Orange County NC Website
a~ <br />ATTACJ3MENT G-2 <br />govenunents to initiate moratorium was viewed as an implied. power but was never explicitly <br />recognized within North Carolina General Statutes. <br />The explicit establishment of the authority for local governments to establish moratoriums was <br />part of Senate Bill 814, An Act to Modernize and Simplify City and County Planning and <br />Land-Use Management Statutes. The modifications were signed into law by Governor Easley on <br />September 22, 2005 and are now referenced as Session Law 2005-426 (attached for reference). <br />The new regulation not only seeks to formalize the process but to also codifies the constitutional <br />limitations on the use of moratoria by local governments. <br />The new regulations governing the implementation of moratoriums are summarized asfollows-- <br />1. Any ordinance establishing a development moratorium must expressly include at the time <br />of adoption each of the following: <br />a. A clear statement of the problems or conditions necessitating the moratorium and <br />what courses of action and what alternatives to the proposed moratorium were <br />considered by the local government and why those alternative courses of action <br />were not deemed adequate. <br />b. A clear statement of the development approvals subject to the moratorium and <br />how a moratorium on those approvals will address the problems or conditions <br />leading to imposition of the moratorium. <br />c. An express date for termination of the moratorium and a statement setting forth <br />why that duration is reasonably necessary to address the problems or conditions <br />leading to imposition of the moratorium. <br />d. A clear statemet of the actions, and the schedule for those actions, proposed to <br />be taken by local government during the duration of the moratorium to address <br />the problems or conditions leading to imposition of the moratorium. <br />2. With respect to adoption local governments seeking to adopt moratoria, the following <br />advertising standards apply: <br />a. A temporary moratoria of a sixty (60) day duration or less maybe adopted with a <br />public hearing that has one (1) notice published seven (7) days in advance, unless <br />there is an imminent and substantial threat to public health and safety, in which <br />case a public hearing is not required. <br />b. Longer moratoria, including extensions of temporary moratoria beyond sixty (60) <br />days require the same notice and hearing as routine land use ordinance <br />amendments (NCGS 153A-323). <br />3. Moratoria may be renewed or extended only if the government has taken all reasonable <br />and feasible steps to address the problem leading to the moratorium and if new facts and <br />conditions warrant an extension, . <br />4. Unless there is an unminent threat to public health and safety, moratoria do not apply to <br />projects that have akeady received a vested right under current law; nor do they apply to <br />