S.C. Sea Grant Consortium
Landscaped development with pond and walking path.

Population Growth and Land Use in South Carolina

As the population of coastal South Carolina increases and changes, local communities, landowners, and organizations must work strategically to identify, design, and conserve their land network in order to maintain healthy wildlife and human communities.

The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium provides science-based information to prioritize land that should be conserved or restored, and also point to areas that are more appropriate for development.

Low Impact Development

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Nature-Based Solution Manual for Kiawah Island

This manual represents several years of research and engagement by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and partner organizations and highlights nature-based solutions to strengthen human and wildlife community resilience. These practices were vetted by scientific and management experts in the region and were narrowed down to those shown in the document following community engagement. Some of the research projects conducted on the island are also highlighted in the report.

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Low Impact Development in Coastal South Carolina: a Planning and Design Guide

This comprehensive manual on implementing low impact development practices provides engineering tools, planning guidance, and case study examples that are relevant to the South Carolina coastal zone.

The overall goal of this project is to provide local decision makers with the knowledge and resources to apply LID practices on the community, neighborhood, and site scale (2014).

Community Planning

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Citizens’ Guide to Community Planning: Greater Myrtle Beach Region

Cities and counties plan in order to identify important community issues (e.g. new growth, housing needs, and environmental protection), project future demand for services (e.g. sewer, water, roads), anticipate potential problems, and establish goals and policies for directing and managing growth. Local governments use a variety of tools discussed in this document to address such issues within the organized framework of local planning procedures established by the State of South Carolina.

This guide is a basic primer for the land-use planning techniques deployed by the eight government bodies in Horry County. Includes a section on special purpose zoning districts and other planning tools, as well as a land-use codes matrix for each municipality (2008).

Community Education

The South Carolina Coastal Information Network

The purpose of SCCIN is to coordinate coastal community outreach efforts in South Carolina. The network includes federal and state agencies, regional government agencies and private organizations working together to deliver outreach programs.

This collaboration avoids duplication of efforts and minimizes the number of meetings/workshops that community leaders and staff are asked to attend, leverages scarce resources, and maximizes program benefits and expected outcomes.

Population Growth and Land Use Articles