Department of Community & Economic Development
Planning Division
Post Office Box 1340 Columbus, Georgia 31902-1340
Telephone (706) 653-4116 Fax (706) 653-4120
03/18/2005
Honorable Mayor and Councilors
City Manager
City Attorney
Clerk of Council
Subject: (ZC0501-10) Request to amend the text of the Unified Development
Ordinance to correct omissions and to clarify certain sections.
Richard Bishop
Deputy City Manager
Attachments
STAFF REPORT
APPLICATION
It has been brought to staff?s attention that problems were discovered
concerning certain sections of the recently adopted Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO). The sections in question are Section 3.2.72 Wireless
Communications Facilities, Paragraph K.1.A.; and Section 4.2.1.C, Nonconforming
Dumpsters. The narrative below describes in detail the omission and what is
recommended to correct these errors. In addition, staff members were again
asked to review the UDO to insure that the terminology of each section properly
addressed the needs of the community. From this process, several sections of
the ordinance were identified as needing additional language or clarification
to insure that the intent of the existing ordinance was maintained in the new
UDO. They are identified below.
As with any new ordinance of this magnitude the concern is, will there be other
unknown problems contained within this document. The general answer is yes.
The UDO is a dynamic instrument that when put to full use will encounter new
difficulties and questions that were not thought of when this ordinance was
prepared. For those situations, there are built in controls. These provisions
consist of the following items:
1) Protection from other ordinances, rules and regulations that may be in
conflict UDO (Section 1.2.5). Requires that when the UDO is disagreement with
other ordinances, the more restrictive or the one with higher standards, shall
be the determining factor.
2) Provisions that require an administrative official to interpret and rule on
issues where the ordinance maybe vague or in conflict with other provisions of
the UDO (Section 12.3). This is section is particularly important, in that it
gives administrative officials, such that the directors are responsible to
insure that the integrity of the UDO is not compromised and that the intent of
the ordinance is maintained.
3) An appeal process is established that allows anyone aggrieved by such a
decision the opportunity to heard before the Board of Zoning Appeals (Section
10.11.3)
4) On zoning matters, special exception uses and the overall direction and
maintenance of the UDO, the City Council still is the final decision making
organization, and may impose conditions for the approval of such items (Section
10.2.5.D.7).
As has already been stated in earlier briefings on this ordinance, the UDO will
need to be constantly monitored and updated to insure its overall quality and
function the development tool for this community.
PROPOSED TEXT AMMENDMENT
Listed below are the recommended initial changes for the UDO.
Needed Corrections (3):
Section 3.2.72.K.1.A. Wireless Communications Facilities, Design Criteria. This
language was should have been deleted, with the existing language from the
wireless communication ordinance inserted in its place. The new language
should read as follows:
?A tower structure shall not be placed within 300 feet of a residential
structure.?
It should be noted here, that wireless communication tower structures are
allowed only in commercial zones and require a special exception use approval
by the City Council, upon which additional conditions maybe applied.
Section 4.2.1,C. Nonconforming Dumpsters,. Delete the following paragraph:
?All existing nonconforming dumpsters in the Columbus Consolidated Government
jurisdiction shall be in compliance with these regulations no later than 18
months from the effective date of this UDO.?
This section was not intended to be in the final UDO document and should have
been removed. It had been determined earlier that this requirement would be
difficult to manage and burdensome on established developments. It is
recommended that the following language be substituted as follows:
?All existing nonconforming dumpsters in the Columbus Consolidated Government
jurisdiction, shall be in compliance with these regulations, with the exception
of the requirement for materials as described under paragraph B.2.(C) of this
section, no later than 18 months from the effective date of this UDO. Materials
used for the screening of these dumpsters shall consist of either concrete,
fieldstone, brick, stucco or wood picket fence to provide for an opaque design
to screen the dumpster from the public?s view.?
Add Section 12. Article 7. Right To Impose Development Standards.
"If a development standard was inadvertently omitted from this UDO Ordinance,
the Department of Planning and the Columbus City Council reserve the right to
impose such development standard as it existed prior to the effective date of
this UDO Ordinance."
The adding of this language would give both the Department of Planning and/or
the Council the right to review any future conflicts with the new UDO and the
previous development ordinances where problems may occur.
Needed Clarifications or Additions (13)
Section 4.5.4 F.2.(B) & (C) General Standards. Reword this section to clarify
the intent of this section by changing (B), and (C) to read the following:
(B) expansion of the gross square feet of buildings or a site?s physical
development, by 50 percent or greater; or
(C) an expansion of the gross square feet of buildings or sites physical
development that cumulatively totals more than 50 percent since the effective
date of the original Buffer Ordinance (April 29, 1999).
This request was made by the Department of Public Services to insure the intent
of the original landscaping and buffer ordinance remained intact.
Section 4.6.4 B 1. City Arborist. Add a reference to Article 7
?Review and approve or disapprove all plans required by Articles 5, 6, and 7.
This language was requested by the Department of Public Services to insure that
all duties of the City Arborist are covered.
Section 4.6.6 B.1.(B). Applicability. Add the reference to the original tree
ordinance adoption date to insure compliance with all projects since 2002:
?The standards shall apply to additions cumulatively totaling more than 5,000
square feet since the effective date of the original Tree Protection Ordinance
(June 4, 2002).?
Requested by the Department of Public Services.
Section 4.6.6.B.2.(B). Applicability. Delete the language that reads:
?effective date of this UDO ? and insert the following:
?effective date of the original Tree Protection ordinance (June 4, 2002)?
Requested by the Department of Public Services, this is establishes a date for
this requirement.
Section 4.6.6.E.1. (B) & (C) Redevelopment. Reword this section to clarify the
intent of this section to read:
(B) expansion of the gross square feet of the buildings or a sites physical
development by 50% or greater: or
(C) an expansion of the gross square feet of buildings or a sites physical
development totaling more than 50% since the effective date of the original
Tree Protection Ordinance (October 2, 2002)
Add Section 4.6.19 Enforcement and Administration. Requested by the
Department of Public Services, this new section would add the same requirements
found in Section 4.7.2 Enforcement and Administration, so as to insure that the
City Arborist can oversee the provisions of the tree ordinance. Without this
new section, it could be argued that the City Arborist could only enforce and
administer Article 7 of Chapter 4.
Rename Article 7. The title for article ?Trees and Shrubs as Nuisances? does
not adequately identify this portion of the ordinance. The recommendation is
to change the title to ?Additional Tree Requirements?
Section 10.8.1.B.5. Simultaneous Application and Review. Change the wording
from ?Director of Planning? to ?Director of Engineering?, and add the word
?development? between the words ?site? and ?plan?, to read as follows:
?An application for a building permit may proceed simultaneously with an
application for project approval of a site development plan, but the permit may
not be issued prior to project approval of such site development plan by the
Director of Engineering.?
This change was requested by the Department of Inspections and Code, as this is
actually a responsibility of this department.
A review of Chapter 12 found that it did not directly establish the duties of
the Department of Inspections and Code. This is due to the fact that the
original development of this chapter had the Department of Community and
Economic Development as the umbrella organization that oversaw all of the
Inspections and Code duties. With the recent reorganization of the Resource
Development Center, all references to the Department of Community and Economic
Development have been removed, and those duties distributed to the Department
of Inspections and Code, the Department of Engineering and the Department of
Planning. The sections below are recommend to rectify this situation and to
establish the clear duties of all these departments.
Chapter 12, Article 1. Insert the wording ?the Director of Inspections and
Code? as one of the administrative officers responsible for enforcing this
ordinance.
Section 12.3.1.B. Subdivision and Development Projects. Remove the
wording:?the construction of buildings and structures, and the use and
occupancy of buildings, structures and lands within the Columbus Consolidated
Government jurisdiction.? from this paragraph.
Recommended by the Department of Planning and the Department of Inspections and
Code, this language should be under the description for Inspections and Code.
Section 12.3.1.C. Enforcement. Rewrite the paragraph to read:
?As the agent for all authorizations related to the use of land, the Director
shall be responsible for the enforcement of all requirements and restrictions
of this UDO related to the design layout of subdivisions and development
projects.?
ADD Section 12.3.4. Director of Inspections and Code. This is a new section,
which establishes the duties and responsibilities of this office.
A. Responsibilities.
The Director. or the Director?s designee, shall be responsible for the receipt,
review and processing of all applications for the construction of buildings and
structures, and the use and occupancy of buildings, structures and lands within
the Columbus Consolidated Government jurisdiction.
B. Enforcement.
As the issuing agent for all permits and authorizations related to buildings
and structures, the Director or the Director?s designee, shall be responsible
for enforcement of all requirements and restrictions of this UDO related to the
construction of buildings and structures and the use or occupancy of land and
buildings.
Section 12.4.3.A. Inspection. Replace the wording ?Community and Economic
Development? with the following:
?If the Director of Planning, the Director of Inspections and Code or the City
Arborist finds. . . ?
Typographical Corrections (39)
Table 2.1.3.Property Development Standards for Residential Accessory Structures
not in the RE Districts. Under Minimum Setbacks, Side Corner standards should
read as follows:
?Same as principal structure?
Minimum Setbacks for Rear standards should read as follows: ?5?, instead of the
?Same as principal structure. These two items were reversed.
Section 2.1.4.B. Permitted, Special Exception and Prohibited Uses. Remove the
?X? and replace it with a ?*? to read as follows:
B. Additional Standards.
Additional standards applicable to permitted and special exception uses are
indicated by an ?*? in the Notes column of Table 3.1.1 of Chapter 3.
Table 2.1.4 Property Development Standards for Residential Estate Accessory
Structures. Under the Dimension column, the term ?Minimum Lot Coverage? should
be changed to ?Maximum Lot Coverage?.
Table 3.1.1. Permitted, Special Exception and Prohibited Uses. Corrections were
made for several uses where it was determined that certain permitted uses had
been mislabeled or incorrectly addressed.
Section 3.2.24.D. Day Care, Type II. Should read as follows:
?A type II facility may operate as a principal use in any
nonresidential zone.?
Section 3.2.66.D.4. Transitional Housing Facility, Type I. The word ?Sixteen?
is misspelled in the title.
Section 3.2.67.D. Transitional Housing Facility, Type II. The word ?aximum?
should be ?maximum? in the description sentence.
Section 3.2.72.I.1.Wireless Communications Facilities, Height Limitations and
Co-Location Requirements. Change the height reference from 20 feet to 30 feet,
to remain consistent with the rest of this section, to read as follows:
?Antennae attached to existing buildings or structures other than towers shall
not increase the total height by more than 30 feet.?
Section 3.2.72.N.1.(A). Wireless Communication Facilities, Statement of
Commitment. The word ?Committment? is misspelled in the subtitle, and should
be ?Commitment?.
Table 4.3.3. Off-Parking Street Parking Standards, Places of Worship, 250 or
more Seats. Under Additional Standards, it currently shows a requirement for
500 seats. This should be changed to 250 and read as follows:
?Same as Places of Worship, Less than 250 Seats.?
Section 4.4.3. Review of Sign Applications. Replace the word ?five? to
?fifteen?.
Section 4.4.10.B. Ground and Monument Sign Size and Height. B. Remove RO, and
replace the abbreviations for CG, M/IL and M/IHC from the subtitle, and add the
correct ones to read as follows:
?B. UPT, NC, CO, GC, LMI and HMI Zoning District Ground/Monument Sign.?
Section 4.4.13.A. Permitted Locations. Replace the abbreviations for CG, M/IL,
and M/IH and add the correct ones to read as follows: ?Billboards are permitted
in GC, LMI, and HMI.?
Section 4.4.14.A. Permitted Locations. Replace the abbreviations for CG, M/IL,
and M/IH and add the correct ones to read as follows: ?Message signs shall be
permitted in GC, LMI, and HMI zoning districts under the following conditions.?
Table 4.5.1. Minimum Side and Rear Buffer Requirements. Removes buffer
classification for commercial uses against commercial, and industrial uses
against industrial.
Section 4.5.13 A.1. Installation and Planting Plan Required. Add at the end of
that paragraph the following language
??.. or a final building inspection being performed.?
Table 6.4.3. Property Development Regulations: Resource Conservation
Subdivision. On the line entitled Efficiency Loss, change the number 7,500
under the SFR1 column to ?750?.
Section 7.3.4.A.2. Minimum Separation Interval. Inserts the following language
that was inadvertently left out as follows: ?no less than 250 feet or more that
1,000 feet? into this section.
Section 7.3.5.F.2. Minimum Frontage. Inserts the word ?feet? after the number
25 in this section.
Section 7.8.3.E.2. Minimum Design Speeds. Remove the language ?with a maximum
grade for streets of 12 percent? to eliminate any potential confusion.
Sentence should read:
?Minimum design speeds and maximum grades for proposed streets by street
classification shall comply with Table 7.8.2.?
Section 7.8.3.E.5. Minimum Sight Distances for Subdivision Intersections.
Remove the word ?sight? from this sentence, so that it reads: ?Intersections
within subdivisions shall be designed with a grade not to exceed eight percent
for a minimum distance of 100 feet.?
Section 7.8.5.B.1. Private Street Names for Apartments and Businesses. Delete
the word ?Division? after the term (GIS).
Section 8.5.6.B.7.(B). Administration. Remove the extra ?the? from the
following sentence:
?In addition, the the Director of Engineering??
Section 9.2.3.C.5. Powers and Duties. Remove the extra ?the? from the following
sentence:
??approvals previously granted to the the Council.?
Section 10.1.2.D.3. Building Permit. Remove the wording ?Fire Department?, and
replace with ?Director of Inspections and Code?. This change was requested by
the Department of Inspections and Code, as this is actually a responsibility of
this department.
Section 10.2.7.A. Rezoning Petitions. Remove the single ?b? in the first
sentence.
Section 10.3.3.C.2. Properties in Excess of 100 Acres. Delete the word ?the?
contained in the phrase ?Director of the Planning? to read ?Director of
Planning?.
Section 10.6.2.A. Installation of Public Improvements. Remove the extra ?not?
from the following sentence:
??street striping and signalization shall not not be required prior to
submission.
Section 10.6.8 Certificate of Final Plat Approval For Recordation adds a
required signature block for Engineering to sign off on final plats for
recordation.
?Streets and storm drainage design, construction plans and easements meet the
requirements of the Council of Columbus, Georgia and are hereby approved by the
Department of Engineering of Columbus, Georgia, on __________________,
20________.
By: _______________________
Department of Engineering?
Section 10.8.1.B.4. Zoning Verification. Change the wording ?Prior to the
issuance of a building permit, a zoning verification shall be obtained from the
Director of Planning?, to the following:
?Prior to the issuance of a building permit, a zoning verification shall be
obtained from the Director of Inspections and Code.?
Section 10.8.1.B.4.(B) Multifamily or Nonresidential Buildings. Change the
wording ?For a multifamily or nonresidential building, the site plan upon which
was granted project approval by the Director of Planning?, to the following:
?For a multifamily or nonresidential building, the site plan upon which was
granted project approval by the Director of Inspections and Code.?
Section 10.8.1.C.2. Zoning Verification. Change the wording from ?Director of
Planning? to ?Director of Inspections and Code?.
Section 10.8.1.C.3. Multifamily or Nonresidential Projects or Uses. Change the
wording from ?Director of Planning? to ?Director of Inspections and Code?.
Section 10.11.2.B. Administration. Remove ?Director of Planning? and replace
with ?Director of Inspections and Code.?
Section 10.11.4.C.1. Administrative Approval Change the wording from ?Director
of Planning? to ?Director of Inspections and Code? in both the title and
paragraph.
Section 10.11.8.E.2.B.(1) Mailed Notice. Change the number 500 in this
paragraph to ?300? to remain consistent throughout the UDO.
Section 12.4.1.A.1. Investigations. Remove the phrase ?or the Director?s
designee, including? from this paragraph.
Section 12.4.3.A. Inspection. Replace the wording ?If the Community and
Economic Development Director or the City Arborist?? with the following:
?If the Director of Planning, the Director of Inspections and Code or the City
Arborist finds. . . ?
Section 12.5.4.A.1. Maximum Civil Penalty. Remove from this paragraph the term
?Community and Economic Development? and replace it with the following term:
?Director of Inspections and Code?.
Section 13.1.1. Additional Definitions. These definitions were added to
provide needed descriptions for the wireless communication section of the
ordinance
Sincerely,
Rick Jones, AICP
Director of Planning
PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
The Planning Advisory Commission considered these text amendments at their
meeting on February 2, 2005. The Planning Advisory Commission recommended
approval.
PLANNING DIVISION RECOMMENDATION
The Planning Division recommends approval.
MAPS & PHOTOS