City to Hold Final Vote on New Unified Development Ordinance
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson City Council at the regular 6 p.m. Monday will give final vote to a new Unified Development Ordinance document, which aims to guide growth and manage the kind of growth desired as the area grows.
The ordinance, drawing from the goals set forth in the City’s Comprehensive Plan, aim to chart the future of development and expansion.
At its heart, the new ordinance is an attempt to turn a growing city’s ambitions into enforceable rules. Across 279 pages, it combines zoning, subdivision, land-use, parking, signs, landscaping, tree preservation, historic preservation and approval procedures into one code, a single operating manual for how the Electric City may grow. The draft, prepared by Houseal Lavigne and dated July 10, 2026, would be effective immediately if approved by council.
The ordinance’s governing idea is orderly growth: development that makes room for homes, businesses and industry while protecting neighborhoods, historic places, infrastructure and the natural landscape. It seeks to reduce street congestion, prevent overcrowding, ensure adequate public services and translate the city’s comprehensive plan into rules that apply parcel by parcel. The official zoning map would become the document of record, maintained by the Planning and Transportation Division; when its rules conflict with others, the more restrictive standard generally prevails.
The proposed code divides Anderson into a clearer set of districts with distinct purposes. Rural, suburban and neighborhood residential districts would range from very low-density areas that permit farming to more traditional neighborhoods on smaller lots. Minimum lot sizes would range from 40,000 square feet in Rural Residential to 8,000 square feet in Neighborhood Residential.
Mixed-residential and multifamily districts would allow a broader range of housing — small-lot homes, duplexes, townhouses, cottage courts and apartments — with an emphasis on compact, pedestrian-oriented development.
Neighborhood Commercial, General Commercial and Central Business District zones would establish different scales of commerce. The downtown district is designed for an urban form, with buildings close to the sidewalk, active ground-floor storefronts, upper-floor housing and a continuous street wall that gives downtown a denser, more walkable character.
Light and heavy industrial districts would separate industrial activity from incompatible residential and commercial uses while steering development toward major roads and campus-style settings. Public-institutional and park-and-open-space districts would cover schools, government facilities, utilities, civic uses and recreation.
The ordinance also preserves two overlays: a Historic Overlay District, intended to protect the city’s architectural inheritance, and a Planned Development Overlay District, which gives developers flexibility in exchange for a more comprehensive design.
One of the draft’s most consequential themes is that Anderson’s housing future should not be confined to the familiar equation of a detached house or a large apartment complex.
The ordinance creates room for cottage courts — clusters of four to 12 small, detached homes arranged around a shared courtyard — as well as townhouses, duplexes, three- and four-unit buildings, larger multifamily developments and live-work units. Cottage-court homes would be capped at 1,800 square feet, grouped around a common open space of at least 2,500 square feet, and connected by walkways; parking would generally sit behind the homes.
Accessory dwelling units, sometimes called backyard cottages or garage apartments, would be allowed with single-family homes across a wide range of residential districts. Only one would be permitted per lot, it would need a permanent foundation, and the property owner would have to live either in the main house or the accessory unit for at least six months each year. Rentals would have to last at least 30 days.
The code also allows home occupations, but with limits intended to preserve the residential character of neighborhoods: no exterior signs, only resident employees, no more than one client at a time by appointment, and a maximum of 25 percent of the home’s floor area devoted to the business.
Downtown receives a deliberate treatment, where, in the Central Business District, there would be no required minimum lot size or width, and buildings could sit directly at the sidewalk, with a maximum front setback of five feet. New buildings would need to stand at least 20 feet tall, reflecting the ordinance’s preference for an urban downtown rather than a collection of isolated, low-slung structures set behind parking lots.
In historic districts — including Boulevard, Westside, Anderson, Downtown and North Anderson — the ordinance would require new work to follow the city’s historic design guidelines. A new home’s front setback would generally match the average setback of its immediate neighbors. Building height would be capped at 35 feet, and street-facing fences would be limited to wrought iron or wood pickets; vinyl, chain link, exposed concrete block and other materials would be prohibited.
The goal is not to freeze older neighborhoods in place, but to make new construction look as if it understands where it has arrived. Parking for residences would be pushed to the side or rear, screened from the street, and driveways would be steered toward materials such as gravel, exposed aggregate, decomposed granite or ribbon paving.
Much of the ordinance concerns the small decisions that collectively determine whether a city feels coherent or improvised.
Restaurants and bars with outdoor dining would be limited to operating that outdoor area from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; when beside residential property, they would need a buffer and could not locate on a local road. Drive-through lanes would be placed at the side or rear of buildings, not in front, with prescribed stacking spaces intended to keep traffic from spilling onto streets or sidewalks. A restaurant drive-through, for example, would require at least six stacking spaces per order box.
Food-truck courts would need at least three stalls, electrical service rather than generators, seating, landscaping and separation from parking. Temporary food trucks would be permitted under rules designed to protect sidewalks, fire lanes and vehicle circulation.
The rules also reach gas stations, car washes, self-storage facilities, cell towers, outdoor storage, solar panels, gardens, parking decks and donation boxes. A new cell tower, for instance, would generally be prohibited outside commercial and industrial districts unless it uses an existing structure; new towers must accommodate at least one additional carrier and are subject to detailed height, setback, screening and lighting standards.
The proposed Planned Development overlay may become one of the ordinance’s most important tools, allowing someone to apply for larger projects — at least three acres for residential or mixed-use development, five acres for commercial projects and 25 acres for industrial projects — and would give the city latitude to approve departures from standard zoning rules.
But flexibility comes with demands. A planned development would have to align with the comprehensive plan, analyze traffic, establish a recognizable identity, provide connected streets and multimodal access, protect or enhance natural features, include social gathering space and avoid harming historic or cultural resources. It would also have to demonstrate at least one additional public benefit, such as affordability, accessible design, environmental sustainability or stronger architecture and urban design.
The ordinance is the city proposing a bargain with its citizens. Anderson can grow, build more kinds of homes, invite commerce and accommodate industry, but development must do more than occupy land. It must address its neighbors, its streets, its trees, its history and the people who will live with its consequences long after construction crews have left.
