Currituck commissioners adopt UDO changes limiting large subdivision buildouts, adding perimeter buffers

The Currituck County Board of Commissioners voted July 6 to adopt changes to the county's Unified Development Ordinance aimed at slowing large-scale subdivision buildouts and providing landscaped transitions to neighboring residential areas.

Planning staff introduced the board-sponsored amendment and said it would require phased development for major subdivisions and add perimeter landscape-buffer requirements. "This is a board-sponsored text amendment," planning staffer Miss Turner told the board, explaining that the proposal moves a harmony finding to be considered with the land use plan and adds phasing limits and buffer standards.

The adopted language establishes that for Type 2 subdivisions of 21 to 45 lots a minimum of two phases may be required; for subdivisions of 46 lots or more, each phase shall contain no more than 35% of the total proposed lots or 20 lots, whichever is greater. The amendment also prevents recording more than one phase within any 12-month period and requires that "subsequent phases shall not be recorded until building permits have been issued for at least 65% of the lots in the prior phase," language Turner read to the board during the presentation.

Commissioners debated the numeric cutoffs for weeks of work-session discussion and at the meeting raised concerns about small remainders in split phases, the potential burden on small builders, and whether the board should retain discretion in lower-end cases. Some members favored starting the simpler two-phase rule only for larger subdivisions; others urged the 21-to-45-lot bracket to slow growth. The planning board recommended approval unanimously.

Board members also discussed the new perimeter buffer requirement, which staff described as a Type B "aesthetic" buffer in the ordinance: example metrics shown include a target of 8 aggregate caliper inches of canopy trees, 10 understory trees and 15 shrubs per 100 linear feet within a 25-foot buffer, with smaller counts for a 10-foot buffer. Commissioners questioned how long planted buffers must be preserved before they are considered established, and whether bonding or homeowner-association responsibility should be used to ensure replacement when plantings fail.

Chairman O'Neil and other commissioners said the change is intended to slow rapid, large-scale development and preserve the county's rural character. Commissioner discussion produced a plan to fine-tune the lower-end thresholds in a future work session; the core drafting approved July 6 applies as described above.

The board approved the amendment by voice vote. The ordinance language adopted at the meeting will be incorporated into the UDO as described, and staff will provide final, codified text for implementation.