If we lose the hog industry, we do not lose a lot of economic benefits, and if we get it, we also get a lot of difficult problems that could hamper our economic development over the long run. The economic development prospects of the Pee Dee are probably best served by reserving the waste assimilative capacity in the region's streams for higher value uses. If individual counties in the Pee Dee want to enact zoning laws that accomodate the hog industry, they can do so now without any new state legislation. Stripping away the power of local government in every county to control land use is just not necessary. Different rules in different counties is too confusing, some say.
Conditions differ too much across South Carolina to try to force uniformity everywhere.
At a time when the competition for economic development is becoming increasingly keen, local governments must have the ability to respond flexibly to local needs and conditions. More of us need to work as hard as Commissioner Tindal does to nourish an economically viable agriculture sector in South Carolina.