Planning

Please call 843-285-7533 or email planning@summervillesc.gov for an appointment prior to visiting Town Hall due to ongoing COVID-19 related effects. To request a plot plan of your property please submit a FOIA request by clicking here.

The Planning Department guides the physical growth and well being of the Town of Summerville. In addition to its planning functions, the Department oversees the Town’s zoning and land use policies and promotes the community as an attractive location for business and quality real estate development.

Staff provides planning support, technical assistance, coordination and advisory services on issues involving: 

  • Annexation
  • Historic preservation
  • Land use planning
  • Open space land preservation
  • Smart growth
  • Zoning

Codes & Ordinances

The process is governed through the development and implementation of community plans, and enforcement of adopted Town Unified Development Ordinance.

Technical Review Committee (TRC)

TRC includes staff from the Planning, Engineering, Building, and Fire Departments. Representatives from the major utility providers (water, sewer, electric, SCDOT) are also invited to attend.

The TRC is the final decision-making authority for certain site plans, subdivision site plans, and final plats. A pre-application conference with the TRC is also now required prior to DRB, BAR (major), site plan or subdivision site plan, preliminary subdivision plat, final plat, PUD, or rezoning application being submitted. If not applicable (as deemed by Town staff), this pre-application conference requirement can be waived. Chapter 13 of the UDO provides more details on these requirements.

The TRC meetings will be held the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month starting at 9 a.m. via Zoom, and the submittal deadline is a week in advance of the next regularly scheduled meeting.  At minimum, you will need an existing conditions survey (including trees and wetlands, if any) and a conceptual site plan for most TRC applications. Submittals should be done through the Town’s online Citizenserve portal.

Comprehensive Plan

Summerville: Our Town, Our Future will create a blueprint for the community – this Comprehensive Plan update will guide the Town in its decision making over the next 20 years!

What is Summerville: Our Town, Our Future?

As a Comprehensive Plan for the Town, Summerville: Our Town, Our Future will contain the vision, goals, and objectives intended to guide the Town until 2040. The Comprehensive Plan will result in a set of policies that direct future growth and development. Additionally, the creation of the plan will lead to strategies and recommendations that will help effectively guide Town leaders in making informed and thoughtful decisions for the community.

What are the contents of a Comprehensive Plan?

A typical Comprehensive Plan outlines the existing conditions of the Town, describes future goals and objectives for development, and includes an action plan on how to achieve these goals and objectives. Summerville: Our Town, Our Future will address the following:

  • Community Profile/Population
  • Land Use
  • Economic Development
  • Housing & Neighborhoods
  • Transportation & Mobility
  • Community Facilities & Infrastructure
  • Natural Resources, Resiliency, Parks & Open Space
  • Cultural Resources
  • Priority Investments

Who is involved in creating the plan?

As a guidance document for the Town, it is critical that all of Summerville’s stakeholders are involved in the development of the Comprehensive Plan. The Town is committed to involving residents, businesses, and workers in the planning process, in order to craft a community vision for Summerville’s future. Ultimately, Summerville: Our Town, Our Future will be presented to the Planning Commission and considered for adoption by the Town Council.

We already have other plans. What will happen to those?

Existing plans are an important part of the Comprehensive Plan process. These previous plans will inform Summerville: Our Town, Our Future, and in some cases will be incorporated into the plan, if the goals and vision are still consistent with the community’s goals and aspirations.