MEMORANDUM

TO:	Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
FROM:	J. B. Culpepper, Planning Director Gene Poveromo, Development Manager Lance Norris, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:	Status Report on Pending Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendments
DATE:	February 23, 2009

PURPOSE

Tonight the Council receives a report on the status of pending Land Use Management Ordinance text amendments (LUMOTAs). 

BACKGROUND

During 2008, twenty text amendment proposals were listed as “pending.”  Of those, eight were considered at public hearings and enacted.  As of this date in 2009, nine are in progress.

Three text amendment proposals are being developed by the staff with consultants – tree protection, transportation impact analysis, and inclusionary zoning.  We anticipate consideration of these text amendment proposals in public hearings over the next several months.

Town staff are working on several text amendment proposals without consultants -  recreation space payment-in-lieu, gravel as impervious surface, demolition in Historic Districts, and chicken keeping.

• A public hearing was held on January 21, 2009 regarding chicken keeping, and the item was referred back to the staff for additional analysis, with a return date of February 23, 2009; 
• On January 26, 2009, a public hearing was held regarding gravel as impervious surface, and the item was referred back to the staff for additional analysis with a return date of February 23, 2009;
• On January 26, 2009 a report was presented to the Council on the progress of the recreation space payment-in-lieu text amendment, and a public hearing was scheduled for April 20, 2009; and 
• A public hearing for a text amendment for demolition in the Historic Districts is tentatively scheduled for April 20, 2009.

Two additional text amendment proposals are being discussed – signs and outdoor lighting.  At the December 8, 2008 Council meeting, the staff recommended a public hearing schedule for several text amendments, including one on signs and one on outdoor lighting. 

We had tentatively scheduled a January 26 public hearing for a signage text amendment, and a March 16 public hearing for an outdoor lighting text amendment. During the December meeting, the Council received a citizen letter in which the citizen suggested expanding the scope of the discussion on both lighting and signs.  He suggested the development of the text amendment proposals include input from advisory boards and representatives from the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce.    The Council referred the items back to the staff. 

Related to the pending sign text amendment, two Town-initiated lighting projects are underway, involving the Public Works and Police Departments.  We recognize there are several stakeholders, including the business community and various town departments, that could be invited to participate in development and review of sign- and lighting-related text amendments. In an accompanying memorandum, we propose to return to the Council in June with a process for developing and considering text amendments on signs and outdoor lighting.

SUMMARY

Following is a table describing the schedule for the various text amendments in progress.

LUMOTA Description	Progress Notes	Public Hearing held	Public Hearing future date (tentative)	Possible Action Date
Chicken keeping		January 21, 2009		February 23, 2009
Gravel as impervious surface		January 26, 2009		February 23, 2009
Demolition in the Historic Districts			April 20, 2009
Tree Protection	Working  with consultant
Transportation Impact Analysis	Working with consultant
Inclusionary Zoning	Working with consultant
Recreation Space Payment-in-lieu	Report presented to the Council January 26, 2009		April 20, 2009
Signs	Proposal: to report in June on process for developing & reviewing
Outdoor lighting	Proposal: to report in June on process for developing & reviewing

RECOMMENDATION

Staff’s Recommendation:  We recommend that the Council receive this report.

ATTACHMENT

1.  Letter from citizen (p. 3).