Stratton Drive: A Proposal for Townhouses
South Creek Land Co. is asking to annex a piece of property currently zoned under Florence County and rezone it NC-6.3 within the city. The land is an old, unused tennis court. The plan calls for attached single family townhouses.
The site sits next to existing single family homes and a church. City water and sewer are already available there, and a separate townhouse sketch plan would still need approval before construction could start.
City staff recommended approval, describing the project as infill housing that adds another housing option in an established area. This case was delayed back in August so the developer could meet with neighboring residents before it came back to the Commission.
Of everything on this month's agenda, this is the item most likely to shape a residential neighborhood going forward.
Noise Rules Are Getting Consolidated
The city is proposing to pull noise and vibration regulations out of the Unified Development Ordinance and fold them into the general Code of Ordinances. The goal is to resolve conflicts between the two sets of rules and give police and code enforcement one clear standard to work from.
Most of the change is administrative. One detail worth noting: commercial districts would get an extra hour of higher daytime and evening noise limits, moving the cutoff from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. The proposal also includes exceptions for downtown events, along with measurement procedures for vibration complaints.
Downtown business owners and residents living near entertainment venues are the two groups most likely to feel this change.
Two Routine Annexations
A single family house at 221 North Lakewood Drive and a vacant lot at 2509 West Edgefield Road are both up for annexation into the city. Both would carry NC-15 zoning. The Lakewood Drive property would stay a single family residence. The Edgefield Road lot would become the site of one new detached single family house.
Both sit in residential areas with city water and sewer already available. Staff recommended approval on both, calling them straightforward residential infill.
An Emergency-Only Entrance Near Palmetto Cove
Palmetto Cove is a proposed subdivision in Florence County, outside city limits, with its main access planned off Arthur Road. Florence County requires the development to have a second emergency entrance, and the developer is asking to build that connection through the end of Carriage Place Drive, an existing city cul-de-sac.
The plan calls for a gated entrance, 20 feet wide, built to support fire truck access, and closed to everyday through traffic. City staff found the concept meets the Unified Development Ordinance. A more detailed development plan would still go through further staff review.
Residents on Carriage Place will want to keep an eye on this one to make sure the access stays limited to emergencies, as proposed.
What We Don't Know Yet
The city has not yet posted approved minutes from this meeting, and the September 8 livestream does not yet have a searchable transcript. Final vote totals on each item should be treated as pending until the city releases the official minutes or finishes processing the recording. HelloFlorenceSC will update this article once that information is available.
Sources: City of Florence Planning Commission agenda packet, September 8, 2026. Official minutes and livestream archive available through the city's agendas and minutes portal.