Fayetteville’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which is intended to help the city streamline development review, manage development patterns, and improve corridor aesthetics, has now entered the completed-draft phase and is on track for adoption and publication this spring.
As the city in 2017 updated its Comprehensive Plan, leaders recognized that there was a need to unify the numerous ordinances and regulations into one cohesive document. The UDO is essentially that single document that addresses how property is developed, combining and replacing the current zoning ordinances and development regulations as well as any other applicable regulations.
Not long after that Comprehensive Plan was adopted, the City Council appointed an advisory committee to guide the process of developing the UDO. An outside consultant was hired to get the work started, and then it was handed to the City’s Planning & Zoning Department to bring it to fruition.
Director of Community and Economic Development David Rast says the new document will be more understandable than current guiding documents, and he says it will reflect best practices in planning and development.
Currently, the UDO document is being independently reviewed by elected officials, Planning & Zoning Commission members, and City personnel. Feedback will be incorporated into a final draft, which would then be presented to the City Council for adoption.
“Our intent is to have the UDO and the amended Zoning Map presented and adopted in March,” Rast said. “It has taken the City a couple of years to arrive at this point, but I think we’re going to see it was worth the effort.
“This UDO will better position Fayetteville to develop and redevelop in smart ways that benefit the whole community,” Rast said.
