2010-032b Planning - Contract Professional Services Related to Orange County Unified Development Ordinance

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Issues Summary FORMALIZE THE TECHNICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE Several people interviewed at the expressed support for a formalized Technical Review Committee (TRC). The TRC should be a group of key town staff members from various departments such as planning, inspections, engineering, and fire who review and comment on site plans submitted to the town. Depending upon the size of the proposed use or type of site plan application,TRC members currently provide review comments directly to applicants or to the Planning Department In cases where comments are provided directly to an applicant, there is the possibility for inconsistency between comments from different departments. Under the current process, the applicant is often required to mediate between two or more different departments on conflicting review comments—which can add additional time and frustration to the review process. We suggest the role and responsibilities of the TRC be formalized and codified in the new UDO to address these kinds of problems. Under the provisions in the new UDO, the TRC would be recognized as a formal review and decision-making body responsible for commenting on various applications (e.g., vested rights, planned developments, beneficial use determinations, etc.), as well as decision-making responsibilities for Type II Site Plans_ In addition, it is recommended the TRC develop a regular meeting schedule and conduct all pre-application conferences(following submittal of a pre-application request and required materials). REFINE CERTAIN DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCEDURES Add a Two-Tier Administrative Adjustment Procedure One of the recurring themes during the stakeholder interviews was the need for flexibility in application of some of the zoning ordinance provisions as a means of encouraging development or redevelopment The need for this kind of flexibility is underscored by the town's customer-friendly culture and its desire to find ways of accommodating development requests. The intersection of the desire to facilitate development requests with the current code's lack of clarity and flexibility have led to confusion on the part of development applicants and town staff. One of the ways to address these problems(in addition to adding clarity to the development standards and review procedures)is to include mechanisms in the town's development review toolbox that provide for more flexibility in the development review process. One tool many communities use to streamline development review and allow greater flexibility is an administrative adjustment This is a method of allowing a minor departure from a dimensional standard (like a setback) or development standards (like the amount of required parking) in cases where such departure better serves the intent of the zoning ordinance or long range planning document These kinds of departures from standards are reviewed and approved administratively based upon an established set of clear measurable criteria. They are accomplished outside of the variance process, and as such, do not rely on demonstration of a "hardship". The administrative adjustment process provides a "safety valve" to address unintended consequences resulting from application of the development standards or situations where an alternative approach that differs from the minimum development standards provides a higher development quality overall,or results in a condition that is closer in alignment with the goals of the CAMA Land Use Plan. We recommend the new UDO be supplemented with a formalized two-tier administrative adjustment process. Minor requests to deviate or depart from a dimensional or numeric standard in the-UDO by ten percent or less would be considered as a "Type I Administrative Adjustment" and would be reviewed and approved administratively by the Planning Director. "Type II Administrative Adjustments"are requests to deviate from numerical standards by more than 10 percent but less than 25 percent, and are reviewed by the Planning Board;even in cases when the use is subject to Type I or Type 11 Site Plan review. Add a Beneficial Use Determination Over the previous 15 years, many local governments have included a procedure in their land use regulations that allows any landowner who believes the application of the regulations results in a"taking"of their property to seek administrative relief from the local elected body. This procedure is called a beneficial use determination. The procedure is based on United States Supreme Court decisions that state local governments may establish procedures by which they can assess "takings" claims before they go to court and offer relief if the regulations are found to amount to a taking—that is,the regulations deny all economically beneficial use of property. The current zoning regulations do not include a beneficial use determination procedure. We recommend the town consider adding this new procedure or a similar procedure in the new UDO because it amounts to a safety net against federal takings claims and provides a less onerous means for property owners to secure relief than filing a lawsuit. Hillsborough,North Carolina Unified Development Ordinance I Draft Annotated Outline Page 9 November,2009 it it