Planning board backs UDO change to let planning director approve fee‑in‑lieu for certain greenway/trail segments

The Mooresville Planning Board voted to recommend approval of a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that would expand the conditions under which a payment in lieu of constructing a greenway, sidewalk or multi‑use trail may be accepted.

Under current UDO language, fee‑in‑lieu options are limited to cases where a proposed segment is more than a quarter‑mile from a similar facility. The proposed amendment (TA‑25‑06) would allow the planning director discretion to accept payment when site conditions make construction infeasible or when connectivity can be achieved more effectively at an alternative location without loss of function. Staff said the change is intended to avoid redundant parallel paths, unnecessary additional stream crossings and to enable more cost‑effective implementation of the town’s pedestrian transportation plans.

Board members questioned how the change would apply to conditional rezonings and whether any decision to accept payment rather than construction would be documented within conditional‑zoning conditions. Staff and board members agreed to add language clarifying that when fee‑in‑lieu is accepted as part of a conditional rezoning, the decision and amount should be specified and recorded in the rezoning conditions so the public and future reviewers would see the tradeoff.

After that clarification was added at the board’s request, the Planning Board moved to recommend approval. The board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Town Board for final approval and ordinance adoption.