by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
At a public hearing on October 27, 2026, the Planning Commission unanimously passed a resolution expanding eligibility for administrative waivers for installing air conditioning equipment, emergency generators, and solar energy system components.
Currently, certain limitations related to impermeable coverage, vegetation removal, and developed area apply to HVAC equipment, emergency electrical power generators, and solar energy system components. The proposed amendment would allow properties to qualify for administrative waivers regardless of when they were developed, provided they meet established eligibility criteria.
The proposed amendments are designed to promote sustainable, resilient development within the City. The expansion of the administrative waiver provision is intended to provide relief from the maximum impermeable coverage and developed area/vegetation removal provisions in the Land Development Code – limited to the minimum necessary – for property that contains special constraints, limitations, or a hardship as defined in the eligibility criteria. In such cases, relief from these provisions is meant to facilitate the addition of certain mechanical equipment that improves responsiveness and preparedness to the threat of tropical storms.
The amendments nevertheless intend to maintain the environmental protection and overall development pattern goals accomplished by maximum impermeable coverage and developed area/vegetation removal provisions by retaining the eligibility criteria established in the Code, effectively limiting the waiver’s applicability to only those properties found to meet the criteria. The amendments also serve to complement the elevation requirements of the City’s Floodplain Management Ordinance.
Comment here