Richland County Council on Nov. 4 approved an ordinance creating the Olympia Neighborhood Character Overlay District and voted to deny a proposed temporary moratorium extension covering demolition, new construction, rezoning and rehabilitation in the Olympia Mill Village area.

Attorney Wright, the county attorney, told council that “15c is the temporary moratorium extension. You and 14a actually approved the overlay, so the moratorium is no longer necessary,” and recommended the council vote to deny the moratorium extension because the overlay had been approved.

Council members debated the procedural effect of the overlay and the moratorium but made no substantive changes to the overlay ordinance on the floor. A motion to deny item 15c (the moratorium extension) was made, seconded and approved by roll call vote. The clerk recorded the vote as yes from Branham, Pugh, Little, Livingston, Weaver, Cooper, Mackie, English and Newton; the motion carried.

The overlay ordinance was the subject of a public hearing earlier in the meeting; no members of the public signed up to speak during the hearing. Attorney Wright’s explanation that the moratorium was intended as a temporary measure “if you didn’t either approve it tonight or if you extended it, that the moratorium stay in place” was read into the record prior to the denial vote.

What happens next: With the council’s approval of the overlay and the denial of the moratorium extension, projects and permitting in the Olympia Mill Village area will proceed under the new overlay rules as adopted by the ordinance. The council did not direct staff to take further action on the moratorium.

(Reporting note: council attorneys and staff discussed county code sections and state law during the meeting; the council did not adopt additional moratorium language during the Nov. 4 session.)