Plans and Ordinances
Unified Development Ordinance
Adopted on January 15, 2018, the Unified Development Ordinance combines the Zoning Ordinance, subdivision development, and floodplain regulations into one document. It includes zoning regulations for all land uses in the City limits, as well as regulations for the City's Planning Commission, Design Review Board, and Board of Zoning Appeals.
Comprehensive Plan
The City of Florence Comprehensive Plan is a policy document that plans for and guides future development and redevelopment. South Carolina state law mandates that a comprehensive plan be updated every ten years to determine what has been accomplished and whether the City is heading in the intended direction, or if changes need to be made. Attached is the Comprehensive Plan as adopted by City Council on February 14, 2011.
The updated 2020 Comprehensive Plan is the result of an original 10-month planning and community engagement process that ultimately stretched to more than two years due to the disruption of the COVID-19 global pandemic that began one month after the project kickoff. The Plan’s findings and recommendations focus on the physical and economic aspects of Florence’s projected growth and development in coming years. It provides guiding principles, goals, and action priorities that will help City officials, board/commission appointees, and staff to determine the optimum location, financing, and sequencing of public improvements; administer development regulations; and guide reinvestment efforts. The Plan also provides a basis for coordinating the actions of many different functions and interests within and outside of municipal government. The 2020 City of Florence Comprehensive Plan as adopted by City Council on June 12, 2023 is now available.
Design Guidelines
The City of Florence includes historic neighborhoods whose preservation and restoration are critical to the maintenance of a unique sense of place. There are seven distinct overlay districts which have additional criteria for development in order to ensure that their unique characteristics are preserved. Those criteria are specified in the Design Guidelines for Downtown Florence, SC. Proposed changes to properties within the overlay districts are required to be reviewed by Planning staff and the Design Review Board, when necessary.