TITLE
Vote on a recommendation from the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Selection Committee to award the Planning Services contract to Nealon Planning, PLLC and Development of the UDO to White & Smith, LLC and authorize County Manager to negotiate and execute all contracts and agreements.
ABSTRACT
Action Requested:
Vote on a recommendation from the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Selection Committee to award the Planning Services contract to Nealon Planning, PLLC and Development of the UDO to White & Smith, LLC and authorize County Manager to negotiate and execute all contracts and agreements.
Introduction & Background:
As a part of the ongoing implementation of the comprehensive plan, the Planning Department in conjunction with the Watershed Protection department seek to modernize the county’s land development regulations. This modernization will address major issues and content in moving toward a Unified Development Ordinance that combines all land use and development regulations and ordinances into a single document.
Current land use related ordinances and regulations are not only numerous (reflective of the County previously being partially zoned) but are also outdated and cumbersome to navigate. Some regulations use contradictory language in tandem with others. There is a lack of graphics, illustrations, and clear definitions. There are insufficient cross references, and outdated standards and design guidelines, and vague language.
The following goals are anticipated to be accomplished through this process:
• Draft and adopt a Unified Development Ordinance with commonly accepted modern planning practices and contemporary zoning tools, compliant with North Carolina state statutes.
• Create clear procedures and guidelines that are simple, flexible, and easily administered by staff; a user-friendly document for residents, elected officials, appointed boards, and the development community.
• Create a streamlined and clearly outlined development review process tailored uniquely to Chatham County. All the while, incorporate innovative and creative approaches to land-use regulation, building upon the best design principles and practices throughout the United States and NC laws/codes.
• Integrate and cross reference other land use regulations, to ensure consistency with local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
• Incorporate the recommendations of the County’s Comprehensive Plan adopted in November 2017. The UDO should encourage development and redevelopment of designated centers, support sound economic development, support preservation of agricultural areas, integrate multimodal transportation where it is appropriate, and provide a platform to support sustainable infrastructure investment and affordable housing.
• Build an illustrated code: depiction of requirements, concepts, process, flowcharts, etc.
• Coordinate with other County development related regulations as well as other entities, including but not limited to: adjacent counties, regional partners, Army Corps of Engineers, North Carolina Natural Resource Wildlife Commission, North Carolina Department of Transportation, and municipalities to ensure consistency in land use patterns at boundaries as needed.
Discussion & Analysis:
On Feb 17th, 2020, The Chatham County Board of Commissioners received an update from planning staff on the Unified Development Ordinance and gave staff direction for the project’s next steps. Staff developed 2 Request for Proposals (RFPs) for Planning Services and to develop the Unified Development Ordinance. Staff followed procurement procedures for the release of the Request for Proposals on September 3rd, 2020. A total of 4 proposals were received for the Planning Services and 3 for the Development of the Unified Development ordinance by the October 8th, 2020 deadline.
Using the criteria and instructions outlines in the RFPs, the proposals were reviewed and scored by the selection committee consisting of staff from the Planning, Watershed Protection, Finance and Manager’s Office. The selection committee held interviews with the top two scoring firms for each RFP on January 20th, 2021, on January 21st, 2021, on January 28th, 2021 and on February 2nd, 2021.
The Selection Committee met additionally on January 21st, 2021 and February 2nd, 2021 to make the final recommendation for each contract to bring before the board. The Selection Committee unanimously recommended to award the Planning Services contract to Nealon Planning, PLLC and Development of UDO to White & Smith, LLC.
The current estimate for Nealon Planning PLLC’s contract for the Planning Services Contract is $79,744.00.
The current estimate for White and Smith LLC’s contract for the Development of the UDO is $349,032.00.
With additional grants possible through the health department.
The total cost of this project shall not exceed $428,776.00.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan:
The completion of the UDO is the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and supports all 10 goals
Recommendation:
Motion to award the Planning Services contract to Nealon Planning, PLLC and Development of the UDO to White & Smith, LLC and authorize County Manager to negotiate and execute all contracts and agreements.