Panel backs limits on homes on Lake Murray peninsula

A limit on the number of new homes that could be built on a popular Lake Murray peninsula won the endorsement Thursday of the Lexington County Planning Commission.

The panel’s support sets the stage for County Council to adopt the changes as soon as July. The change would reduce the number of homes allowed per acre from up to 12 to four on some of the nearly 700 undeveloped sites affected.

The move also prevents stores and offices from locating there, although exceptions can be made by county leaders.

Concern about too much traffic led some commission members to set aside misgivings about the idea.

Commission chairman Andy White of Lexington, a home builder, said improved road safety that development limits would create “makes sense” even though the restrictions are more far-reaching than anywhere else in the steadily growing 758-square-mile county.

Supporters call the plan a way to save scenery and reduce congestion on a wooded peninsula with picturesque views of the 47,500-acre lake.

The 15-square-mile area is home for nearly 4,700 residents, up 400 since the 2010 census, officials at the Central Midlands Council of Governments estimate. There are nearly 1,850 homes, up from 1,700 in 2010, the analysis adds.

Residents who support the limits are concerned that the largely rural area will change significantly soon as Lexington-Richland 5 officials consider putting an elementary school there.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Panel backs limits on homes on Lake Murray peninsula."