Four competing options have emerged for overhauling the land-development rule that has sparked court battles over protecting the farms and forests of northern and southern Greenville County from urban sprawl.

While the details differ, environmental groups, citizen activists and Greenville County Councilman Chris Harrison want to impose specific limits on residential development in unzoned areas that cover more than half of the county.

They say that establishing minimum lot sizes of between a half-acre and two acres in rural settings would correct a key shortcoming in the land-development rule known as Article 3.1.

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