Orange County NC Website
1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: May 4, 2021 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 5-b <br /> SUBJECT: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments — "160D" Legislation <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: (919) <br /> 1. Statement of Approval and Consistency Perdita Holtz, Planner III, 245-2578 <br /> 2. Proposed UDO and Comprehensive Plan James Bryan, Staff Attorney, 245-2319 <br /> Amendments Craig Benedict, Director, 245-2575 <br /> 3. Proposed Amendments to the Planning <br /> Board Rules of Procedure <br /> 4. Excerpt of Draft April 7, 2021 Planning <br /> Board Minutes and Signed Statement of <br /> Consistency <br /> 5. Joint Planning Review Letter from Town <br /> of Carrboro <br /> 6. Draft PowerPoint Presentation <br /> PURPOSE: To hold a public hearing, receive the Planning Board/staff recommendation and <br /> public comment, close the public hearing, and consider action on County-initiated amendments <br /> to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to conform County regulations to a new chapter, <br /> 160D, of the North Carolina General Statues. As a result, amendments to Appendix F of the <br /> Comprehensive Plan and to the Planning Board's and Board of Adjustment's Rules of <br /> Procedure are also necessary. <br /> BACKGROUND: In July 2019, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted legislation that <br /> entailed the first major recodification and modernization of city and county development <br /> regulations since 1905. The effort was several years in the making, beginning in 2013 when the <br /> endeavor was initiated by the Zoning and Land Use Section of the NC Bar Association. All local <br /> governments in North Carolina are required to adopt conforming regulations by July 1, 2021 <br /> (pushed back from an earlier date due to the COVID-19 pandemic). A blog post by staff at the <br /> School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill provides helpful background information on the <br /> legislation: https:Hcanons.sog.unc.edu/chapter-160d-and-other-zoning-legislation/ <br /> Planning and County Attorney staff prepared UDO amendments to comply with the new <br /> legislation with the aim of leaving existing processes as unchanged as possible while also <br /> conforming the UDO to statutes. There are a limited number of proposed revisions that are <br /> more substantive in nature and are being proposed to conform the County's UDO to State <br /> requirements and best practices. These more substantive revisions include: <br /> • Eliminating the option for a "Conditional Use District" (CUD) from the UDO. Processing <br /> CUD applications are reviewed using a mixture of legislative and quasi-judicial <br /> processes, which can result in much confusion. Eliminating this type of process was <br /> one of the impetuses for the modernization of the statutes. In the 2000's, the NC <br />