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Harrisburg council to fast-track UDO fixes for tobacco/CBD locations and re-examine trip-count thresholds
Summary
Council instructed staff to fast-track clarifications to the UDO on tobacco/CBD shop distance restrictions and investigate a likely administrative error on the trip-count threshold used for traffic impact analyses; staff warned small trip TIAs may not always capture local safety concerns.
Town staff told the council the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) rewrite is largely complete but needs a set of targeted text amendments and editorial corrections. Rob said staff allocated $20,000 in the current budget for internal updates and listed about 14–15 text amendments identified by planning staff.
Rob said two items would be fast-tracked to address safety and administrative clarity: (1) tighten distance restrictions for tobacco, vape and CBD businesses from schools, churches, parks and other youth venues; and (2) examine a trip-count (traffic impact analysis, or TIA) number that appears to have been changed administratively (from what staff believed to be the prior standard) and correct it if appropriate.
"The location of tobacco, CBD and vape is also fast tracked because I said so," Rob said, noting the town's desire to limit exposure of youth to adult-oriented advertising and sales. He added that staff preferred to move the change quickly and revert if community feedback suggests otherwise.
Council members then debated the trip-count threshold for triggering TIAs. Some members argued the community's lived experience shows safety problems at certain intersections, while staff cautioned that very low TIA thresholds can produce studies that show numerically negligible changes (for instance, a small subdivision might add only seven or eight peak-hour trips), making it harder to require physical mitigations based strictly on trip counts.
Council agreed to form a work group (staff + select council members) to refine the UDO edits, get more public feedback, and route text amendments through the Planning & Zoning (PNC) process with public hearings prior to adoption.
Staff said they will target the fast-tracked text amendments for the next PNC agenda and then bring them to council for public hearing and potential adoption.
