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Burlington planners recommend UDO changes to create 'transitional housing' and clarify temporary shelter rules
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Summary
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend text amendments to Burlington's Unified Development Ordinance that create a new principal use for transitional housing for unhoused residents and revise temporary residential-use categories, while clarifying developer street and parking responsibilities.
Vice Chair Charles Beasley presided as the Burlington Planning and Zoning Commission discussed UDOTA 2-25, a package of proposed text amendments to the city's Unified Development Ordinance intended to update housing definitions, use standards, infrastructure requirements and development standards.
Chad Meadows of CodeRight presented the package as the sixteenth round of amendments, saying the housing changes are the largest item. Meadows introduced a new principal use, "transitional housing," intended for people who are unhoused or indigent and not to be operated as a form of incarceration. "This use type is not intended as incarceration," he said, and described core operating standards including 100 square feet of sleeping area per person, continuous on-site staffing, compliance with ADA and state building codes, a half-mile separation from certain sensitive uses, and that outdoor activities must occur within an enclosure at least 6 feet tall. Meadows said the only way to establish a transitional housing use would be via a special-use permit and that the use would be limited to the ONI and GB zoning districts.
Meadows proposed reorganizing the existing "temporary dwelling" definition into a broader "temporary residential use" category with three subtypes: emergency shelters, temporary construction dwellings and temporary housing. He said emergency shelters would be accessory temporary uses operated by religious institutions, government agencies or nonprofits during declared emergencies (which the proposed language ties to severe weather or a declared state of emergency) and would be exempt from securing a temporary use permit while still meeting residential occupancy requirements. "Emergency shelters have a duration only during the emergency," Meadows said. He contrasted that with temporary housing, which he said would be temporary or accessory to institutional uses but without a fixed duration limit, and transitional housing, which is a principal use requiring a special-use permit and additional standards.
The presentation also included non-housing clarifications: bulky-item sales setbacks measured from the street right-of-way rather than pavement edge, a citation tying manufacturing (heavy and light) to the city noise ordinance, and a bright-line principal-vs-accessory determination based on a 51% revenue test (with the planning director to decide in non-revenue cases). On infrastructure, Meadows said developers would be responsible for street dedication and construction across a site's frontage per city, NCDOT or required transportation-impact-analysis standards. He noted easement language would require prior consent from easement holders before placing permanent structures in easements, using Duke Power as an example of an easement holder that must give permission for fences.
Engineering staff supplemented the packet with a grading standard limiting slope/fill to a maximum ratio of 2.5:1. Meadows also described voluntary sustainability incentives that would let applicants reduce required open space by up to half if they pledge a set number of sustainable development practices (two from schedule A and three from schedule B).
Staff recommended approval of UDOTA 2-25 with Meadows' suggested revisions to the temporary-residential definitions. After discussion and brief questions from commissioners on school definitions and occupancy limits, an unnamed commission member moved to recommend approval, citing consistency with the city's comprehensive plan. The roll call showed approval by Vice Chair Beasley, Member Rainer, Member Crabcini and Member Saunders; the motion to recommend approval passed.
The commission also approved meeting minutes from Oct. 27, 2025 and the commission's 2026 calendar before adjourning. The Planning and Zoning Commission will forward its recommendation and the suggested text revisions to city council; the item is scheduled for the council work session on Jan. 5 and a public hearing for the text amendment is scheduled for Jan. 20.
