Agenda - 02-28-2011 - C.1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment 1 239 Unified Development Ordinance Questions & Answers 1. What is the Unified Development Ordinance? The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) is a document that combines all regulations pertaining to land development into one integrated document. The following existing Orange County Ordinances are included in the UDO and will be repealed as part of the LIDO adoption process: Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations, Environmental Impact Ordinance, Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control ordinance, Stormwater Ordinance, and Economic Development Districts Design Manual (technically part of the Zoning Ordinance but available as a separate document). The UDO primarily incorporates existing text from the existing regulations. Changes from existing text are noted via 5tr ikathr ougi i text, color coded text, and foots iate3. Additionally, a Comparative Table that lists the sections of all existing incorporated regulations and in which section of the UDO the text can be found is available. 2. Are there changes from existing regulations in the UDO? Yes, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorized specific changes to existing regulation as part of this phase of the UDO. The authorized changes are to Landscaping, Buffers, and Tree Protection; Signage; Parking, Loading, and Circulation; and Stream Buffers. Additionally, the BOCC authorized creation of Conditional Zoning Districts and a Conditional Use District. Staff is also suggesting that the provisions of the existing Stormwater Ordinance apply county -wide. Currently, the Stormwater Ordinance applies only in the Neuse River Basin. However, because of upcoming changes to the Jordan Lake Rules (Jordan Lake is located in the Cape Fear River Basin), staff has written the UDO's Stormwater provisions to apply county -wide so that an additional text revision should not be necessary to accommodate the anticipated outcome of the Jordan Lake Rules. 3. What are some of the more significant changes in the regulations? A procedure for the vacation of recorded plats and road abandonment has been added to the UDO (Section 2.17). There is not a process in the existing regulations and this has caused issues in the past with neither staff nor applicants knowing what should be done to vacate a plat or abandon a road. The Landscaping, Buffers, and Tree Protection regulations (Section 6.8) have been re- written and re- organized to be more user - friendly. As proposed, the new standards are more clearly articulated and will include better graphics for ease of use. Changes from the existing regulations include, but are not limited to, specific planting requirements for each buffer type and the ability to receive credit for existing vegetation preserved within designated buffer areas. In addition, the regulations incorporate the landscape and tree preservation requirements from the existing Economic Development Design Manual, currently a separate document. As the proposed section is a complete re -work of the existing landscaping, buffers and tree preservation regulations currently found in the Zoning Ordinance (Article 12) and Subdivision Regulations (Section IV -13-8 and Appendix C) the section is not shown in strike - through format in the UDO (i.e., the entire section is shown as new text, changes from existing regulations are not shown).