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A. Purpose

A development plan provides additional information with a zoning map change petition and establishes the level of development that will be allowed on the property. A development plan is also intended to identify proffered commitments that are greater than Ordinance requirements.

B. Designation/Effect

When a proposed zoning map change includes a development plan, the letter “D” shall follow the proposed zoning district designation. If approved, the letter “D” shall remain as a part of the zoning designation of the property. The proffered elements submitted as part of the development plan, called “commitments,” must be enforceable by staff. Approved commitments are binding on the property and establish the level of permitted development. Commitments may also be referred to as “committed elements” throughout this Ordinance.

C. Authority of the Planning Director

The Planning Director is authorized to:

1. Delegate authority under this section to a designee;

2. Determine whether modification of an unapproved development plan or deviation from an approved development plan is significant/substantial or minor, or more or less stringent, if not specified in this section;

3. Determine whether a conflict exists between commitments. Any conflict between commitments, including design commitments, shall be resolved in favor of the most stringent;

4. Determine whether an element is a commitment if it is not specified as such in this section; and

5. Determine whether additional staff review time is necessary following addition of commitments at hearings through proffers or illustrative graphic depictions.

6. When an element not listed needs to be determined to be allowed on a textual development plan, or requires a graphic development plan, the Planning Director shall have the authority to determine whether the commitment is allowed.

D. General Requirements

1. A development plan shall comply with all applicable laws and guidelines. Requirements under this section shall consist of the following, which may be supplemented by guidelines of the Planning Department:

2. Contiguous Development

Parcels within a development plan (graphic or textual) must be contiguous. Parcels directly across from each other, and separated by intervening existing or proposed right-of-way, are considered contiguous for the purposes of this section. Noncontiguous parcels that do not meet this criteria must be submitted as separate applications.

E. Types of Development Plans

This section permits two types of development plans in association with a zoning map change request: a textual development plan and a graphic development plan. A graphic or textual development plan describes or depicts aspects of development that exceed regulatory requirements. Districts that require a development plan, including the PDR District, may have the requirement met through either a textual or graphic development plan if all requirements of the district can be met.

1. Textual Development Plan

A textual development plan is one where only text is used to describe the commitments. Descriptive information shall be denoted within a textual description. These commitments will become the zoning standards with which development within the district must comply.

a. Required Elements of a Textual Development Plan

(1) A textual development plan shall, at a minimum, proffer a commitment that specifies, limits, and/or prohibits uses within the zoning district requested pursuant to Sec. 5.1, Use Table.

(2) If the Planning Director determines a committed element cannot be clearly described through a textual development plan, the applicant must submit a graphic development plan.

2. Graphic Development Plan

A development plan may depict additional proposed elements, including but not limited to the following, in graphic form without side notes. Labels and descriptive information shall be located within the graphic depiction. Such elements shall become commitments. A graphic development plan describes and depicts commitments in graphic form. Commitments in an approved development plan are standards that apply to any subsequent land use applications for the property. At a minimum, a proposed graphic development plan shall include the following information:

a. Required Elements of a Graphic Development Plan

(1) References to adopted plans, including transportation plans, open space plans, parks and trails plans, that apply to the site;

(2) Existing and proposed zoning districts and overlays on the site;

(3) Existing and proposed intensity/density for each zoning district or overlay (square feet if nonresidential, units if residential);

(4) A chart or table including the minimum ordinance requirements and proposed amounts of the following:

(a) Building setbacks;

(b) Project boundary buffers;

(c) Maximum impervious area for the site and for each separately zoned portion of the site, indicated numerically for the overall site and each portion;

(d) Tree preservation and/or replacement; and

(e) Open space.

(5) Graphic development plans shall also include the following information depicted in graphic form:

(a) General location of external access points and connections to existing roads;

(b) Dedications or reservations made for consistency with adopted plans, including transportation plans, or as otherwise required by this Ordinance or other law;

(c) Railroad corridors as required under Sec. 12.6, Railroad Corridors;

(d) Any proposed private streets pursuant to paragraph 12.2.2A.1, Private Streets or Roads.

(e) Areas committed for preservation, including but not limited to steep slopes; stream buffers; wetland buffers; inventory sites; sites on maps or lists maintained by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), including but not limited to maps for sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Study List for potential designation, determination of eligibility sites, and surveyed sites; sites identified in the Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory and applicable local historic preservation plans; and sites identified in the Durham County Archaeological Inventory and other identified archaeological sites, including cemeteries and burial grounds;

(f) Tree preservation areas and tree replacement areas.

F. Commitments Allowable Under Development Plans

1. Types of Commitments

Commitments can consist of, but are not limited to, the following within either a graphic or textual development plan:

a. Description of number, type, or range of uses and/or housing types;

b. General location of on- or off-site road improvements, including pedestrian and bicycle improvements;

c. Depiction or description of the location and area of open space, recreation areas, trails and greenways, tree preservation areas, or buffers other than project boundary or stream buffers;

d. Additional buffer width or opacity;

e. Specific landscaping features or vegetation types and opacity;

f. Building specifications such as number, location, maximum floor area, or maximum height;

g. Stormwater control measures;

h. Sustainability measures, including solar and electric vehicle commitments;

i. Depiction or description of areas where mass grading will not occur (only if being described by acreage or volume);

j. Other building or site design elements, such as distinctive architectural features or specific materials;

k. Affordable housing commitments;

l. Public art commitments;

m. Financial proffers;

n. Transit improvements; and

o. Erosion and sediment control measures.

G. Traffic Improvement(s)

A graphic or textual development plan shall include improvements or measures required to address any deficiencies identified by a Traffic Impact Analysis. If required, such measures shall be in text or graphic form, as appropriate. Such improvements shall be development requirements, unless otherwise modified as allowed per paragraph 3.5.12.

H. Procedure(s)

An application that does not include a development plan can be changed to include a development plan at any time during the application review process. This allowance shall not supersede any authority granted to the Planning Director, or designee, or governing bodies. In addition, the following procedures apply to textual and graphic development plans:

1. Text commitment(s) will be incorporated into the ordinance adopting the zoning designation.

2. A graphic or textual development plan shall include a signed acknowledgment from each property owner. A signature from an owner’s representative cannot serve as a substitute for the owner’s signature unless a document establishing legal authority to act as the owner’s representative is provided.

3. Modifications to a development plan that are proffered at a public hearing before the governing body shall be incorporated into the approved commitments upon approval of the zoning by the governing body. Verbal commitments approved at a governing body public hearing are considered binding commitments and must be added to the graphic or text-only development plan. The property owners must sign the development plan with the complete set of commitments prior to an approved development plan being stamped by Planning staff. (Proffers that prove to be illegal or less stringent than existing commitments shall be referred to the Planning Commission or governing body for an additional hearing.)

4. Modifications that are made to a development plan after the Planning Commission recommendation, but before the governing body hearing, shall be referred to the Planning Commission for an additional hearing as required under paragraph 3.5.9B, Changed Application (when determined by the Planning Director).

5. A graphic development plan shall be signed and sealed by a professional engineer, registered architect, or registered landscape architect. All graphic depictions shall be accurately scaled, and separate or additional sheets may be required by the Planning Department.

I. Statutory Development Agreements

A statutory development agreement, pursuant to Sec. 3.26, Statutory Development Agreement, proposed in association with the zoning map change application shall be a commitment of the development plan.

J. Phasing Plans

Phasing plans must meet the following two criteria:

1. A phasing plan may be provided with any graphic development plan but shall be required in the Mixed-Use District. The phasing plan shall ensure that residential and nonresidential components are constructed to satisfy the intent and requirements of this Ordinance.

2. The phasing plan shall be in graphic form as appropriate and included in the graphic development plan. It shall identify the sequence and timing of the development phases and include utility improvements, land use categories, and areas in square feet or acres. Phasing plan elements shall become committed development requirements.

K. Uses and Minor/Major Special Use Permits

No minor or major special use permit is required for uses that otherwise need such a permit pursuant to paragraph 5.1.2, Use Table; Sec 5.3, Limited Use Standards; or for standards specified elsewhere within this Ordinance, if:

1. The use or standard is specified on the approved development plan; and

2. The location, access, building height, and size, as applicable, for the proposed use or standard is specified on the development plan.