Planning

From busy highways and rural intersections planning, to programs that preserve and improve water quality, long-term regional planning is a significant part of what WRCOG does.

Local Planning Assistance

WRCOG’s staff provides technical assistance to boards, commissions, councils and government staff throughout the agency’s three-county region. It’s services help with the creation of the following:

• Comprehensive plans
• Grant Writing and Administration
• Zoning ordinances
• Development regulations
• Planning studies
• Hazard mitigation plans

Transportation Planning

Waccamaw Regional, along with the SC Department of Transportation, provides planning staff to the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study (GSATS) Policy Committee. The committee is the group in charge of creating long-range transportation plans for the region. The 24-member GSATS Policy Committee has approximately $7.6 million a year to spend on projects. The GSATS Transportation Improvement Program includes 75 projects programmed with funding available for 2019.

Though not mandated by federal law like its urban counterpart, rural transportation currently receives about $3 million in annual funding at the regional level. Distribution and planning are overseen by Waccamaw Regional’s Board of Directors.

To view GSATS Policy Committee Agenda’s, click here.

Air & Water Quality

Waccamaw Regional is also responsible for the development of environmental plans and initiatives.  The agency is responsible for the region’s Section 208 water quality management program, which assists local governments and other community stakeholders with implementing actions recommended to improve water quality in the area. It also coordinates regional air quality meetings where participants discuss regional air quality concerns and gather input from stakeholders.

Air Quality Coalition meetings are held quarterly and are open to any member of the public, local industry, municipality or other agency that has an interest in air quality issues.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

WRCOG collects, analyzes and maps data for planning studies. Over the past year, GIS has been used for land use analysis, transportation studies, water and sewer studies, community profiles and corridor development plans. A Global Positioning System (GPS) is often used for data collection.