BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Leaders in Berkeley County recently passed their comprehensive plan, which is designed to focus on accommodating growth in the community.

“We embarked on the comprehensive plan update about three years ago, and so doing we conducted a series of public meetings and surveys as well as stakeholder interviews,” said Alison Simmons, the county’s planning and zoning director.

While the comprehensive plan is technically from 2020, county council recently completed the process by officially approving it.

“According to state law, any jurisdiction that has zoning is required to have a comprehensive plan,” said Simmons.

The plan is basically a roadmap for how the county plans to grow in the future and looks at specific areas: “Per state law, the comprehensive plan is required to touch on 10 elements which are transportation, land use, housing, population, economic development, resiliency, and others,” Simmons explained.

This plan is designed to guide growth through 2040.

“We estimated by 2040 our population will be close to 400,000 people, so that increased population metric will of course, necessitate demand for commercial services, employment, and other services associated with facilities and infrastructure needs.”

The plan would put growth in certain areas so that other areas can stay more rural.

“We identified corridors such as I-26 Highway 17-A and 52. As well as intersections contained therein to focus this development intensity,” said Simmons.

You can look at the plan for yourself by clicking here.