On Tuesday, the Laurens City Council adopted the first pattern book in South Carolina, as a means for builders to cut down the often long, tedious process – which can take months or even years – to get a development design approved.
The book is a 21-page catalogue of home designs and architectural guidelines that allows builders to choose pre-approved options that fit into the character of the city as it exists today.
“The purpose is to incentivize traditional, affordable housing in Laurens’ neighborhoods ‘without overdevelopment,’ avoiding the ‘characterless sprawl’ that could erode the city’s unique identity," according to the city’s website.
Laurens Mayor Nathan Senn said, “One of the things that we deal with a lot is the concerns the community has about if new housing is to be built, how does it fit in with the fabric of the existing community?”
Senn called the pattern book “a common-sense solution to make it easier to do the right thing.”
The pattern book, he said, gives “certainty to builders to know that as long as they're picking it out of the book,” that design would be approved.
But builders can still present new design ideas to Planning officials, just without the guarantee.
“What it is not is a requirement,” Senn said. “We don’t want to squelch creativity. But on the other hand, we want to reinforce that message that Laurens is open for business and try to do common-sense things that encourage good growth.”
Pattern books actually date back to the Renaissance, but they’ve become increasingly popular in Australia and some U.S. states in recent years.
Laurens, however, is the first city in South Carolina to adopt a pattern book for housing growth.
