1401 General

1) Approval Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) shall be permitted in any zoning district. All PUD applications, including Concept, Preliminary, and Final Development Plans, shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission, which shall make a recommendation to the Town Council. The Planning Commission’s review shall be advisory in nature and limited to evaluation of conformance with applicable administrative, design, and procedural requirements of this Chapter. The Commission shall provide written findings supporting its recommendation. The Town Council shall have final approval authority for all PUD applications. A PUD approval shall not be granted unless the proposed development complies with the use regulations of the underlying zoning district and the density and other applicable development standards of such district, except as specifically modified through approval of the PUD in accordance with this Code. Compliance with this Code does not relieve the developer from compliance with applicable subdivision regulations, except where modifications are expressly authorized as part of the approved PUD. 2) Purpose The purpose of the planned unit development (PUD) chapter is to provide means for achieving desirable, high quality development by permitting greater flexibility and design freedom than that permitted under the basic district regulations. and to promote well-balanced, aesthetically pleasing, and economically viable developments within a PUD. These regulations are established to permit latitude in the development of a site, provided such development is consistent with the purpose, spirit and intent of this ordinance and is not hazardous, harmful, offensive or otherwise adverse to the natural habitat, environment, property values, neighborhood character,or the health, safety and welfare of the community. For residential, and commercial Planned Unit Development (PUD), this chapter also intended to implement the goals of the Town’s General Plan, specifically to: a) Provide an opportunity for innovative and creative development, while assuring the development is complimentary to and consistent with neighboring developments; b) Require that all commercial and residential projects provide appropriate infrastructure and mitigation to ensure that adequate provisions are made for streets, parks, schools and other public facilities; c) To prevent the pollution or degradation of air, streams, and soil, assure the adequacy of drainage facilities, protect subsurface water, minimize site disturbance and the removal of native vegetation and soil erosion, encourage the wise use and management of natural resources throughout the municipality, and preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community and value of the land; d) Protect critical areas and environmentally sensitive areas; e) Encourage both innovative and time-tested development and design techniques that promote affordable development options with a variety of housing types compatible with surrounding areas; f) Preserve property rights; g) Provide flexibility beyond that allowed by other zoning districts, if the proposed development is well designed and can be successfully integrated into the neighborhood. h) Provide a public process for the review of PUD applications; i) Reflect best management practices for commercial and residential development; Section 1402- Definition of terms: 1) “Development” means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials, including fences. 2) “Buffer area” means an area located on the perimeter of a planned unit development site that is reserved for screening and/or landscaping purposes to separate the planned unit development from adjoining land uses. 3) “Critical area” means landslide hazard area, erosion hazard area, seismic hazard area, volcanic hazard area, frequently flooded area, aquifer recharge area, wildlife habitat and critical migration areas, fish and wildlife conservation areas. 4) “Environmentally sensitive area” means critical areas, nonregulated mature stands of native vegetation, and steep slopes. 5) “Open space area” means all portions of a PUD project that are not private lots, buildings, public rights-of-way, or required parking or drive-access areas. Open space area includes all usable and nonusable open spaces. a) “Active open space,” for the purposes of this chapter, may include open play areas, wooded areas accessible by a path system, structured picnic areas, equipped playgrounds, sports fields, game courts, swimming pools, recreational buildings, clubhouses, gazebos, pedestrian and bicycle paths, landscaped and unfenced detention ponds, community gardens, nature interpretive areas, and other similar areas and structures. b) “Passive open space,” for the purposes of this chapter, may include low impact stormwater systems such as rain gardens, and low-slope detention ponds which are integrated into landscaping along trails and pathways, critical areas and their associated buffers that include interactive viewpoints or views of the areas from pathways. c) “Passive and active open space” may not include lots, buildings, private yards, outdoor storage, streets and any associated rights-of-way, driveways, parking areas, fenced stormwater detention ponds, critical areas and their associated buffers that do not include interactive viewpoints, slopes in excess of 30 percent, areas with any dimension less than 10 feet, and required perimeter buffers 6) “Site area” means the combined size of any and all parcels, tracts and lots that are included within a PUD application. “Site area” shall exclude all public rights-of-way existing at the time of PUD applications, but shall include any private easements that are located within the site. 7) “Affordable Unit(s) or Housing” means a dwelling unit that is affordable to households with incomes at or below 70% of the county's area median income and intended to be occupied by residents who meet eligibility requirements.