Bill extends developers' rights on use of land

COLUMBIA - Property owners will get vested development rights sooner under a bill approved by a House subcommittee Thursday.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, changes current law to give vested rights at the time a land plan is approved by a local government.

The bill has been under study for more than a year, and most of the affected parties have reached agreement on it.

Edge, an employee of Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., said the bill does not affect his company because all of its developable land is under existing agreements.

"Under the law today, you do not have a vested right under zoning until you get a building permit," Edge told the subcommittee.

What happens in some cases is that a landowner gets a plan approved, develops some of the property and holds the rest, and the local government changes the zoning on it.

Sometimes those zoning changes occur after neighbors object to a project, supporters said.

Richard Sendler of the S.C. Landowners Association said the change is needed because of the current risk to property owners.

Keith Smith, a Greer builder, said the change would bring security to "the current uncertainty that faces the building industry."

Bo Shetterly of the S.C. Association of Counties said the local governments approve of the change as long as it is clear that vesting does not occur until local approval of the plans.

He proposed a change to the bill that makes it clear the plans must be approved by the local planning authorities, and the panel agreed to the amendment.

The bill probably will be considered in the full House Judiciary Committee next week.