TITLE
A request by the Planning Department to schedule a legislative public hearing for November 16th 2020 to consider amendments to the Chatham County Zoning, Subdivision, Watershed Protection, and Flood Damage Prevention Ordinances required by the Chapter 160D Statutory update.
ABSTRACT
Action Requested:
A request by the Planning Department to schedule a legislative public hearing for November 16th 2020 to consider amendments to the Chatham County Zoning, Subdivision, Watershed Protection, and Flood Damage Prevention Ordinances required by the Chapter 160D Statutory update.
Introduction & Background:
In July of 2019 the North Carolina General Statutes consolidated current city- and county-enabling statues from Chapters 153A and 160A into a single, unified chapter, and placed these statutes into a more logical, coherent organization. Provisions that affect all development regulations (such as definitions and provisions on moratoria, vested rights, and conflicts of interest) were placed in one article, followed by articles that address geographic jurisdiction, creation and duties of boards, administration of regulations, the process for adoption and amendment of regulations, and judicial review of regulations. The new legislation also has significant changes to other land use related functions including, subdivision, building and housing codes, environmental regulation, historic preservation, and community development.
While the new law does not make major policy changes or shifts in the scope of authority granted to local governments, it does provide many clarifying amendments and consensus reforms that will need to be incorporated into local development regulations. Chapter 160D is effective now, but local governments have until July 1, 2021 for to adopt the necessary amendments to conform local ordinances to the new law.
When the legislation was passed in 2019, the chapter 160D update was included as part two of a consolidated law, S.L. 2019-111. It w...
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