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Board recommends removing school impact study requirement and tasks staff with capacity requests
Summary
The board recommended approving ZT2026-0085 to remove the applicant duty to produce a school impact study for large residential developments and instead formalize staff requests to Union County Public Schools for capacity information; staff said district facilities staff provide more useful and timely data.
The Planning & Zoning Board recommended approval of ZT2026-0085, an amendment that removes the applicant responsibility to pay for or procure a separate school impact study for residential developments of 50 lots or more and instead documents staff's responsibility to request school capacity information from the Union County Public Schools facilities office.
Staff said consultants producing student-yield studies were often difficult to find and that the school system's facilities staff already provide baseline enrollment and capacity information useful to the town's review. "The intent is to remove the school impact study... and retain what staff did before," staff said, noting the revised UDO language will rename the requirement a 'school capacity report' and place the request as a staff function during conditional zoning and site-plan review. Staff estimated the facilities department typically responds in about one to two weeks depending on workload.
Board members agreed this streamlines the application process and better aligns the information source with local practice; members also observed that North Carolina does not permit school impact fees, so studies are advisory rather than a revenue mechanism for the district. The board moved to recommend approval and the motion passed by voice vote.
