Title
Ordinance Amending Chapter 30 of the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) With Respect To Zoning, Planning and Development - Swimming Pools and Interactive Water Features
Body
Department: Planning
Council District: All
Public Hearing: Yes
Advertising Date/By: April 5th and 12th/City Clerk
Contact 1 and Phone: Sue Schwartz at 373-2149
Contact 2 and Phone: Steve Galanti at 373-2918
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the text amendment is to revise the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) related to swimming pools and interactive water features. The City Council is required to hold a public hearing on this amendment before considering its approval.
BACKGROUND:
The current Land Development Ordinance (LDO) contains provisions that specify the dimensional standards for locating swimming pools, on a lot within the City of Greensboro, within a number of sections scattered throughout the ordinance. Last month, the Planning Department received a request to evaluate those standards as they relate to pools in multifamily complexes. Staff has evaluated all of the pool regulations within the LDO and researched the regulations in other jurisdictions. With input from a stakeholder group, the Planning Department has formulated changes to the LDO so that: 1) there are no conflicts between sections; 2) the wording in each of the sections is consistent; and 3) the regulations are reorganized so that they are easier to locate and comprehend.
The only major change contained in the amendment is for the separation for pools in multifamily complexes to be measure from a building containing a residential unit on the abutting property instead of measuring from the residential property line.
The process to revise the ordinance for swimming pools was developed and progressed as follows:
1. Request Received - Staff received the request to modify the pool regulations for multifamily complexes.
2. Research / Evaluation - Staff researched pool regulations in other jurisdictions and evaluated the pool regulations in the LDO.
3. Initial Proposal - Staff formulated changes based on the request, research from other jurisdictions and the stated goals of this effort
4. Stakeholder Groups - Having a draft to work with, staff met with two stakeholder groups, which include TREBIC, developers and contractors. During the meeting, several changes were proposed and reflected in the amendment moving forward.
5. Draft Proposal - Staff prepared a draft ordinance base on all of the input and information gather from the previous steps.
6. Planning Board - Conducted a public hearing to consider this ordinance to revise the Land Development Ordinance on March 21, 2018, with a recommendation to be forwarded to City Council.
7. City Council - Will conduct a public hearing on April 17, 2018 to consider the ordinance to revise the Land Development Ordinance.
Explanation of Changes
The text amendment will make several changes to the Land Development Ordinance, which are outlined by section number as follows:
Section 1 - Add Interactive Water Feature as a Typical Use
Section 2 - Move (and cross reference) Pool Standards to Combined Section
Section 3 - Consistent Wording
Section 4 - Add Cross Reference to Combined Section
Section 5 - Consistent Wording
Section 6 - Consistent Wording
Section 7 - Consistent Wording
Section 8 - Consistent Wording, Fencing
Section 9 - Consistent Wording
Section 10 - Combined All Pool Standards into One Section by Use (Single Family, Multifamily, Nonresidential / Mixed Use)
Section 11 - Define "Building Coverage"
Section 12 - Define "Interactive Water Feature
Section 13 - Revise "Swimming Pool' Definition
BUDGET IMPACT:
There will be no impact on the current or future budgets.
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED:
The Planning Board recommended this amendment with revisions at its March meeting on a vote of 9-0. Staff recommends that City Council receive citizen comments and consider adoption of the proposed text amendment.