Project Description:

CPS team members first completed an assessment of the town’s development regulations and provided them with a final report identifying and implementation strategy. The assessment consisted of multiple meetings with town staff, a full desk review and assessment of the code, creation of an assessment table identifying specific sections which were inconsistent with other code sections, areas which could be updated to better align with community goals and industry best practices, and provisions which must be updated to meet recent court decisions on land use topics. Upon completion of the assessment, the town has embarked on the phased update approach to the code and CPS team members have been essential in completing phase one and anticipate the town to continue with the phased updates until the code is fully updated.

Following the Assessment, the town decided to proceed with a phased implementation strategy where staff would work closely with CPS to make updates to priority sections of the DDR and present those to the Planning Commission and Town Council as they were prepared. This approach included regularly scheduled meetings between town staff and CPS to walk through the amendments to the various sections. Phase 1 focus on the administration and procedural elements of development approvals. CPS worked with town staff to simplify these articles to increase readability, usability, and ease of administration.

In Phase 2, the project team focused on the use table, the levels of approval, and the supplemental standards such as parking, landscaping, use standards, and site dimensional standards.