TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Planning Commission
Will Deaton, AICP - Planning & Zoning Division Manager
FROM: Craig M. Harmon, CZO - Senior Planner
DATE: February 20, 2024
RE:
Title
TA24-001 thru TA24-08: 8 Proposed Text Amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance.
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Strategic Operating Plan FY 2022
Goals 2027
Goal 2: Responsible City Government Supporting a Diverse and Viable Economy
• Objective 2.4 - Sustain a favorable development climate to encourage business growth
Goal 3: City Investment in Today and Tomorrow
• Objective 3.2 - Manage the City's future growth and strategic land use
Executive Summary:
The 8 proposed text amendments below represent suggested updates to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), as proposed by the City’s Professional Planning Staff of the Development Services Department. These amendments all fall into one of three categories:
1. Cleanup - to clarify and simplify some areas of the code.
2. Development/Community - items asked for by developers or the community
3. Policy - how do we as a city move forward
Recommended text amendments:
a) TA24-001: Reduce the parking calculations for Adaptive Reuse sites.
b) TA24-002: Reduce the parking calculations for Infill Projects.
c) TA24-003: Further define the office-warehouse use by amending which districts they are allowed in and what the minimum ratio of office to warehouse space is appropriate.
d) TA24-004: Amend the definitions and standards to better differentiate between standard gas stations and truck stop gas stations.
e) TA24-005: Resolve the ordinance conflicts between general canopy height and canopies for gas stations.
f) TA24-006: Reduce the off-street parking standards for Industrial Uses. Currently, warehouse space requires more parking than office uses.
g) TA24-007: Reintroduce sign height and setback standards for signs in residential districts. These standards were lost during the adoption of the UDO.
h) TA24-008: Amend UDO to allow for backing into streets for two-to- four-family dwellings and townhomes, which is already allowed for single-family residential uses.
Background:
Generally, twice per year, the Development Services Department proposes a batch of seasonal text amendments to adjust the UDO. The aim of the amendments is to ensure that the City’s regulations reflect modern development standards and community preferences. These suggested amendments are the result of issues identified through ordinance cleanup, development community suggestions, statutory changes and mandates, and case law implications. The reason to limit the potential amendments is a combination of staff and City Council time spent on the items to fully vet items for consideration.
Issues/Analysis:
The first step in bringing a proposed amendment before City Council is to have it reviewed, modified and recommended by the City’s Planning Commission, following City policies and State Statutes as shown below. The Commission is an integral part of any text amendment process.
According to section160D-301 of the North Carolina General Statutes:
(a) Composition. - A local government may by ordinance provide for the appointment and compensation of a planning board or may designate one or more boards or commissions to perform the duties of a planning board. A planning board established pursuant to this section may include, but shall not be limited to, one or more of the following:
(b) Duties. - A planning board may be assigned the following powers and duties:
(3) To develop and recommend policies, ordinances, development regulations, administrative procedures, and other means for carrying out plans in a coordinated and efficient manner.
Recommended text amendments:
a) TA24-001: Reduce the parking calculations for Adaptive Reuse sites by: Exempting them from minimum parking requirements.
b) TA24-002: Reduce the parking calculations for Infill Projects by: Streamlining regulations for both existing sites and nonconforming sites. For existing sites, requirements for additional off-street parking during changes in use are eliminated. Expansions of existing structures remain exempt from providing extra parking but are emphasized to include additional loading and circulation facilities. For nonconforming sites, the revisions simplify the process of interior and exterior remodeling by removing the requirement for increased minimum off-street parking.
c) TA24-003: Further define the office-warehouse use by amending the definition to require at least 10% of the building be used as office space.
d) TA24-004: Amend the definitions and standards to better differentiate between standard gas stations and truck stop gas stations as follows: A facility providing services to the trucking industry, including any one of the following: truck repair shops, shower facilities, truck scales, majority of the fuel dispensers are for trucks, overnight parking facilities.
e) TA24-005: Resolve the ordinance conflicts between general canopy height and canopies for gas stations by adding the following language: Canopies shall have a maximum height of 15 feet measured from the finished grade to the underside of the canopy except that canopies provided as part a gas station shall have a maximum height of 20 feet measured from the finished grade to the underside of the canopy.
f) TA24-006: Reduce the off-street parking standards for Industrial Uses. Currently, warehouse space requires more parking than office uses. Change all warehouse parking requirements to “1 space per employee on largest shift + 3 additional spaces”, instead of the current requirements which are based on the size of the warehouse.
g) TA24-007: Reintroduce sign height and setback standards for signs in residential districts. These standards were lost during the adoption of the UDO by adding the following standards: Maximum height of six (6) feet, ten (10) foot minimum front-yard setback from right-of-way, and that these signs may be located in the median or right-of-way with the approval of Development Services, Public Services, and Fire Marshal’s offices.
h) TA24-008: Amend UDO to allow for backing into streets for two-to- four-family dwellings and townhomes, which is already allowed for single-family residential uses.
Budget Impact:
No immediate impact.
Options:
1) Move to recommend approval of all of the proposed text amendments. (Recommended);
2) Move to recommend approval of some of the proposed text amendments;
3) Remand some or all of the proposed text amendments back to Staff for further consideration and specific changes.
4) Move to recommend denial of any or all proposed text amendments;
Recommended Action:
The Professional Planning Staff recommends Option (1) approval of all of the proposed text amendments.
Attachments: