and there's the buffer and all this. But just on all the other sides, it may seem very whimsical, but you're reading Field Daisy and Meadow Ridge and Twin Leaf and all this very home style even names and so forth. And then smack dab in the middle, Regional Business. And as long as I've been on the Planning Commission, we're always told to look around what surrounds an area. And I'm struggling, too, with going all the way to regional business. And I'll be honest, I would have a problem with general business, too, surrounded by LDR. And I think that it's time for us to really take people into account who have to live with our decisions. that I think what you're wanting to do is a great thing, but I also feel for all the people who purchased this and never thought they'd have to deal with something like that or what it could be. Not so much what you're doing, but what it could be. They never thought that there was going to be a business among their homes. So that's where my struggle is also.

It makes us ask the question of if spot zoning applies, because it's not just is there the same adjacent zoning, it's are we making a decision to the benefit of one, to the detriment of those around it? That's the second part of spot zoning, and I can't answer yes to that, so.

And I'm sitting here looking at the use charts. If you were to have gone the general business, it does limit some of the uses, has more limit on the uses than the regional business does. And it says you can do the vehicle services. You would just have to get a conditional use requirement so that if it were general business instead of regional business, you'd get the conditional use. Then if anybody wanted to use it for anything else, they would have to come back. For a lot of these more questionable next to residential stuff, There's less of them are permitted by right, and there's more conditional uses in there. I was just kind of strolling through the thing really, really quickly. It's one of those things. I said I'm in complete agreement with them. I really like what you want to do here. I think the concept, I think it's a good piece of property. It's just I'm still having a hard time buying off on the regional business. That is just such a big jump. But I've looked through, and I'm like you. limited on what you can do to do what you want to do on that piece of property. You either have to go general business or regional business to do that. I will throw out there, though, that what's the name of that road? What is it, Yulee something? There's a name in front of it. Olin Yarborough Road. That is such a small road. For them, for anybody to develop it out of much of anything else, that whole road would have to be redeveloped and actually probably part of Yarborough Road above it to get in there. So that's going to be a deterrent for a lot of other types of uses for this property in the future.

It just depends how much money someone has.

Yeah. Well, I meant most of it's a public road, so it's correct except for the last little bit.

This may be better asked for staff, but why did we go from general business to regional business?

Well, it was suggested because general business is mainly suited, in our opinion, for corridors. So this seemed fitting. And to add to that point, while I was out there placing signs, I had the liberty of speaking with the owners of this land, because a lot of it's family land. They didn't seem to have a problem with it at all. And to your point about selling in the future, they stressed to me that it was very, very important about that property being sentimental. And they wanted to keep it in the family for generations to come. So if that means anything, I want to throw that out there.

I'm looking at it as the economic development partial of it across from there. So there's, you know, there's obviously room for the growth, but there again, the, you know, the big jump. But also, you know, thank you for sharing the floodplain and all that because, you know, having to deal with that before personally, that limits a lot that you can do with that kind of land. So you can't come in from the backside, which would detour a lot of bigger You know, bigger companies trying to come in, even if it were a buy right coming in. And that's my opinion on that. The road that was brought up by Commissioner Tinklenburg is a concern. But if all you're doing at this time is for your land business and all, I see it as actually being far off the road. And it's kind of friendlier for the, I guess, the neighbors where it's not like right on the road frontage. Because I've seen that too. But yeah, I don't know. I mean, I see it kind of in the right place. But then also, you know, the spot zoning.

um are you i'm done okay i just wanted to also say i'm we're sympathetic to what you're trying to do it is a great idea i want you to find a place um for your business and corey we're sympathetic to what you mentioned and the owner's wishes um But again, I have to remind the commission that our obligation and responsibility is to follow the UDO. And what it says in there, per the definition of regional business, it's quoted, the regional business district is generally located on a major thoroughfare in the community and provides opportunities for the provision of offices, services, retail goods to meet the surrounding region. So then it continues. The regulations of this district are intended to accommodate predominantly auto-oriented pattern of existing development until such time that the transportation network is retrofitted to accommodate more urban development patterns, which is why, per the definition, it needs to be on a major thoroughfare. Regional business doesn't make sense on this property, in my opinion. I disagree with staff's recommendation. It makes me... kind of feel like we need to remind everyone in this room that we need to look at the UDO and what it's telling us to do and follow it because that's what we're called to do. We don't have to like it, but it's our responsibility to follow it, unfortunately, in this case.

So would general business change anything?

I mean, are you asking if we were on the boat?

Yeah. or out for outdoor storage if you want to have yeah and i'll answer this question from my point of view

I strongly am against the regional business, but now when you frame it, just to answer your question, not to solve any problems, I got my hand slapped before when I wasn't trying to solve a problem, but general business to me still doesn't fit in here. It's not on a main thoroughfare. It's surrounded by LDR. And that's just how I was trained, to look at what the surrounding is. And it seems like, did anyone sign up to talk about this?

Can I also say something?

No. She's talking to me, I think.

OK. Yeah. All right, I'm leaving. I'm sorry.

I was answering her question. I apologize. I got the no, you didn't.

About the LDR part of it, I know, I mean, you're exactly right, there's a lot of LDR surrounding it at the moment. There is a parcel, like, I can't really describe it, but the parcel that kind of goes into the bigger parcel, that was bought by RIMBY. And that little building in the pink up there, so they'll probably eventually apply for a rezoning. The other property next to it is professional business. The property on the top side of it is owned by Duke Energy, even though it's LDR now. So all that is probably eventually going to be moved over to some sort of commercial use at some point. The only, I guess, concern is the stuff on the south side, which is pure residential homes. But there's 20-something acres on the south side that you essentially can't even touch. So not sure that changes anything, but.

I don't know if that worked for or against me, but you said someone else would probably be coming forward with rezoning. That's why I see this as a domino effect, that once we grant one thing, how can we not grant the next person who wants regional business and the next person To me, it's like opening Pandora's box that, well, now it's not surrounded by LDR. Now it's regional business, and now the next person wants regional business, and then the next one. And like I said, the UDO has this for LDR, and I see it as just a stepping stone. And I don't see how we grant one and not grant the next and the next, although that's not what we're here to discuss tonight. It's just this property.

And that goes back to why we have to follow what the UDO states, because we would be setting a precedent of what we would be willing to change in the future, and also why there's those precautions of what spot zoning is.

Any other comments or questions for the applicant?

Thank you. Sorry, I was looking at your application. I'm sorry. What were the uses that were inconsistent with general business? Because storage we think you can do, accessory use we think you can do. Which is your maintenance repair stuff?

I think it was a maintenance repair thing that was the issue. Like if we were going to change oil, that's like minor maintenance. Because there's minor maintenance and then major maintenance.

You're not looking to do that under commercial services. You're doing that for within the operation?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's just to maintain our trucks when they have to get fixed kind of thing. I think that has conditional use under general business.

That's what I was looking at.

We're struggling really hard because we all want this. Like I said, you've been here before. We really want this to go through. It's just in a really precarious spot for a few different reasons. Spot zoning or the uses of what regional businesses, like you've heard a couple times, supposed to be attached to a major thoroughfare. There is no major thoroughfare there. It's not a requirement, but it is strongly encouraged. That's where we're really struggling with those pieces is

uh for the for the other parcel that we did i think a few months ago wasn't that also regional business do you know i think it was i don't recall what the last one was honestly it was yeah and then that i mean that was a really quick like approval but it was where it was and it's it's the location of this and being and where it is that it's while we're having to hesitate for that one you were like right off of 160 weren't you It was Bill St. Clair's property. It literally borders this parcel. I can throw a rock. That was 6.8.

I think that's another concern, that 6.8 versus the 50-some acres, whether it's 50 usable or 25 usable. I think that's what alarmed me when I first opened the packet and saw 50 acres of RB right in the center of LDR. But yeah, I just think I'm worried that once we open Pandora's box, the last thing that was left when everything came out of her box was hope. And I don't think there's a lot of hope once we set this in motion.

No, it's possible.

Again, I think we have to take into account everything in that area before we're basically approving to turn into a regional business area.

All right.

Any more questions for the applicant? All right. Thank you. Thank you. We'll consider ourselves now into public comment, public hearing. No one has signed up to speak, so we will consider ourselves out of public hearing. So applicants, you have before you item number, and I've moved to RZ20261441, Justin's Tree Service. Do I hear a motion? And remember, if you're going to make the motion to either approve or deny, you have to explain why you want to approve or deny it.

I thought we could just make a motion to approve to get it onto the table for discussion.

New rules.

New rules. Then I stay silent.

So I need a motion to either approve or deny. And whether you do a motion to approve or deny, I need you to state reasons from the UDO and the comprehensive plan as to why. You can.

state whatever you want and whatever you feel is appropriate i can't tell you what to say yes i make a motion to deny based on chapter 2 section 2.4.12 regional biscuit do what Section 2.4.12, regional business district, the definition. OK. It doesn't meet the standards listed in the definition, as well as concerns of spot zoning.

it doesn't follow the current character of the community so commissioners you have before you item number rz 2026 1441 Justin's tree service service with a notion to deny based on According to Section 2.4.12, regional business district, this does not meet the definition of a regional business district. It also looks and appears to be spot zoning. It also does not follow the current character of the company. We have a motion was made by Ms. Tinklenburg. I'm just restating it. Is that correct? Of the community. Of the community, I'm sorry. of the community. And that's the motion that was just made by Commissioner Tinklenburg. Do I have a second to that motion? I have a second. All right. Any more discussion about this now that we have a motion to deny? Okay, so we have before us item number RZ20261441, Justin's Tree Service. We have a motion to deny based on it does not meet the definition of regional business district as defined in section 2.4.12. It qualifies as spot zoning and it also does not follow the current character of the surrounding community. May we have a roll call vote, please? And this is a motion to deny. So does for is deny. Against is for. I love it when it's in reverse.

Richard Crandall.

For.

Lynette Henson. For. Judiana Tinklenburg. For. Sheila Henson.

For.

Frances Liu. For.

michelle richards four by a vote of six to zero the motion to deny this application has passed has passed but please be reminded that this item will be referred up to county council for a final decision and you will be notified at the time of the place for that and i apologize for all the repeating of things now that we have new rules i want to make sure i don't forget anything We now have before us item number RZ20261440, Cotha.

All right, so this rezoning request is located at 792 Fort Mill Highway. The intent is to rezone the property from median density residential to neighborhood business to allow for the professional services use type, primarily like a medical office, and the future land use designation for this area, according to the comprehensive plan, is neighborhood. And on the left-hand side of the screen is a subject parcel outlined in a teal-blue color for reference. On the left-hand side of the screen is a view of the property off of Fort Mill Highway with an existing vacant house. And on the right-hand side of the screen is an aerial image showing the zoning districts and the subject parcel outlined in red with a star on it and highlighting the distance to the nearest neighborhood business zone parcel, which is 1,300 feet away, about a quarter of a mile. And looking back at the comprehensive plan, the area is also outlined on the left-hand side of the slide, is designated as a neighborhood. Pretty much most of that section along 160 North is designated as neighborhood and under this portion of the corridor up here. This request does align with the comprehensive plan and meets the requirements for approval. I'm available for questions, and the applicant is also here and available.

Are there any questions for staff? All right. Thank you, Matthew. If an applicant would like to come up, state your name and address for the record, please.

Sridhar Khota, 316 Linda Carroll Lane, Fort Mill, South Carolina, 29708.

Any questions for the applicant? There's an existing house residential structure on the property, are you going to try to remodel that and use that? Are you going to demolish it and build something else?

That's completely outdated. Okay. So you're going to demolish it and build something else? Okay.

That was just asking. Any other questions for the applicant?

This is for medical offices?

Mm-hmm.

So there would be no emergency services? No, it's just basically office space. That's what we are planning for. because there is a town homes on the side, right, so.

I think you're directly across from Unique Loom.

That's right.

I built that building. And my husband, that's the reason we were transferred here for Belden before it.

Yeah, Belden Wire. It was Belden Wire when I built it, yeah. Yep.

Sorry, we digress. Oh, no. We didn't know we had that connection. Yeah.

So, any other questions for the applicant?

Any additional questions for staff?

All right. Thank you, sir. We will now consider ourselves into public hearing. No one has signed up to speak, so we will consider ourselves out of public hearing. So, commissioners, we have before us item number RZ20261414, Katha. Do I have a motion to either approve or deny? motion to approve approve motion to approve the based on well based on right motion to approve the rezoning but we don't do it based on for that one right it's in accordance with the udl you still have to say that because it's in accordance with the udo and you know meets the definition of blah blah blah so yes new rules that's quite all right all right so um we have a motion from commissioner randall to approve RZ2026-1414-Catha based on the fact that the application meets the qualifications of the UDO and the comprehensive plan. Do we have a second?

I'll second it.

All right. Roll call vote, please. Yes, ma'am.

I just wondered if we should have any discussion at all. Well, no one seemed to have any discussion. I'm sorry. I was just going to say that even though it's not against, but I just thought to explain that why I would vote for it is that it certainly does meet the neighborhood business. Sorry. Which is... locally located on thoroughfares, and this is quite a thoroughfare, and provides opportunities for the provision of neighborhood services that serve as an acceptable transition to generally auto-dependent neighborhoods. It certainly fills that. And while it is surrounded by MDR and HDR, across the street is, like I said, the business unique looms. So because it meets all of those, even though it's surrounded by MDR, it does certainly fit into neighborhood business.

There's a few other businesses also across the street.

Yes.

So any more discussion?

So we have a motion and a second to approve RZ 2026-14-14, Kotha. Yes. Kotha. Can I have a roll call vote, please? Richard Crandall.

Or.

Lynette Henson. Or. Judy Anna Tinklenburg. Or. Sheila Henson.

Or.

Frances Liu?

4.

Michelle Richards?

4. Motion passes 6-2-0. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is a non-hearing item. Oh, by the way, I have to remind you, this will be remanded to county council, and you will be notified of the time and the place for that meeting. Have to get all the legal stuff in. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is a non-hearing item, NRN 2026-1681, the August Road Name Submittal.

All right, so this month is a little lighter. This is a leftover back when we first found out, again, that you all have to be the ones who approve or deny road names. And this one got through the cracks. So we're going to back up to you. This is, I'm pretty sure, the last phase of Walnut Creek that has not been built yet. And so the only road name is Mud Puppy Lane, which is a relative of the Salamander, or pretty close to it.

Yes. OK. Mud Puppy. How cute. Any questions? OK. So commissioners, we have before us item number NRN20261681, August Group Road Name Submittal. Do I have a motion to accept?

So moved.

I have a second.

Second.

I would like this easy roll call show of hands. I mean, just show of hands. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. All right, next item on the agenda, the one that all the other people were waiting for so anxiously. Next before us is a discussion on the new unified development ordinance draft.

Madam Chairwoman, can we take a brief recess before we start this? OK. Interrupting. Do I have a motion to take a brief recess?

So moved. I have a second. OK, five minutes, please. Or less even. Or less, yes. Thank you. Let's get back on track so we can get out of here tonight. Next item on the agenda is a public hearing item for recommendation of council, the unified development ordinance draft. Who's going to get up and speak? I see everybody sitting there going, not me. Somebody has to speak.

okay good evening planning commission my name is kelly cousineau i'm a principal with whitesmith cousineau the consultant firm that has been working with the county for the past several years on the updated development ordinance um so tonight i'm just going to briefly run through you're supposed to state your name and address for the record you did your name but not your address oh i'm sorry uh Do you need my home address?

Give your company address.

OK. It's a post office box. I hate to give a post office box. So it's P.O. Box 20954 Charleston, South Carolina. So I'm going to just run through quickly where we've been, how we've gotten to this evening. And then Sean is going to take you through some of the major changes that are proposed in this version of the UDO, as well as some of the feedback that we've heard so far. We have been working with the county for going on five years now. We started back in the fall of 2021 with an assessment of the county's current UDO, which culminated in a series of recommendations for changes and improvements to the code. then we set off with drafting we drafted in modules so sort of chunks of like information zoning districts uses development standards on the administration and we finalized everything last September with a public review draft dated September 30th 2025. not long after that the county council appointed an ad hoc UDO committee to review that draft and the committee spent Basically, from November to July, meeting frequently. And I apologize, I can't remember how many meetings off the top of my head, but- Every two weeks? Yeah, it was a lot of meetings. It was a lot of meetings. Yeah, and it was every week for some time periods. Yeah, we met a lot. So the committee was comprised of your planning commission chair and Ms. Tinklenburg and three members of county council and some other citizens of the county. And literally, the committee was going through page by page, topic by topic, and having really great conversation about some of the details of the UDO. And so what is before you tonight in the UDO is