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Orange County board directs RFP for zoning overhaul, initiates text amendment to grandfather pre-2015 driveway entrances
Summary
Supervisors directed staff to draft a scope/RFP for a zoning ordinance update and voted to initiate a text amendment clarifying that lots created before April 2015 will be grandfathered from a 500-foot driveway spacing requirement; boardors debated scope, timeline and public engagement.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors instructed staff to prepare an RFP and scope for a zoning ordinance update and voted to initiate a zoning text amendment to clarify driveway spacing rules for lots created before April 2015.
The matter arose from a January retreat action item to update and redraft the county zoning ordinance. County staff said they had spoken with Nelson County and estimated a 12'18 month process for Orange, given the county's comparatively simpler code. Staff warned that the precise timeline depends on the consultant's scope and that defining the scope early is critical to avoiding scope creep.
Supervisors split on approach: some urged a targeted, cost-conscious harmonization of the zoning and subdivision ordinances to make their language consistent; others urged a thorough, holistic rewrite to remove decades of piecemeal amendments that have left the code difficult for residents and staff to interpret. Multiple supervisors recommended a public process, including a citizen advisory committee and planning commission review.
On a related item, the board considered driveway spacing on primary highways (a 500-foot spacing standard adopted in April 2015). One supervisor moved that lots created before April 2015 be treated as grandfathered. After legal and administrative discussion about past interpretations (staff said prior guidance treated spacing as a development condition and that the county did not have entrance spacing requirements before 2015), the board amended the motion to initiate a zoning text amendment that would make grandfathering explicit in the ordinance. The board asked staff to draft proposed language and circulate it to supervisors by email, then forward it to the planning commission for formal review.
The board approved the text amendment initiation by voice vote. Staff will prepare an RFP scope for the broader zoning effort and return the draft language and scope for further direction.
What happens next: staff (including the zoning administrator) will draft ordinance language and an RFP/scope for consultant services; the planning commission will review proposed zoning text amendments and the board will consider adoption after public hearings.
