Orange County NC Website
52 <br />5. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment - To review government - <br />initiated amendments to the text of the UDO to change the existing public hearing <br />process for Comprehensive Plan -, UDO -, and Zoning Atlas- related items /amendments. <br />Perdita Holtz said she would like to note that this amendment would not affect other <br />existing public hearing processes for other departments. She reviewed the following <br />PowerPoint slides: <br />Public Hearing Process Changes <br />Quarterly Public Hearing <br />September 8, 2014 <br />Item C.5 <br />Purpose of Amendment <br />• To change the current public hearing process for Comprehensive Plan, Unified <br />Development Ordinance, and Zoning Atlas Amendments <br />• Discussed at September 9, 2013 BOCC work session after quarterly public hearing <br />agenda <br />-Staff received direction on some points at this meeting, although not unanimous <br />On February 24 and May 27, 2014 quarterly public hearing agendas but postponed due <br />to time constraints <br />Statutory Requirements <br />• Statutes require that the planning board be given the opportunity to review and comment <br />on amendments, and that public hearings be held with notification in compliance with <br />statutes. Local government can decide: <br />• When planning board recommendation occurs (before or after public hearing) <br />• How frequently public hearings are held <br />• Other process components such as whether the Planning Board holds its own public <br />hearing <br />Proposal <br />• End the current joint quarterly public hearings with the Planning Board <br />• Create the opportunity for a minimum of 8 planning - related public hearings per year <br />• Planning Board would provide a recommendation after the public hearing <br />• Policy decision to end practice of having the BOCC approve the legal advertisements <br />(would shave 3 weeks off of review process due to agenda deadline dates, much more <br />for the first hearing after the summer break) <br />• An alternative could be to circulate the draft ad via e-mail instead of making it a Consent <br />Agenda item <br />Existing & Proposed Processes <br />Designation of Public Hearing Dates <br />• A minimum of 8 meetings would be designated for planning - related public hearings each <br />year when the BOCC adopts its meeting calendar for the next year <br />• Internal changes to current agenda- setting processes <br />- Little ability to remove public hearing items that were filed by deadline dates <br />-Legal advertisements would be run in advance of agenda review dates (both <br />Attorney /staff and Chair /Vice - Chair) in order to meet statutory requirements <br />