Residents warn proposed UDO changes would strip planning board of review in Sunset Beach

Stuart Jones, a planning-board member, told the Town of Sunset Beach council he supports the planning board’s version of the proposed Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) amendment and opposed language that would transfer site-plan and subdivision approval to a UDO administrator. "To take that away from the citizens, to take that away from the planning board, I think is a detriment to the town," he said, arguing that the planning board’s review produces improvements through public input.

Richard Diesinger, who also serves on the planning board, said the planning board provides local, historical knowledge that an off-island UDO administrator lacks. Diesinger noted past success in negotiating developer changes — for example, achieving 12-to-18-foot masking hedges to buffer residential neighbors from a hotel — and warned that a clause permitting removal of board members "with or without cause" by a majority vote of council could create political intimidation.

Both speakers pointed to statutory compliance questions. Stuart Jones said the town’s existing UDO is in compliance with "state statutes 160D" (as spoken in the record), and argued there is no technical need for the proposed change solely to meet state statute requirements. Diesinger added that the current UDO administrator lives outside town, raising concerns about local knowledge.

No formal council action on the UDO amendment is recorded in the public-comment portion of the forum. Speakers urged that any ordinance change preserve opportunities for public input and retain the planning board’s ability to request site-plan improvements.