HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 01-20-2026; 12-6 - Information Item - Memorandum - Pending Amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance 1
ORANGE COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA
PLANNING and INSPECI`IONS
Cy Stober,AICP,Director I cstober@orangecountync.gov 1 131 W.Margaret Lane,Hillsborough,NC 27278 1919.245 2575
MEMORANDUM
DATE: January 20, 2026
TO: Orange County Board of County Commissioners
Travis Myren, Orange County Manager
CC: Perdita Holtz, Deputy Director, Long-Range Planning & Administration
Patrick Mallett, Deputy Director, Development Services
FROM: Cy Stober, Director, Planning and Inspections
RE: Pending Amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance
The purpose of this Information Item is to provide an update and proposed schedule for
pending amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance.
Subdivision Amendment
At the March 7, 2024, business meeting, Commissioner Greene petitioned the Board for
staff to initiate amendments to the UDO to better support the realization of"conservation
subdivisions" in Orange County.
Concurrently, commissioner direction and public feedback on the 2050 Land Use Plan
effort has required more information on multiple elements of the conservation subdivision
(rather than the current "flexible subdivision" standards) approach to protecting open
space and valuable farmland and sensitive environmental assets through the
subdivision/development process. Accordingly, technical presentations have been made
to the BOCC on community septic and well systems as well as the theory and practices
of conservation subdivisions from the author of Rural By Design, Randall Arendt.
Research of the UDO has identified Articles 2, 7, and 10, minimally, as requiring
amendment to better realize conservation subdivision.
In 2025, Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked that staff proceed with efforts to amend UDO
standards to better enable the administrative approval of major subdivisions and to
streamline the administrative process for conservation subdivisions. This requires
comprehensive amendment of Articles 2, 3, 7, and 10 of the LIDO, and the current
amendment package is 96 pages long.
Omnibus Amendment
In the 2025 legislative session, the NC General Assembly voted into law over Governor
Stein's veto NC Session Law 2025-94 (aka "Regulatory Reform Act of 2025"). Staff has
responded to this statutory change by initiating appropriate amendments to the UDO, and
taking the opportunity 1) correct some internal reference errors; 2) provide an allowance
for existing schools to expand as a legal non-conforming use; 3) eliminate a unique fence
2
setback applied to swimming pools; and 4) eliminate an Erosion Control "waiver" that
creates an unnecessary regulatory burden for applicants. At least two of these
amendments are responding to commissioner direction to amend small but critical
regulations in the UDO.
Accordingly, staff anticipate the following calendar for amendment presentation to the
Planning Board and BOCC, pending legal review, peer review as required by the Orange
County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Agreement, and Planning Board comments:
Amendment Package Ordinance Review Planning Board BOCC
Committee
Subdivision February March May
Omnibus March Aril June
Please feel free to contact Cy Stober, Planning Director, with any questions at
cstober(a-)orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2592.