AGENDA #5a
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Summary of Rezoning Process
DATE: April 26, 2004
At the Council’s April 14 meeting, a Council member asked for a report summarizing Chapel Hill’s process and timeline for considering a rezoning proposal. We offer this memorandum in response.
ZONING ATLAS
All land within Chapel Hill’s planning jurisdiction is designated with a zoning classification. An official Zoning Atlas is maintained by the Town’s Planning Department, showing how every parcel of land is zoned. Chapel Hill’s Land Use Management Ordinance contains a description of each zoning category, including a list of permitted uses in each zone, intensity of development that is permitted, and standards for how development must be designed.
PROCESS FOR CHANGING ZONING
Any parcel of land may be rezoned, to change the classification of that parcel from one zoning category to another. The Land Use Management Ordinance contains provisions that outline the process for a rezoning, along with decision criteria.
A rezoning proposal may be initiated for any parcel(s) of land by:
· Submittal of an application and application fee by any citizen;
· Proposal by Advisory Board or Town Manager, submitting request to Council; or
· Motion by the Town Council.
If a citizen applies for a rezoning, the application must be accompanied by an application fee. There is no fee involved if the Council decides to initiate the consideration.
A Conditional Use Zoning proposal can only be initiated by the owner of the property proposed for rezoning.
Once a rezoning proposal has been submitted via application, or initiated via motion of the Town Council or recommendation of the Planning Board, the proposal undergoes review as follows:
The Land Use Management Ordinance states the following reasons that can be used by the Town Council to justify a rezoning:
The rezoning of land is a legislative act by the Council. There is no sworn testimony at the public hearing on a rezoning proposal. There are generally no circumstances in which the Council is required to approve a rezoning. The Council may choose to approve a rezoning, if it finds justification for the rezoning in one or more of the three criteria listed above.
TIMELINE FOR REZONING
There are a few statutory provisions that affect how quickly or slowly a rezoning proposal makes its way through the process described above. One of these requirements is for public notice: the owners of property to be rezoned, along with the owners of any adjacent parcels, must be sent a mailed notification of the rezoning proposal and Public Hearing date; and, a legal advertisement describing the proposed rezoning must be published in a local newspaper twice prior to the Public Hearing.
Other factors affecting the schedule are the complexity of the rezoning proposal, the level of staff analysis that is required, and the number of meetings that might be needed to accommodate citizen interest. In practice, most rezoning proposals take 6-9 months from initial application or initiation to Council action.
The Council may act more quickly than that if it chooses to. The fastest timeline would be achieved by the Council’s calling a Public Hearing and setting an early date for scheduling the hearing. With expedited treatment, a rezoning application could possibly take as little as 6 weeks from initiation to action.
If a rezoning proposal is initiated, the Town Manager is obligated to process the application and the Town Council is obligated to take action to either approve or deny the proposed rezoning.
State law provides for the filing of protest petitions, objecting to a proposed rezoning. In order for the protest petition to be considered valid and sufficient, it must be signed either by the owner of the property proposed for rezoning, or be signed by a threshold level of owners of adjacent properties. If a valid protest petition is submitted and certified, the rezoning may only be enacted with a three-fourths vote of the Council (seven affirmative votes).
SUMMARY
A rezoning proposal may be initiated by a citizen, by an advisory board, by the Town Manager, or by a motion of the Town Council. After required notification through mail and legal advertisement, a Public Hearing is held. The Council may act to approve or deny a rezoning proposal after the Public Hearing is closed.
A rezoning typically would take 6-9 months to move from initial application to Council action. With expedited treatment and direction from the Town Council, a rezoning could take place within 6 weeks of its initiation.