PITTSBORO — The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners made progress on refining the town’s proposed unified development ordinance at a workshop on Monday night.
The last workshop held in December ended with further delays as two particular sections of the UDO, the natural overlay district and the tree protection ordinance, bogged down the discussion. In contrast, the board was able to work through and request edits to the first article of the UDO in its entirety as well as a significant portion of the second rather than focus on areas that would require deeper discussion.
The workshop was led by Pittsboro Town Planner Jeff Jones, who announced that the town had decided to not continue with Roger Walson and Claris, the consultant hired to guide the town through the UDO process. He opened the meeting by asking the commissioners to discuss their vision for the future of Pittsboro, noting that throughout the process, the members had learned more about every aspect of the town’s future development which may also require a review of the town’s future land use plan. Jones also was cognizant that some areas of the UDO, which also included sign and lighting ordinances, may also require additional time.
The board then proceeded to work section by section, making edits along the way. Some edits were as basic as typos, while others were requests to increase height minimums or density allowances. In some cases, a word or phrase was added to ensure clarity. For example, in the section about alterations to the exterior of a building, there was concern that the language could be used to include an owner who wants to replace their windows or repaint their home. Therefore, the language “for which a building permit is required” was added to ensure that the commissioners’ intent was clear. Several members, including Mayor Pro-Tem Pamela Baldwin and Pittsboro Commissioner Jay Farrell asked that more explicit and detailed mapping be included in the UDO.
Throughout the process, members voiced the types of things that were a priority in the overall vision for the town.
“I want to reduce the commuting and reduce business leakage,” Pittsboro Commissioner Michael Fiocco said. “I want us to be affordable. I want to allow creativity and avoid uniformity.”
“I want us to be different than other towns,” Pittsboro Commissioner Bette Wilson Foley said.
