GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2015
H 1
HOUSE BILL 201
Short Title: Zoning Changes/Citizen Input. |
(Public) |
|
Sponsors: |
Representatives Stam, Goodman, Jackson, and Fraley (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site. |
|
Referred to: |
Local Government. |
|
March 11, 2015
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the process by which the city councils receive citizen input in zoning ordinance amendments.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 160A‑385(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑385. Changes.
(a) Qualified Protests.Citizen Comments.
(1) Zoning ordinances may from time to time be amended,
supplemented, changed, modified or repealed. In case, however, of a
qualified protest against a zoning map amendment, that amendment shall not
become effective except by favorable vote of three‑fourths of all the
members of the city council. For the purposes of this subsection, vacant
positions on the council and members who are excused from voting shall not be
considered "members of the council" for calculation of the requisite
supermajority.If any resident or property owner in the city submits a written
statement regarding a proposed amendment, modification, or repeal to a zoning
ordinance to the clerk to the board at least two business days prior to the
proposed vote on such change, the clerk to the board shall deliver such written
statement to the city council.
(2) To qualify as a protest under this
section, the petition must be signed by the owners of either (i) twenty percent
(20%) or more of the area included in the proposed change or (ii) five percent
(5%) of a 100‑foot‑wide buffer extending along the entire boundary
of each discrete or separate area proposed to be rezoned. A street right‑of‑way
shall not be considered in computing the 100‑foot buffer area as long as
that street right‑of‑way is 100 feet wide or less. When less than
an entire parcel of land is subject to the proposed zoning map amendment, the
100‑foot buffer shall be measured from the property line of that parcel.
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the city may rely on the county tax
listing to determine the "owners" of potentially qualifying areas.
(3) The foregoing provisions concerning
protests shall not be applicable to any amendment which initially zones
property added to the territorial coverage of the ordinance as a result of
annexation or otherwise, or to an amendment to an adopted (i) special use
district, (ii) conditional use district, or (iii) conditional district if the
amendment does not change the types of uses that are permitted within the
district or increase the approved density for residential development, or
increase the total approved size of nonresidential development, or reduce the
size of any buffers or screening approved for the special use district,
conditional use district, or conditional district."
SECTION 2. G.S. 160A‑386 is repealed.
SECTION 3. G.S. 122C‑403(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3) Regulate the development of the reservation in
accordance with the powers granted in Article 19, Parts 2, 3, 3C, 5, 6, and 7,
of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes. The Secretary may not, however, grant
a special use permit, a conditional use permit, or a special exception under
Part 3 of that Article. In addition, the Secretary is not required to notify
landowners of zoning classification actions under G.S. 160A‑384, and
the protest petition requirements in G.S. 160A‑385, and 160A‑386
do not apply, but the Secretary shall give the mayor of the Town of Butner
at least 14 days' advance written notice of any proposed zoning change. The
Secretary may designate Advisory establish a board to act like a Board of
Adjustment to make recommendations to the Secretary concerning implementation
of plans for the development of the reservation. When acting as a Board of
Adjustment, Advisory that board shall be subject to subsections (b), (c), (d),
(f), and (g) of G.S. 160A‑388."
SECTION 4. This act also repeals any local act authority for submission, review, or action by any municipality upon any zoning protest petition, whether or not enacted as a provision in a municipal charter.
SECTION 5. G.S. 160A‑75 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑75. Voting.
No member shall be excused from voting except upon matters
involving the consideration of the member's own financial interest or official
conduct or on matters on which the member is prohibited from voting under G.S. 14‑234,
160A‑381(d), or 160A‑388(e)(2). In all other cases,cases
except votes taken under G.S. 160A‑385, a failure to vote by a
member who is physically present in the council chamber, or who has withdrawn
without being excused by a majority vote of the remaining members present,
shall be recorded as an affirmative vote. The question of the compensation and
allowances of members of the council is not a matter involving a member's own
financial interest or official conduct.
An affirmative vote equal to a majority of all the members of the council not excused from voting on the question in issue, including the mayor's vote in case of an equal division, shall be required to adopt an ordinance, take any action having the effect of an ordinance, authorize or commit the expenditure of public funds, or make, ratify, or authorize any contract on behalf of the city. In addition, no ordinance nor any action having the effect of any ordinance may be finally adopted on the date on which it is introduced except by an affirmative vote equal to or greater than two thirds of all the actual membership of the council, excluding vacant seats and not including the mayor unless the mayor has the right to vote on all questions before the council. For purposes of this section, an ordinance shall be deemed to have been introduced on the date the subject matter is first voted on by the council."
SECTION 6. This act becomes effective May 1, 2015, and applies to zoning ordinance changes adopted on or after that date.