В графстве Дорчестер запланировано строительство более 14 000 новых жилых единиц для удовлетворения спроса

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — Dorchester County is booming and local planners say more than 14,000 new housing units are already in the works to keep pace with the rapid growth. In the last 6 years, the population has grown more than 12%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and in the next 10 years, it is expected to surpass 180,000. The growth is a byproduct of the popularity of the wider Tri-county region. With explosive growth comes an ever-increasing demand for housing. The county modestly projects they’ll need about 22,000 new homes, condos and apartments to keep up with demand over the next 20 years. And they appear to be on track. “The forecast that we saw showed that the Tri-County region is expected to see an influx of about 270,000 people in the next 20 years, which accounts for about 102,000 households,” Kiera Reinertsen said. “I think Dorchester County, for our part, we’re expected to be able to meet the needs for our portion of accommodating that influx of population.” Reinertsen is the director of the Dorchester County Planning and Zoning Department. She says more than 14,000 homes have been planned across the state’s 9th largest county. “That isn’t representing everything that’s entitled, where we don’t necessarily know the number of units because they haven’t been designed and platted yet,” Reinertsen said. “That is only those developments where we either have a concrete number through a zoning entitlement, like a PD [planned development], or where they have come through with their development plans and we can easily quantify and show that data.” Not all 14,000 homes are houses. In some cases, the approved plans are single-family homes; in others, they’re multi-family apartments or mixed housing. The county uses the term “units” to describe a home for an individual or family, be it a house, apartment, condo, etc. Where is all this development going, you might ask? The county tracks all of these plans on an interactive website that lays out each development and the plans for the properties. Unsurprisingly, housing is being built everywhere. Many of the developments are underway while others haven’t even started clearing trees yet. The largest of the projects is The Ponds, where 1950 homes are being built, of which 1,021 have already been built. Meanwhile, Orangeburg Road is one of the more recent areas to feature new development. The Yerby tract is, by far, the largest of the undeveloped areas, with a planned 1,634 homes on 605 acres. However, if you’re looking for the area with the most planned growth, look no further than the area around Summers Corner. Only a small fraction of the 5,178 homes have been built across six major developments. The area between Beech Hill Road and Delmar Way is expected to take on 3,835 more homes. The timeline to develop the properties is not fixed. Some projects are already underway, while others are still 15-20 years from being shovel-ready, according to Reinertsen. Part of that has to do with the county’s infrastructure plans that are critical for making sure new homes have access to everything from power to water to emergency services. Reinertsen says the county recently updated its water and sewer master plans. Meanwhile, taxpayers approved a tax referendum that provides $700 million for roads.” “For every major subdivision, developers are expected to do a transportation impact analysis. That will identify improvements that they have to make specific to their development,” Reinertsen said. “We’ve done what are called development agreements. Those agreements are between developers and the county. We had two subdivisions, The Ponds, as well as Summer’s Corner, where they’ve actually provided land and funding for fire stations. The Ponds [fire station] has been operational for years. Summer’s Corner fire station’s about to open.” In order for the homes to go up, trees have to come down. Reinertsen says they are aware of how important the natural environment is and have taken it into account. “We like to see trees protected and preserved as often as we can,” Reinertsen said. “When the county did the sales tax referendum back in 22, we put aside $700 million for transportation projects, but we also set aside $35 million for conservation projects. We’ve actually had very good success with our conservation green belt program.” If you would like to take a close look at the development happening around your home, you can check out the county’s map for yourself here.