Accomplishments • Published 2022 People and the Economy Report.
Town of Edisto Beach Comprehensive Plan The Town of Edisto Beach’s new 2022 Comprehensive Plan is an update of the town’s 2010 plan. The plan was prepared according to the requirements of South Carolina’s Comprehensive Planning Act, describing the history, current state and future vision for the community. The plan has ten elements: population, economic development, natural resources, cultural resources, community facilities, housing, land use, transportation, priority investment and resiliency. To complete the plan, LCOG collected and analyzed town data, coordinated public participation, and developed Professional Development • Won 2022 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for the Lowcountry Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR). • Staff completed several training courses and webinars to learn how to better incorporate resilience in our planning activities. • Staff presented the Lowcountry Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR) project at several national and regional events. • Staff completed the National Highway Institute course "Understanding the Uniform Guidance Requirements (2 CFR 200) for Federal Awards."
• Developed Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Edisto Beach. • Developed Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the Town of Varnville. • Completed Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice for the City of Walterboro. • Created Lowcountry Community Indicators dashboard. • Awarded Safe Streets for All Grant to complete a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. • Awarded funding to implement recommendations from the Lowcountry Military Installation Resilience Review.
Transportation PLANNING &
The LCOG Planning Department has been working hard all year to secure funding for future planning activities.
LCOG was awarded a Safe Streets for All grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan for the region. The plan will be aimed at reducing and eliminating serious injury and fatal crashes in the region. LCOG is looking forward to kicking the plan off in the coming year. After completing the Lowcountry Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR) in 2022, LCOG was invited by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to apply for funding to begin implementing the coastal resilience recommendations from the MIRR. The grant was awarded June 1, and the project kicked off in Summer 2023.
The LCOG Planning Department teamed up with the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry (CFL) and initiated the Lowcountry Community Indicators (LCI) dashboard. The LCI offers more than 100 key indicators for the region that are understandable, meaningful and accessible at lowcountrycommunityindicators.org. The initiative is based on the belief that community indicators with timely data allow users and the organizations they represent to make more informed decisions about where the needs are and how resources should be allocated. LCOG hopes users spend time with the website and consider additional ways they can use the data to positively impact the Lowcountry region.
Town of Varnville Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
The Town of Varnville CEDS is a strategy-driven plan, intended to contribute to effective economic development. LCOG prepared a plan that is consistent with the Lowcountry Economic Development District (LEDD)’s CEDS, as required by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The plan highlights the economic development conditions that shape the town’s competitiveness – location, cultural resources, natural resources, demographics, infrastructure assets, economy, natural hazards and the COVID-19 pandemic. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was used to help identify the critical internal and external factors that speak to the town’s unique assets and competitive positioning. Goals
By the Numbers 208 Certifications • Projects: 63 • Housing units: 5,008 • Commercial and industrial projects: 13
Grants/Contracts • Transportation planning (LATS & rural combined): $955,891 • Community planning services: $50,000 • 208 conformance review: $14,678 • Lowcountry Community Indicators dashboard: $50,000
Transportation Projects (funds committed between 2022 to 2026): • Miles of roads, bridges and highway projects: 415.05 • Amount invested in construction: $1,072,417,850
goals and implementation time frames along with possible funding strategies. The final Comprehensive Plan provides a 10-year future vision which will guide land use planning policies intended to balance community values and character with future growth and development.
and implementation strategies were developed to help guide the planning process for the town’s economic prosperity and resiliency.
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