The last public opinions were voiced on the city’s Unified Development Code Thursday. Next the code will be picked apart by the Board of Zoning and Appeals.

Over two public meetings Mayor Dan Cougill said there were no significant changes, instead more clarifications to the code. The public’s biggest concern with the code was its amortization process, Cougill said.

The process says in an area that is zoned residential but has an industrial business, that business must move.

However, if the business can prove they were established prior to any zoning regulations in Charleston they are “grandfathered,” or allowed to remain on the property, Cougill said.

If not, the business must move. The public concern lay in the amortization time clock that determines how much time a business has to either relocate or turn the business into a residential property, which is decided by the zoning board and the owner of the business.

Together they evaluate when the business will break even based on investment, maintenance and upkeep among other factors. Whether their time clock is five months, 12 years or more, it does not matter, Cougill said.

The zoning board will meet Nov. 21 to discuss the code, and once it is finished meeting, the code will face the City Council, but Cougill said there is no time limit for the board to review the code.

“It’s going to be interesting whether we can push it through or not,” he said.

The reworking of the code is a first since its creation in 1969 and encompasses a number of zoning issues in Charleston, which include some pertinent to college students such as the limit of the number of unrelated people that live together.

For the past 33 years, the maximum number of unrelated people allowed to live in a residence was three. The new code states, however, the maximum number of people allowed to live together is dependent on the number of parking spaces available.

No more than two people per bedroom can live in a house, but the more parking spaces available, the more people can live at a residence.

Another item highlighting the code is the regulation of signs. Previously, there were no rules on the limit or size of a sign, but the reworked code sets specific limits on sign height area and number.

The regulations are a step to maintain a hometown atmosphere and move away from a highly commercialized area. With the limitations, the city will ensure Charleston stays a walkable community.