AG 1997 05 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MORATORIA OPTIONS The Board of Commissioners at their April meeting requested that staff research and report upon options for residential building moratoria. This report is a brief review of the events preceding that request, basic information on moratoria, examples of moratoria in surrounding communities, legal issues to be considered, and suggestions on options the Board may wish to consider. We have advertised a public hearing on this issue for 8 p.m. to allow the Board to take action on one of the proposed options should they wish to do so. BACKGROUND In May, 1996, the Alternative Revenues Task Force began their work of exploring different methods to address the increasing capital needs of the school system. The school system has been struggling in recent years trying to keep up with the increasing number of students, due to high residential growth in the county. The Task Force issued their recommendations in a report in January, 1997. The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners have begun to act on some of the recommendations. At their March 17, 1997 meeting the commissioners agreed to pursue two local option taxes -- a 1% sales tax and a 1% real estate transfer tax -- through the N.C. legislature. These pieces of legislation have been introduced and are being considered in state legislature currently. The Board of Commissioners at their April meeting approved a proposal to create a uniform county-wide zoning ordinance that would include a provision that adequate public facilities be in place prior to approval of new development. Also, at this April meeting, the commissioners charged the County Manager and the Planning Services Director to consider building permit moratoria options as temporary measure to limit residential growth while these other measures are pursued. The following section addresses the topic of moratoria and give some examples of moratoria that have been implemented in nearby towns and counties. Moratoria, as well as other growth management strategies, were discussed at length in the report, Managing Growth into the 21st Century, by the Planning, Zoning and Building Inspection Department (November, 1994). This report updates some of the information found in that report and focuses on moratoria.