Tweaking the lake overlay

The more diverse public comment heard by the Oconee planning commissioners the better decisions the commission, as a whole, can make when it comes to future home development on Lake Keowee. That’s the view today of Josh Stephens, the Oconee County zoning administrator following last night’s commission meeting. The commissioners reached no decision about what change, if any, should be made to as to the minimum size for shoreline lots. In their public comment session, the commissioners heard some differing opinion. Builder Brad Kisker, member of the board of the Homebuilders Association of Oconee, urged the commission to resist from increasing the minimum lot size. He told the commission that the national trend in homebuilding favors smaller, more efficient homes that require less maintenance. But others, such as Ben Turetsky of FOLKS—Friends of Lake Keowee—put in a good word for a requirement that lots be at least three-quarters of an acre or one acre. The “FOLKS” executive director got support from Jim Codner of Advocates for Quality Development. Larger minimum lot size is, as Codner put it, “something I can buy into.”