TITLE: Title
Continuation of the Public Hearing on Land Use Ordinance Amendments Relating to Protests to Zoning Map Amendments
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is for the Board of Aldermen to consider amending the Land Use Ordinance to replace the existing provisions for protest petitions with a new policy for citizen comment.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning Department
CONTACT INFORMATION: Christina Moon - 919-918-7325; Patricia McGuire - 919-918-7327; Nick Herman - 919-929-3905
INFORMATION: At the November 15, 2016 regular meeting, the Board of Aldermen opened a public hearing to consider an ordinance that would replace Section 15-326 of the Land Use Ordinance, Protests of Zoning Map Amendments, with new language providing for citizen comment. The ordinance was drafted as part of a review of state legislation and a need to amend certain LUO provisions for conformance. (Agenda materials from November may be found at: https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2882402&GUID=5D699E35-DB04-4A5C-BBBD-048AD0A815D9&Options=&Search=).
The Board has traditionally welcomed public comment as part of its deliberations on development decisions. If adopted, citizens would still be able to provide input on zoning decisions but would not be able to submit a standardized protest petition to require a super majority vote. In response to comments at the November meeting, the Town Attorney has prepared a resolution (Attachment C) that outlines the Board's concerns with the loss of the protest petition mechanism. An additional notation has been added to the draft ordinance (Attachment B) to reference this resolution within the text of the LUO. Amending the LUO in this manner will provide a record of the Board's opposition to HB 201, while providing citizens who wish to submit comments relating to zoning decisions information as to how those comments may be used in the decision making process.
Responses to the draft ordinance from the Planning Board and...
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