Planning board approves text amendment to simplify conservation subdivision process
Summary
The Planning Board approved a text amendment to Chapter 6 of the UDO removing the separate pre-approval conservation and development plan step and eliminating a 10-acre minimum project size for conservation subdivisions in agriculture and single-family mainland districts.
The Currituck County Planning Board on July 8 approved a text amendment to Chapter 6 of the Unified Development Ordinance that removes the separate requirement to submit and secure approval of a conservation and development plan before a major subdivision application, and deletes a minimum acreage requirement previously applied to conservation subdivisions.
Staff told the board the change is intended to streamline the process: current language required a conservation and development plan to be submitted and approved by staff before the major subdivision preliminary plat was submitted. Staff said the information required by that plan — wetlands delineation, open-space identification and general development layout — will still be reviewed, but will be handled through the regular major-subdivision preliminary-plat review rather than as a separate preapproval step.
Planning staff described the amendment as procedural and said the change does not remove protections for environmentally sensitive areas or required conservation easements; those protections will remain enforced through the major-subdivision review standards and plat conditions. Staff also recommended dropping the 10-acre minimum project size for conservation subdivisions because the parcel-splitting history on some properties could make a small parental parcel ineligible under the old rule.
Board members asked a series of clarifying questions about the review sequence, what would replace the removed preapproval step and how wetlands and open-space protections would be enforced under the major-subdivision review. Staff responded that the major-subdivision process already contains the required technical reviews, community meetings and, where applicable, special-use or quasi-judicial hearings; removing the separate conservation-plan preapproval avoids staff approving what is effectively a subdivision plan before the full technical review occurs.
A board member moved to adopt the amendment, with an added clarification to keep the first sentence identifying that a conservation subdivision is processed as a major subdivision in section 2.4.8(e). The motion cited land use and environment goals from the Imagine Currituck plan and the UDO; the board approved the change by voice vote.
Staff said the change is intended to reduce procedural duplication without changing environmental protections required for subdivisions in the Agriculture and Single-Family Mainland zoning districts. The amendment will be incorporated into the ordinance text and reflected in future subdivision reviews.
