Municipal – Zoning – Notice & Hearings – Process Resolution

Pittsboro Matters, Inc. v. Town of Pittsboro (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-018-17, 27 pp.) (Wendy Enochs, J.) Appealed from Chatham County Superior Court (Paul Ridgeway, J.) N.C. App. Unpub.

Holding: The defendant-town could adopt its small-area-plan review and approval process without the notice and public hearings required by G.S. § 160A-364 because the adopted process merely administers a law already in existence; thus, it is a resolution and not an ordinance subject to the notice and hearing requirements of § 160A-364.

We affirm the trial court’s orders in part and dismiss the appeal in part.

The town’s new planned district development ordinance provides that “all ordinances and portions of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.” Therefore, the PDD ordinance, by its own terms, ensures it is in compliance with the town’s zoning ordinance.