Planned developments (PDs) are developments having a mix of uses that are planned and developed under unified control and following more flexible standards and procedures to achieve innovative site design, improved appearance, greater compatibility of uses, increased preservation of natural and scenic features, improved service by community facilities, better functioning of vehicular access and circulation and otherwise higher quality development than could be achieved through base zoning district regulations. The purpose of this subchapter is to provide a uniform mechanism for amending the official zoning map to establish any of the planned development zoning districts established by this subchapter. The town wants to use these sparingly.
(A) Support a higher quality of life and achieve a higher quality of development, environmental sensitivity, energy efficiency and provision of public services;
(B) Reduce the inflexibility of zoning district standards that sometimes results from the strict application of the base district regulations and development standards established in this subchapter;
(C) To achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan by allowing flexibility in development that will exhibit innovative site planning for a mixture of residential, commercial and institutional uses as reflected in the planned development map, which becomes the zoning district map for the property;
(D) Allow greater freedom and flexibility in selecting:
(1) The form and design of development;
(2) The ways by which pedestrians, cyclists and vehicular traffic circulate;
(3) How the development will be located and designed to respect the natural features of the land and protect the environment;
(4) How to design amenities to be applied; and
(5) The location and integration of open space and civic space into the development.
(E) Preserve natural and scenic features;
(F) Encourage a greater mix of land uses within the same development, including a mix of nonresidential development, residential development, lot sizes and densities and intensities;
(G) Allow more efficient use of land, with smaller networks of streets and utilities;
(H) Provide pedestrian connections within the site and to the public right-of-way;
(I) Encourage the provision of centrally-located open space amenities on the site;
(J) Promote development forms and patterns that respect the character of established surrounding neighborhoods and/or other types of land uses, and promote development form that respects and takes advantage of a site’s natural and human-made features, such as roadways, parks, ponds, wetlands, floodplains, trees and historic resources; and
(K) Promote better site design principles to conserve natural areas, including preservation of tree canopy, reduced use of impervious surfaces and better managed urban runoff into the Intercoastal Waterway.
(Ord. 20-8, passed 12-7-2000; Ord. 23-05, passed 6-1-2023)