Title
Receive a presentation on the Draft Unified Development Ordinance Module 2 Memo and provide direction to the consultant team for Unified Development Ordinance revisions
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 a single 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. The Subcommittee has been critical in providing valuable and balanced 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 policy guiding documents that include Plan Chatham <https://www.chathamcountync.gov/government/departments-programs-i-z/planning/adopted-plans/comprehensive-plan>, Plan Moncure <https://www.recodechathamnc.org/planmoncure>, & the Recode Chatham Health & Equity Assessment. <https://www.recodechathamnc.org/healthandequity>
The consultants prepared a code audit <https://www.recodechathamnc.org/_files/ugd/1d382f_cffe6f3183844bafa1cf62e03d699abf.pdf> 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.
The consultant team presented that module to the Board of Commissioners and Planning Board in May. Following those meetings, the consultant team compiled input from the public review process for Module 2 while focusing on finalizing Module 3: Administration & Procedures.
The UDO is anticipated to be in its final consolidated form in late summer to then be moved toward adoption through October to November of this year.
Discussion & Analysis: The White & Smith consultant team, with the support of County staff presented the Public Review Draft of Module 2: Development Standards <https://www.recodechathamnc.org/documents-work-products> to the BOC and Planning Board in May. The BOC provided comments on Module 2 but also needed additional time to consider the direction of some of the topics discussed while also requesting additional information for others. Therefore, the consultant team prepared a memorandum to present to the BOC at the July 15th work session.
The memo is organized into two parts. The first part identifies specific issues or questions on which the consultant team and staff request direction from the BOC. The second part provides additional information requested by the BOC on certain topics, such as street lighting and parking. A couple of the topics include alternatives for consideration.
The goal is for the BOC to provide direction for revisions while also receiving more information on requested topics.
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: N/A
Recommendation/Motion: Receive presentation on the Draft UDO Module 2 Memo and provide direction to the consultant team for UDO revisions.