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to: |
Mayor and Town Council |
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from: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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subject: |
Public Hearing: Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendments, Revised Residential-Special Standards-Conditional Zoning District |
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date: |
March 16, 2009 |
Tonight the Council considers text amendments to the Land Use Management Ordinance. The proposed amendments would make changes to the Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C) zoning district at the request of the Council. Tonight’s Public Hearing has been scheduled to receive public comment about the proposed text amendments. The purpose of this cover memorandum is to forward my preliminary recommendation to the Council.
In November 2008, Council amended the R-SS-C district to focus on developments in close proximity to downtown. On February 9, 2009, Council requested that staff present options for consideration that would amend the R-SS-C district to accommodate projects beyond the downtown area.
The attached ordinances would amend the Residential-Special Standards-Conditional district to provide more flexibility in application of the zone. Staff has developed two ordinances for consideration. Each amends the existing zoning district in different ways:
Ordinance A is similar to the first R-SS-C zoning amendment that staff brought to the Council in September. Ordinance A accomplishes the following:
· Allows the Council to exercise discretion in its focus for each development by eliminating the requirement that all goal statements be addressed in a development.
· Adds support of neighborhood commercial/ employment centers as well as downtown by identifying or providing reasonable accessible pedestrian/bicycle and non-vehicular access.
· Provides that any property proposed to be rezoned beyond the downtown must also be located on specific major transportation corridors.
Although all objectives would not have to be met, as a conditional zoning district, any development proposal would be approved as a Special Use Permit which includes a finding that the project conforms to the Comprehensive Plan. Ordinance A is provided as Attachment 1.
Ordinance B is provided in response to comments staff heard at the March 3 Planning Board meeting. Although the Planning Board recommended denial of the changes to the zoning district, we have incorporated some of their ideas into Ordinance B, which provides a more limited adjustment to the zoning district than Ordinance A:
· All nine objective statements must be met.
· The objective regarding proximity to downtown is expanded to include neighborhood commercial districts and to provide that any property proposed to be rezoned beyond the downtown must also be located on specific major transportation corridors.
Ordinance B is provided as Attachment 2.
Application of this zone is at the discretion of the elected officials. In addition, because the R-SS-C zoning district is a conditional district, the Council will not consider applying the zone without an accompanying Special Use Permit. Application of the amended zoning district to a specific property would be a legislative decision within the control of the Council. Unlike a Special Use Permit, which is a quasi-judicial proceeding, a rezoning does not require “substantial evidence” to support it for the Council to make a series of findings in order to approve. In other words, the Council would control where the zoning district may be applied.
The proposed Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendments would provide more flexibility in the Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C) zoning district. Input from the public and the Council at the hearing will inform my ultimate recommendation.
I recommend that the Council open the public hearing and receive comment about the proposed Land Use Management Ordinance text amendments. We will return to the Council with a recommendation for action next week, on March 23, after the Council has received public comment this evening and reconvened the hearing. This schedule was proposed to accommodate the Council’s request.