Transcript Zoning Districts - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Conditional Zoning Districts
Richard Ducker
Institute of Government
Types of Zoning Districts
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(1) General-use districts
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(2) Conditional-use (special-use)
districts
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(3) Conditional districts
(1) General Use Districts
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Site must be generally suitable for any
of the permitted uses

Site-specific development conditions
may not be added to a particular
rezoning since regulations must be
uniform for each type of use or project
(2) Conditional Use Districts
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Districts must be provided for in the
ordinance and are mapped in response
to petition of owner
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Zoning districts in which uses are
permitted only upon issuance of a
conditional use permit
(2) Conditional Use Districts
Governing board makes both zoning
amendment (legislative) and conditional
use permit decision (quasi-judicial)
 Single consolidated public hearing often
used to consider both zoning
amendment and conditional–use permit
 Site-specific development conditions
added to permit and “run with the land.”
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Conditional Zoning Upheld
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Massey v. City of Charlotte (2001)
– Conditional zoning authorized by general
statutes
– Conditional zoning need not involve a
quasi-judicial process
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Summers v. City of Charlotte (2001)
– Neighbors not denied due process rights
– Developers’ mixed-use development plan
consistent with city’s local area plan
(3) Conditional Districts

Each conditional district differs from any other
other zoning district
 Conditional district may, but need not
necessarily, parallel a general-use district
 Governing board has no power to add
conditions to the rezoning; it may only react to
the concessions or restrictions proposed by
the property owner
(3) Conditional Districts

Petitioner proposes site-specific development
conditions through submission of site plan
 Site-specific requirements and site plan
features incorporated into the standards for
the district itself
 No conditional-use or special-use permit
involved, and no quasi-judicial hearing
required
Negotiated Zoning:
the Drawbacks
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Focuses on the site rather than on
community-wide planning concerns
Undercuts the workup of development
standards for particular uses of land
Significant risk of spot zoning
Local government must react to proposal
made by property owner
Difficult to keep track of and enforce sitespecific development conditions
Negotiated Zoning:
the Benefits
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Governing board gains flexibility to better
balance interests of developer and neighbors
Site-specific development conditions may be
used that mitigate undesirable impacts
Community more likely to know what it is
getting
Gives regulatory status to a master
development plan
Avoids problems associated with quasijudicial procedures