Additional research was done into the UDO, future land use map, and comprehensive plan to better understand the historic nature of the undertaking of the citywide remapping.<\/p>\n
Lawyers representing developers were interviewed to highlight the opportunities and challenges that developers will face if the remapping were to be approved. The president of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood was interviewed to hear the views of an affected neighborhood.<\/p>\n
This article has the following structure: The relationship between the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, the Future Land Use Map, and the UDO; The important changes between the old zoning codes and the UDO; The purpose of mixed use districts; reactions from lawyers representing developers and the community; and the next steps city council will take on its way to making a decision about the citywide remapping.<\/p>\n
The 2030 Comprehensive Plan: The Guiding Document for Raleigh for Years to Come<\/strong><\/p>\n The comprehensive plan was designed, in part, in response to Raleigh\u2019s continuing population growth. According to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), Raleigh\u2019s population is projected to increase from 370,000 in 2005 to nearly 600,000 by 2035.<\/p>\n Steven Schuster, the chairman of the planning commission, said in an interview that the Comprehensive Plan calls for increased density due to the rapidly growing population. This is a departure from earlier policies that advocated for an urban sprawl approach.<\/p>\n Developments are governed by the future land use map, which was formed alongside the comprehensive plan. The future land use map is often used in rezoning cases to determine whether the rezoning petition is consistent with the overall vision for planned development within the city.<\/p>\n Almost immediately after the comprehensive plan and future land use map were formed, work started within the city\u2019s planning department to construct the UDO. The intent was to completely rewrite the city’s existing zoning codes. The draft of the UDO took three years to complete.<\/p>\n The UDO: Rewriting the Zoning Code for the Entire City<\/strong><\/p>\n Ken Bowers<\/p><\/div>\n According to Ken Bowers, the planning director for the city of Raleigh, the UDO was vetted at several points, including rounds of review internally, before a presentation to council, before the initial adoption. The date that the UDO took effect was September 1, 2013.<\/p>\n Much of the city is already operating within the framework of the UDO. Many of these areas are zoned residential, and no significant change was needed to convert from the old code to the new code. The rezoning of the 30 percent of the remaining area of the city still under the old code started in 2014 and is known as rezoning case Z-27-14.<\/p>\n According to Bowers, the UDO is about taking a more \u201cformed-based\u201d approach to zoning. Instead of directly regulating density or commercial intensity, the UDO concentrates on building height, so that the development will fit into context within its surroundings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe densities are not radically different from what you could do under the old code,\u201d Bowers said.<\/p>\n Under the old code, as long as a developer met the setback requirements, they could build as high as they wanted to. According to Bowers, the new code allows the scale of development and the density to be \u201cworked out by the market.\u201d<\/p>\n James Borden \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p> The UDO will allow the market to determine the scale of development within the city<\/p><\/div>\n Another key difference between the old code and the new code is the strengthening of administrative standards for review. Within the context of site plan submittal, the applicant would have to meet numerous legal parameters, including the due process clause of the 5th<\/sup> and 14th<\/sup> amendments of the constitution. The remapping will not, Bowers said, lead to rampant, unchecked development.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to stress that the standards of development are stronger in the new code than they are in the old code,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Development is expected to take place along major thoroughfares within the city, due to the last major change from the old code to the new code \u2014 the mixed use zoning district.<\/p>\n The Mixed Use Zoning District: Where You Can Live, Shop, and Work in the Same Place<\/strong><\/p>\n Mixed use zoning districts are denoted within the new zoning code with the letter \u2018X.\u2019 For instance, neighborhood mixed use is signified by \u2018NX\u2019 while residential mixed use is signified by \u2018RX.\u2019<\/p>\n Mixed use districts allow for multiple uses in one particular development. A common mixed use is having ground-floor retail beneath an apartment complex or an office building.<\/p>\n Within the UDO, uses are assigned to particular mixed use districts. For instance, fraternities and sororities are a permitted use in RX, OX (office mixed use), CX (commercial mixed use), DX (downtown mixed use), and IX (industrial mixed use), but not NX.<\/p>\n Wake County<\/p> Under the UDO, fraternities such as NC State\\’s FarmHouse would be prohibited in neighborhood mixed-use districts<\/p><\/div>\n Bowers said the decision for\u00a0which uses were assigned to which mixed-use zoning districts came from consultants who studied counties across the country as well as compatibility with past policies.<\/p>\n Steven Schuster said the mixed use district is designed to allow property owners to be able to \u201cwork, shop and play in the same area.\u201d He noted while a mixed use district allows for a larger amount of uses, it does not necessarily mean that the site will be developed with greater density.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile they\u2019re related, they\u2019re not necessarily the same issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Schuster said a good example is having a mixed use development in downtown built to the height of 40 stories, while a mixed use development in another part of town would be built to three stories. In Schuster\u2019s mind, it is all about what is appropriate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to become more dense,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s become more dense in ways that support good planning.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal, according to Schuster, is to become denser in the right places \u2014 downtown, along major thoroughfares like Wade Avenue and Capital Boulevard, in places with a growing population like North Hills. He added that mixed use districts were part of the goals adopted in the comprehensive plan.<\/p>\n Reaction from Both Sides of the Community<\/strong><\/p>\n The public hearings for the citywide remapping took place over two separate evenings where more one hundred people shared their thoughts. The speakers were a cross-section of the city of Raleigh \u2014 black and white, old and young, male and female. Some had questions about their particular piece of property, while two neighborhoods spoke out against development that would take place near them.<\/p>\n Overall, the reaction of those present was anger and frustration. Many felt they had not received communication from the city regarding the remapping until the latest possible hour and had to work through the online document of the UDO, which is filled with technical language, to find clarity. Their frustration with the process was evident.<\/p>\n James Borden \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p> Council Chambers were packed to full capacity for the first public hearing on the remapping<\/p><\/div>\n Two specific neighborhoods spoke out \u2014 the neighborhood around the intersection of Falls of Neuse Road and Dunn Road and the neighborhood of Historic Oakwood. Both were upset about mixed use districts being placed near their neighborhoods, something they believed would damage their neighborhood character and cause increased impacts such as traffic and light and noise pollution.<\/p>\n![\"compplan\"](\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/compplan-336x434.jpg\")
<\/a>The 2030 comprehensive plan<\/a> was adopted by City Council resolution 2009-997<\/a> on October 7, 2009, with the ideal that the document would become the long-term vision for the city of Raleigh. It describes itself as \u201ca key policy document that helps make the city workable, livable, and prosperous.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Bowers](\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Bowers-Headshot.jpg\")
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