Construction & Remodeling
Contact Design/Development Review Commission Staff
The first step when planning a project in the neighborhood is to contact the staff of the DDRC for an initial consultation: Kristina Poston at 803-545-3216 or kristina.poston@columbiasc.gov. This will allow the staff to help guide your project towards successful solutions that will simplify the whole process. The initial meeting may only take a few minutes, but those few minutes will save you lots of time, discussion, and plan revisions in the future. The DDRC staff can also recommend additional staff reviews that might facilitate approval of your plan.
Develop Your Plan
Work with your architect, contractor, or designer to develop a plan for your project. The DDRC will need to see an actual drawing of your proposed work. Consult the Earlewood Protection Area Design Guidelines as you develop your plans. Many projects that meet the Guidelines can be approved by the DDRC on the Consent Agenda, which simplifies the review process (see below).
Contact the Neighborhood
(This step is recommended but not required) In Earlewood, the Earlewood Design Protection Area Committee (EDPAC) accepts project proposals for comment by the Earlewood Community Citizen’s Organization (ECCO). While the official comments of ECCO will come from the President, the committee members and the officers are involved in preparing those comments.
Apply to DDRC
Consult the DDRC Board Listings to determine your application deadline. Prepare the materials and provide them to the DDRC using the application and the guidelines. Visit the website.
If your project is on the Consent Agenda, then you may not need to attend the meeting. On the day of the meeting, you will need to be available by telephone. Since the Consent Agenda is approved at the beginning of the DDRC meeting, staff will call you immediately if your project is pulled off of the Consent Agenda, so that you will have time to get to City Hall in time for the hearing on your project. Otherwise, staff will call you mid-meeting to tell you that your case was approved and you will not need to appear.
If your project is not on the Consent Agenda, then attend the meeting. A Guide to the Hearings is available. Based on the decision by the DDRC, staff will issue a written approval for your project within a few days, but please call before coming in to pick it up.
Following are tried-and-true internet resources to help you work on your special Earlewood home.