Hello REALTORS®,
Pending Ordinance Doctrine. Moratoriums. Zoning. Development Standards. Why is government so complex and difficult to understand. And why am I even writing about something most people have not heard of?
Moratorium
On September 2, Anderson County Council declared a 90-day moratorium on accepting applications for permits for new residential development. Attached is the county’s announcement from the county website.
Anderson County’s stated rationale for the moratorium is that they have embarked on a full rewrite of their zoning and land development ordinances. In May, the consultant they hired told county council that it would take 15-18 months to do the work, and another 6 months for county council and the planning commission to review and approve their recommendations. This is where we all say, hmm—90 days vs. 2 years—and they are less than 6 months into the process.
Moratoriums aren’t new. The cities of Easley and Central both have moratoriums in place on residential development. Pickens County and Clemson have enacted them in the last five years. Your association opposes moratoriums. Moratoriums suspend existing ordinances and deny property owners their right to due process by saying, “We want to regulate what you want to do with your land, but we are a little busy studying a new regulation, so you’ll need to wait to apply for our approval for what you want to do.” Interim President Josh Grant wrote about that in a letter to the editor last spring.
Why Invoke the Pending Ordinance Doctrine?
That’s the conundrum. The Pending Ordinance Doctrine is not legislation. It’s the product of at least two South Carolina court opinions. What the courts said is that if local government is actively considering a “scheme of rezoning,” they can refuse to consider applications for development that are contrary to the rezoning ordinance that is under consideration.
Your association’s position is that the Pending Ordinance Doctrine is appropriate to prevent a landowner from trying to “beat the clock” on the ordinance that is pending. The question is whether the Pending Ordinance Doctrine and a moratorium ordinance are one in the same. Do both have the same effect? And should they be used together? Your association’s position is that they are one in the same and opposes the use of the Pending Ordinance Doctrine for moratoriums. Click here to read your association’s full position paper on the Pending Ordinance Doctrine.
Central Moratorium
As mentioned above, the Town of Central enacted a 6-month moratorium on major subdivisions. They are in the process of updating their land development regulations, which is their rationale for imposing the moratorium. The moratorium received final approval by town council on August 11.
It is worth noting that Central recently annexed a very large development. That development has already been approved. You can read this Watchdog Report on how the SC Vested Rights Act, which was championed by your REALTORS® Association in 2005, protects landowners in situations like that.
RPAC is Important
If real estate is your profession, advocacy is your business. And these advocacy results highlight the importance of supporting your association’s advocacy program. RPAC is an important element of that advocacy program.
About one-third of our members support RPAC, including some who do more—a lot more.
One member who has done a lot more is Don Cleveland of Buy Hartwell Lake in Anderson. Don is a Major Investor, which means she contributes to RPAC at the $1,000 level each year. Don is also a member of the NAR RPAC Hall of Fame, having contributed more than $25,000 to RPAC during his career in real estate. Thank you, Don, for your leadership in supporting RPAC.
I encourage all Realtors to support RPAC, and we make it easy to do so. We include a voluntary $25 RPAC contribution ($100 for brokers) on your annual dues renewal. Simply pay it and you have supported RPAC. If you want to do more, that’s easy too.
Michael Dey, Director of Government Affairs