Agenda - 02-15-2011 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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21 that have historically been flagged as problematic, including "contract zoning' (in which a developer may offer inducements as part of a proposal for rezoning... great park land or something of that sort) in order to seduce the elected board to accept the proposal. That approach, too, has been found to be problematic if the elected board has not looked at all the possibilities and reasons for/against the project and how the rezoning would square with the comprehensive plan. I've attached a separate excerpt from Dave Owens at the UNC School of Government relating to spot zoning for your information. d. *Conditional Use Districts* (NOT YET "Conditional Districts"). Conditional use zoning districts have been expressly authorized by the state legislature as a means of avoiding the perils that might arise from these kinds of dynamics. In effect, *conditional use districts* (we'll get to "conditional districts" later, so stay with me here)... *Conditional use districts*are generally set up as a kind of "parallel universe" to standard zoning districts. That is, for example, if there's a standard industrial district (call it the *Standard Industrial 1-One District*) it might allow as of right a whole variety of uses... lumber yards, quarries, warehouses, printing plants, breweries. Imagine in the parallel universe a *Conditional Use Industrial 1-One District* that a developer might also consider, but in that instance, the developer would only seek rezoning to permit *one* of the listed uses (maybe a *warehouse* but *not a printing plant, quarry, or brewery*). The developer then could either (a) seek rezoning of a particular local to *Conditional Use Industrial I-One District* designation, and, if approved, could only use the site for a warehouse. Alternatively (bj the developer could seek redevelopment to the *Standard Industrial I-One District* in which the full range of uses would be allowed as of right. In most cases, having these two options available is better public policy because it allows more tailored authorization of only particularized uses not a broader range of uses. In addition, the "Conditional Use District" approach typically includes an opportunity to combine a *conditional use permit* along with the targeted *conditional use district* (the one that would only allow the warehouse). As a result, there's a double layer of very targeted and nuanced requirements. First, the elected board has considerable discretion to say "yes" or "no" to the rezoning to conditional use district (seen as a legislative determination and difficult to overturn on appeal if the elected board says no to the rezoning); in addition, the elected board gets to impose detailed requirements on the project (such as buffers, site plans, planting requirements, etc.) to be sure that surrounding properties are protected. The reference that Larry made to the Dave Owens (School of Government) publication may be unclear because it only says that the judicial standards relating to spot zoning need to be applied if a given small area is rezoned (whether to a new general district or to a new conditional use district). That's not unreasonable. The fact is that the *conditional use district* approach allows governing boards to use a scalpel in deciding whether to permit a different use (rather than a whole band of new uses including some that might not fit). e. *Conditional use districts in Orange County: Wegner views.* I, for one, think we need conditional use zoning districts but in more focused arenas that have currently been proposed. I'm attaching comments I sent to staff earlier this week on that point. I'm also attaching the speedway small area plan and an earlier presentation on agriculture support enterprises (both important initiatives that are currently stalled and which had anticipated using conditional use districting structures in order to achieve important objectives). I just wanted to go on the record assaying that the Planning Board has historically encouraged staff to move forward with conditional use districts as a means of implementing these and other projects. I think that this point (as I said in the note to staff this week, attached) that we would do well to develop conditional use districts in targeted arenas (rather than employing them everywhere in the county) because we could then more clearly explain their function and importance to achieve substantive objectives. Let me provide some examples. First as to the *Speedway Small Area