Title
Receive an update on the Unified Development Ordinance Project and vote to approve budget increase
Abstract
Introduction & Background: The county entered into a contract with White & Smith, LLC to prepare a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The purpose of doing a UDO is to unify the County’s existing development regulations that are in separate ordinances into one unifying ordinance. The intent is also to develop a new, user-friendly UDO that can be easily understood by the public, elected officials, appointed boards, and ensure that it provides clear development standards and more of a predictable development review process going forward. The project began in late 2021 and has included several meetings with the Board of Commissioners as they provided direction and input for this project. Additionally, the UDO Planning Board Subcommittee was formed that includes members of the Planning Board and Ex-Officio members from other Advisory Boards & Committees interested in being a part of this project. This group has been critical in providing valuable feedback on early-stage drafts along with staff to ensure the UDO chapters are written in a way that is reflective of the County’s future land use plan, Plan Chatham. The consultants prepared a code audit that served as a plan for preparing the draft revisions to the County’s land use codes during the early stages of the UDO process. Upon completion of the code audit in May of 2022, the consultants then began drafting Module 1, the Zoning Module. After several iterations of the chapters in this module being shared with staff and the UDO Planning Board Subcommittee for feedback and revisions, that module included release of a Public Review Draft that was followed by a presentation to the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners in March of 2023.
Following that, the consultants then began working on the largest module of the project, Module 2: Development Standards. Over the past several months, the consultants and staff have been navigating the drafting of these chapters to be finalized for the Module 3 Public Review Draft rollout expected in April. The consultant team is anticipating being before the Board of Commissioners and Planning Board in May to present Module 2: Development Standards. Following that meeting, the consultants will work through drafting and finalizing Module 3: Procedures and Module 4: Definitions over the summer. The UDO is anticipated to be in its final consolidated form in late summer to then be moved toward adoption in November of this year.
Discussion & Analysis: The consultant team and staff are presenting a UDO update to the BOC to discuss the current status of the project, understand the next steps, discuss the zoning implementation, gather direction on navigating Advisory Board/Committee UDO engagement to meet project deadlines, and propose a request for additional funding needed to finish the project by November of this year.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan: The UDO is reflected in all aspects of Plan Chatham. The policies, goals, and vision of the comprehensive plan are being implemented through the land use regulations of the UDO.
Budgetary Impact: $189,000 is needed to finish the project by November of this year. Planning staff have had on-going communication with the Manager’s Office about the budget increase and discussed options for addressing it.
Recommendation/Motion: Receive UDO update and make a motion to approve the additional budget request for the Unified Development Ordinance project.