Orange County NC Website
242 <br />Prior to 2005, which is when State Statutes pertaining to conditional zoning districts were <br />changed, this zoning technique was available only to two local governments in the State <br />because they had received local legislation approval to use it. One of the advantages of <br />conditional zoning districts is that the process provides reasonable certainty as to what <br />will be developed on a site. Because conditions cannot be attached to "general' district <br />rezoning, there is the possibility that any use allowed in the general district could be built <br />on the site. <br />The decision to rezone a property to a conditional zoning district is legislative which <br />means that the final decision- making board (i.e., the Board of County Commissioners) <br />has more discretion over whether to approve a rezoning request than a quasi - judicial <br />decision which must be based upon competent, substantial evidence presented at public <br />nearing. <br />Three conditional zoning districts are proposed in this phase of the UDO: <br />• MHP -CZ (Mobile Home Park district, which replaces the Planned <br />Development Mobile Home Park District) <br />• PID -CZ (Public Interest District, which replaces the existing PID general <br />zoning district) <br />• MPD -CZ (Master Plan Development district, which replaces many <br />components of the existing PD -MU (Planned Development Mixed Use] <br />district) <br />While the Conditional Zoning District process uses many of the components of the <br />existing Planned Development (PD) process, an exception is that a Special Use Permit <br />(SUP) is also required under the existing PD process but a SUP would not be required <br />under the conditional zoning district process. <br />7. Please explain the Conditional Use District. <br />The Conditional Use district and corresponding review /approval process is very similar <br />to the existing Planned Development process. Landowners can apply for a rezoning to a <br />Conditional Use district for any use contained in the Permitted Use Table, except for <br />those uses specifically excluded from consideration as a Conditional Use, and the <br />application must state the specific use(s) being requested. In addition to the rezoning, a <br />Class A Special Use Permit (SUP), which is processed concurrently, is also required. <br />Because the rezoning decision is legislative and the SUP decision is quasi-judicial, the <br />decision process for a Conditional Use district is more complicated than a Conditional <br />Zoning district, but it is the same process as the existing Planned Development <br />review /approval process. <br />The Conditional Use district is linked to a general zoning district, which is how the <br />existing Planned Development process works, and any deviation from the linked general <br />zoning district standards must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners as <br />part of the reviewlapproval process. <br />Like Conditional Zoning districts, mutually agreed upon conditions can be placed on the <br />rezoning approval. State Statutes require that conditions or site specific standards <br />imposed be limited to those that address the conformance of the development and use <br />