The full public-hearing-draft ordinance will be available on November 19, nearly 4 years after the original 28-month timeline was established. This will be our first opportunity to see the full proposed ordinance all in one document. Public hearings have not yet been scheduled. The manager’s office says the hearings will be in early 2016, but the planning staff is still reluctant to commit to a date.
Final reviews of the draft sections were completed in late June 2015. In July 2015 the consultants completed “testing,” applying the new standards on existing developments and lots with infill potential. Some increase in density was realized in the residential cases. Positive results in commercial areas came mostly from new flexibility in setbacks and landscaping. Although the testing was limited and mostly hypothetical, some inconsistencies in landscaping and setback requirements were identified and should be fixed in the final draft ordinance. An orientation meeting was held in September 2015 as a requirement of the HUD funding.
Specific changes we hope to see in the final, full draft include: Reduction/elimination in penalties for unauthorized removal of trees: Proposed penalties are excessive and may require planting off site, which is technically an impact fee. Elimination of Pocket Neighborhoods standards as written: The proposed standards offer no density incentive, are excessively complicated and expensive, and require aesthetic design standards. Staff is adamant about including the option in the ordinance even though they realize it is not well written and cannot be effectively implemented in the current form. Required sidewalks for CBUs: Staff says they will wait for additional information from our negotiations with USPS and NCDOT before incorporating standards in the ordinance. Elimination of Street Connectivity ratios: Staff agreed with our arguments against connectivity ratios and the consultants grudgingly went along. We do not expect to see these in the final revision.
