Unified Development Ordinance

Solicitation for a Request for Proposals

For Preparation for a Unified Development Ordinance

Purpose

The Town of Siler City is seeking proposals from qualified, professional consultants who will assist the Town in creating a Unified Development Ordinance. The current Land Development Ordinance was adopted in 1993, and though there have been amendments over the years, the town would like to transition to a cleaner, consolidated Unified Development Ordinance. The Unified Development Ordinance will update the current Unified Development Ordinance standards as well as incorporate all appendix and addendum associated with the Ordinance into one comprehensive document.

There have been significant changes to the Town and surrounding areas since the plan's original inception, as well as changes in North Carolina enabling legislation regarding planning and zoning. Hence, the Town is replacing the 2017 Land Development Plan with a new Comprehensive Land Plan that incorporates land use, transportation, infrastructure, and natural resources. The consultant awarded this contract will develop the Unified Development Ordinance using information based on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, citizen input, and best planning practices.

Siler City Profile

The Town of Siler City is located in the western portion of Chatham County. Located along US Hwy 64 east of Asheboro, west of Pittsboro, and south of Greensboro along US Hwy 421, Siler City has more than just a geographical location-it's a melting pot of history, community, and beautiful scenery.

Siler City has received increased development interest due to the announcement of several major industries coming to the area including VinFast and Wolfspeed. The Town also has over 1,000 acres of an industrially zoned megasite that has the potential to be developed.

With a diverse population of approximately 7,700 residents, Siler City has the potential for rapid growth over the next five (5) years, reflecting its rising popularity as both a business hub and a homely retreat. Our residents range from young professionals, families to retirees-all attracted by the balanced blend of opportunities and tranquility.

Benefiting from its proximity to major highways and urban centers, Siler City boasts impressive connectivity without compromising its serene environment. The Town's commitment to developing a progressive and sustainable infrastructure development ensures residents and businesses are always connected and well­ served.

Existing Plans and Unified Development Ordinance

The Town's existing land use plans and ordinance are available online at

www.silercity.org/planning .

Expectations of Consultants

Throughout the process the selected consultant will be expected to utilize their experience to facilitate the process. To achieve this goal, and utilize the experience of the selected consultant, the Town of Siler City will require the expectations outlined below be met and identified within the consultant's proposal.

• Initial meeting with Town staff to review a project timeline, schedule meetings and begin the process of data acquisition.
• Due to increasing developmental pressures, the Town requires that the ordinance be completed and adopted in phases:
  
  • Phase One will concentrate on:
    
    • major subdivision development standards.
    • major site plan development standards.
    • development standards for individual uses.
    • infrastructure requirements – including roadways, sidewalks, stormwater, etc;
    • landscaping.
    • updating watershed requirements.
    • parking and driveways.
    • etc.
  • Phase Two will concentrate on:
    
    • permitted uses.
    • zoning districts.
    • overlay districts.
    • etc.
• Review all existing plans, maps, documents, data and other materials relevant to the project. The Town will provide all available existing documentation to the consultant. The consultant will study and consolidate applicable materials into the UDO.
• Conduct meetings with key elected and appointed officials, stakeholder groups, and the general public. The selected consultant will lead stakeholder outreach and participation efforts.
• Plan and implement an extensive stakeholder and public outreach process using a range of methods to inform and involve stakeholders, citizen organizations and the general public. Address the public hearing process and meetings with Town staff, citizen groups, applicable advisory committees, school districts, local units of government, etc.
• Develop Plan goals, objectives and implementation strategies based on technical data and public input.
• Draft materials for review and comment by the Town in accordance with a schedule developed at the beginning of the planning process.
• Confirm the final Plan and UDO conforms to existing North Carolina General Statutes.
• Analyze consistency of current Town ordinances and policies in relationship to the Plan goals and objectives.
• Prepare draft documents for public review and comment, and present to Planning Board and Town Council. The plan and UDO should be presented in a format and language that is user-friendly and easily understood by the general public.
• Prepare final draft documents and present at all associated meetings and public hearings for adoption of the plan and UDO.
• Provide at least weekly updates, primarily via e-mail or telephone/video and occasionally in-person, to update Town staff on project status, discuss issues and review drafts. Periodic written status reports and status update presentations may also be required for the Planning Board and Town Council.

Scope of Service

The Scope of Services described herein is a framework of major tasks as currently identified by the Town for the consultant's information. This is not a comprehensive list.

Unified Development Ordinance

• Conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of the land use regulations and develop a Unified Development Ordinance, including assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the existing regulations in terms of structure, organization, clarity, ease of use, existing zoning districts and district standards, regulations of general applicability, definitions, and all procedures.
• Identify and recommend for inclusion, text and procedures that have not been identified by Town staff or hasn't been included in the updated Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and in the opinion of the selected firm, should be addressed to ensure a complete and effective ordinance that meets local needs.
• Identify and correct any internal inconsistencies, omissions, or errors, including grammatical and other issues in the UDO.
• Ensure that the UDO conforms to generally accepted land use law and principles as well as state and federal statutes and case law. This includes language to ensure adherence to all 160D requirements.
• Create, to the fullest extent possible, a user friendly, simplified, clear and easily understood UDO, including:
  
  • Revise vague, unclear, or confusing language and ensure that language, terms and intent are consistent from one section to another.
  • Ensure the essential words used in the text of the document are defined in the Definitions section and revise incorrect or inadequate definitions.
  • Revise sections of the ordinance that conflict with other sections, have unintended impacts on other sections or are overly complex.
  • Recommend improvements to the layout of the ordinance.
• Update the Table of Permitted Uses and Development Standards which result in a more modern and comprehensive list of permitted uses tailored to the Town's zoning districts and development climate.
• Prepare a new zoning map that corresponds with any new zoning districts.
• The firm will be required to attend and facilitate public hearings with the Town Council, Planning Board, residents, and other stakeholders and prepare multiple drafts of the proposed code and ordinance for review and comment.

Submittal Requirements

The following materials must be received by the submittal deadline for a proposal to be considered. However, during the selection process, the Town reserves the right to request additional information or to seek clarification from the consultant/firm, or to allow for correction of errors and/or emissions. The submittal requirements are as follows:

Project Overview

• General Information: Provides a brief overview of the firm, including qualifications to execute the contract, and company mission or statement of beliefs.
• Project Understanding: A summary of the consultants' understanding of the project as described in this RFP.
• A proposed timeline detailing benchmarks for the completion of each phase of the development of the UDO. This needs to include community outreach, public meetings, public hearings, etc.

Qualifications

• Personnel Qualifications:
  
  • Identification of lead project manager and their contact information.
  • Name, proposed role, hourly rate, anticipated time commitment to the project and resumes of each team member.
• References: Include a list of at least three municipalities for which you have conducted comprehensive planning, visioning, community engagement and /or land use analysis with a population less than 10,000. Experience in working with municipalities in North Carolina is preferred.

Proposal

• Proposal Overview: Provide specific approaches, methods and assumptions that will be utilized to accomplish each task.
• Proposed Work Plan and Schedule: Provide a proposed work plan with a schedule based on months of project (ex. Month 1, Month 2), divided into phases identifying key tasks, milestones, approximate dates, project deliverables and resource needs.
• Community Engagement Plan: Describe the approach for providing innovative, effective stakeholder engagement and public participation. Provide examples of how your firm would conduct public and stakeholder meetings that would capture input that is representative of all of the Town's residents. There should be a separate community engagement plan for both the Comprehensive Plan and UDO.
• Budget: Identify cost estimates for completing each of the elements in the "Expectations of Consultant" and "Scope of Services" sections of this RFP. Itemized cost estimates may include more than one area in these sections provided the combination of the elements is logical or overlapping. Also identify any other anticipated budgetary needs including incidentals and all defined as per diem and travel expenses. Identify total not-to-exceed project cost for preparation of each document, the Comprehensive Plan and UDO.

Submittal Format & Deadline

Interested firms shall submit six (6) paper copies and one electronic copy (PDF) of the complete proposal either in person to the Town of Siler City Planning Director or mailed to:

Jennifer C. Baptiste

Planning Director

PO Box 769

311 N. Second Avenue

Siler City, NC 27344

jbaptiste@silercity.org

919-726-8626 (office)

Complete submittals must be received no later than 5:00 pm on February 2, 2024. Submissions received after this deadline may not be considered for further review.

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