Economic Development Subcommittee — Columbia, SC
Date: 2019-03-05
Time: 09:00

COLUMBIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
 TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019


The Columbia Economic Development Subcommittee will conduct a meeting on Tuesday,
March 5, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby Street,
Columbia, SC 29203.

Prior to entering the meeting please turn all electronic communication devices to the silent, vibrate or off
 position. All presenters are asked to speak directly into the microphone for recording purposes.

CALL TO ORDER
DISCUSSION OF CONSTRUCTION STRATEGIES AND GROWTH

1. Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance - Ms. Amy Moore, Principal Planner for the
 Planning and Development Services Department

ADJOURNMENT




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COLUMBIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
 TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019


The Columbia Economic Development Subcommittee will conduct a meeting on Tuesday,
March 5, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby Street,
Columbia, SC 29203.

Prior to entering the meeting please turn all electronic communication devices to the silent, vibrate or off
 position. All presenters are asked to speak directly into the microphone for recording purposes.

CALL TO ORDER
DISCUSSION OF CONSTRUCTION STRATEGIES AND GROWTH

1. Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance - Ms. Amy Moore, Principal Planner for the
 Planning and Development Services Department

ADJOURNMENT




 Page 1 of 1
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MEETING DATE: March 5, 2019

DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development Services

FROM: Krista Hampton, Director

SUBJECT: Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance - Ms. Amy Moore,
 Principal Planner for the Planning and Development Services
 Department
FUNDING SOURCE AND
ORIGINAL BUDGET
AMOUNT:

STRATEGIC GOALS: Foster a healthy quality of life, Provide high quality municipal
 services


ATTACHMENTS:
  Demo Delay March Memo (PDF)




Updated: 2/27/2019 3:28 PM Page 1
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 MEMORANDUM
TO: Members of the Economic Development Subcommittee
From: Amy Moore, Principal Planner




 Attachment: Demo Delay March Memo (4945 : Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance)
CC: Teresa Wilson, Missy Gentry, Krista Hampton
Date: February 26, 2019
RE: Demolition Delay Narrative Descriptions

Summary: Below is a narrative description of two options for a demolition delay ordinance
as requested by members of the Economic Development Subcommittee at the December 4th
meeting. Option A is a summary of the proposal that was presented by staff at the August
and October meetings. Option B is a summary of a demolition delay ordinance for individual
structures city-wide. Immediately below are a few items included to inform your
understanding of both options.

Architectural vs. Cultural Significance
When determining the significance of a building, two assessments are always made:
 1. Is the physical construction of the building representative of an architectural style,
 such as Queen Anne, Craftsman, Midcentury Modern, etc.?
 2. Is this building significantly associated with people, events, or movements in history,
 such as Woodrow Wilson, the site at which the Columbia chapter of the NAACP was
 founded, sites associated with the women’s suffrage movement, etc.?

Historic Resources/Architectural Survey
A historic resources survey or architectural survey (terms are used interchangeably) would
produce a list of architecturally significant properties in a given area. According to the South
Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), a historic resources survey is:

 The process of systematically identifying historic properties within the boundaries of
 a specific geographical area, documenting their location and physical characteristics,
 and evaluating their importance within an appropriate historical context. Completing
 a historic resources survey is a multi-part process that consists of designing the
 survey’s goals and parameters, conducting research about the survey area,
 completing fieldwork, data entry and organization, and reporting the findings of the
 survey. 1

Cultural History
A historic resources survey would produce a list of architecturally significant properties in a
given area, however, it would NOT produce the cultural history for each parcel. Parcel
specific cultural history is determined through archival research using items such as deeds,
census records, city directories, oral histories, newspapers, and birth and death records.



1 State of South Carolina Statewide Survey of Historic Properties Manual, page 3,

https://scdah.sc.gov/sites/default/files/Documents/Historic%20Preservation%20(SHPO)/Sur
vey/Survey%20Manual_Dec2018.pdf




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Option A: Demolition Delay Review Applied to Geographic Area
Option A identifies geographic areas for application of a demolition delay overlay and, within
those areas, if a demolition permit is submitted, the structure would be assessed as to
whether it would be subject to a delay period. City Council would apply the original
designation of the area, but staff and the DDRC would conduct the review as to whether the
structure would be subject to the delay period based upon criteria established in the
demolition delay ordinance.

The current proposal encompasses City Center, sections of Gervais, Devine, and North Main
Streets, as well as Historic Columbia’s Eligible Landmark List, and focuses on areas where
significant structures have been identified. All the areas combined encompass approximately




 Attachment: Demo Delay March Memo (4945 : Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance)
400 parcels with structures 50 years or older.

Considerations:
 • Focused on areas with previously identified cultural and architectural resources.
 Many of these areas are adjacent to established historic districts with known cultural
 history that provides context for these areas.
 • Basic architectural surveying of these areas is already complete.
 • City staff, with the help of Historic Columbia, has begun more detailed research into
 cultural history.
 • Area is a manageable size for staff to field and respond to inquiries.
 • Does not capture all potential resources in the City.
 • Cultural research will need to be conducted on a case by case basis (true for either
 option).
 • Property owners do not necessarily know whether their property is subject to
 regulation until a demolition permit is requested.




 Packet Pg. 4
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Option B: Demolition Delay Applied to Individual Structures

Option B would apply demolition delay review to individual buildings, as opposed to all
eligible buildings within a geographic area. Similar to Option A, the criteria for determining
whether a building should be subject to demolition review would be in the ordinance, but
the process of designating each structure would be vested with City Council with staff and
Planning Commission acting in an advisory capacity. Although proposed to be implemented
in a phased manner, this option would require additional historic resources surveys to
identify areas for consideration. For a city-wide survey, staff has estimated that there are
approximately 20,000 structures City-wide that meet the age criteria and would need to be
surveyed. It is estimated that a historic resources survey of this number of parcels would




 Attachment: Demo Delay March Memo (4945 : Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance)
cost between $285,000-$312,500 and take a consulting firm a minimum one to two years
(based on a recently completed architectural survey of approximately 1,200 parcels in
District 1 and estimates received from a consulting firm).

Significant thought needs to be given to how review would be handled prior to survey
completion. It is likely that a survey of this magnitude would be handled in a phased
process. If demolition is not reviewed from the beginning of the survey process, it is likely
that some significant resources will be lost.

Considerations:
 • Captures more significant resources.
 • Applies equally to the entire City.
 • Cultural research will need to be conducted on a case by case basis (true for either
 option).
 • Survey would take a significant amount of resources, time to complete, and staff
 time to complete.
 • Property owners are noticed that their property is subject to a demolition delay
 review.
 • Depending on the number of resources identified for application in each phase,
 additional staff resources would be required. Staff has estimated that between
 60-80 buildings per year would meet the age requirement and require a cursory
 review. Of those 60-80 properties, between 12-14 properties per year would likely
 require a higher level of review.




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Option A: Geographic Area vs. Option B: Applied to Individual Structures

 Option A Option B
 $285,000-$312,500
 Survey Cost $0* (projected)
 1-2 years
 Survey time 200+ hours** (projected)
 minimum 175
 hours***
 City Staff time 100+ hours** (projected)




 Attachment: Demo Delay March Memo (4945 : Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance)
 Number of Parcels in the
 Determined Area 2,500 45,500
 Estimated Number of Resources
 50 years and older 400 20,000
 Known Number of Resources
 with Potential Review 173 unknown
 Number of Demolitions of
 Buildings 50 years and older 8 173
 Number of Demolitions in which
 demolition delay would have
 applied within the last two years 2 33
 *No additional cost other than staff time
 **Staff time 100 hours, Historic Columbia donated time, approximately 100
 hours, includes architectural & some cultural research to date
 ***Estimated time to manage resources survey, conduct public meetings,
 and for procurement




 Packet Pg. 6
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  Option A: Geographic Area and Demolition Review Estimates


 Total Full Buildings Number
 Demolition
 Year Demo 50 years Potentially
 Type
 Permits and Older Reviewed*

 2018 Residential 1 1 0
 2018 Commercial 3 3 1




 Attachment: Demo Delay March Memo (4945 : Proposed Demolition Delay Ordinance)
 2018 Total 4 4 1
 2017 Residential 2 2 0
 2017 Commercial 6 2 1
 2017 Total 8 4 1
 2017/2018 Total 12 8 2
 Average/year 6 4 1
 *Architecturally significant only




Option B: Individual Structures and Demolition Review Estimates

 Buildings 50 Number
 Demolition Total Full Demo
 Year years and Potentially
 Type Permits
 Older Reviewed*
 2018 Commercial 19 11 1
 2018 Residential 35 31 7
 2018 Total 54 42 8
 2017 Commercial 65 54 8
 2017 Residential 86 77 17
 2017** Total 155 131 25
  2017/2018 Total 209 173 33
 Average/Year 104.5 86.5 16.5
 *Architecturally significant only.
 **2014-2016—between 90 and 100 full demolition permits per year.
  2017—Higher than average likely due to 2015 flood & process for FEMA/insurance
 funding/assessments
 2018—lower than average




 Packet Pg. 7