Currituck Planning Board approves UDO text amendment clarifying community meeting rules for major subdivisions

The Currituck County Planning Board on April 8 voted to approve PB 25-03, a text amendment to Chapter 2 of the county’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that clarifies when community meetings are required for major subdivisions and certain special use permits.

Planning staff said the amendment resolves conflicting language in the UDO and aligns practice with the ordinance by requiring community meetings for Type 2 preliminary plats and for special use permits except for Type 1 preliminary plats. "So this proposed language will require community meetings for special use permits, generally," Planning staff Sherry said during the board’s meeting.

The amendment removes an older 50-lot threshold and treats Type 2 preliminary plats (21 or more lots) as requiring a community meeting. Staff told the board that Type 1 preliminary plats (20 or fewer lots) remain administrative unless an individual subdivision triggers a special use permit — for example, when school facilities serving the subdivision are at or above 85% of maximum capacity. Planning staff explained community meetings are held before an application is submitted; the usual sequence is a pre-application conference with staff, the community meeting, then the formal application submittal.

The proposed language also updates public-notification details. The board heard that notice for community meetings is mailed to property owners within 500 feet of the subject property, posted at least 10 days before hearings, and published in a local newspaper (most often the Coastland Times or, occasionally, The Daily Advance). Staff said applicants send the community-meeting notices, and staff will send a second notice when the application is scheduled for hearing before the Currituck County Board of Commissioners.

Board discussion focused on procedural clarifications: whether community meetings happen before application (they do), how school capacity is applied (area elementary schools for local subdivisions; countywide capacity may be considered for higher-level schools), and where notices are published. A board member who moved approval said the amendment "is in conformance with the Unified Development Ordinance and clarifies community meeting requirements" and noted it is "not in conflict with the Imagine Currituck 2040 vision plan." The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; all present voted in favor.

With the Planning Board’s approval, PB 25-03 will proceed to the Currituck County Board of Commissioners for consideration and any final action. Staff did not provide a specific Commission hearing date at the meeting.