(A) No amendment shall be adopted by the Board of Commissioners until it has received a written recommendation from the Planning Board and the Board of Commissioners has held a public hearing on the amendment. The Planning Board shall consider whether the proposed action is consistent with the current comprehensive land use plan when making a comment or recommendation on plan consistency. If no written recommendation or report is provided by the Planning Board within 30 days of referral of the amendment to that board, the Board of Commissioners may proceed in its consideration of the amendment without the Planning Board recommendation or report.
(B) An amendment to this chapter may be adopted by the Board of Commissioners only by ordinance and only after the notice and public hearing requirements contained in G.S. § 160D-601 have been satisfied. A simple majority of voting Board members present at the meeting upon which the amendment is presented is required to adopt any amendment to this chapter as provided by G.S. § 160A-75. When adopting or rejecting any zoning text or map amendment, the Board of Commissioners shall approve a brief statement describing whether its action is consistent or inconsistent with the current comprehensive land use plan. The requirement for a plan consistency statement may also be met by a clear indication in the minutes of the Board of Commissioners that at the time of action on the amendment the Board was aware of and considered the Planning Board’s recommendations and any relevant portions of the comprehensive land use plan. A plan amendment and a zoning amendment may be considered concurrently. The plan consistency statement is not subject to judicial review.
(C) (1) In addition to division (B) above, a zoning map amendment may be adopted by the Board of Commissioners only after notice has been provided to affected property owners as provided by G.S. § 160D-602. If a zoning map amendment is adopted and the action was deemed inconsistent with the current comprehensive land use plan, the zoning amendment shall have the effect of also amending any future land use map in the comprehensive plan, and no additional request or application for a plan amendment shall be required. When this occurs, the Zoning Administrator shall note on the current comprehensive land use plan map any zoning map amendment that is approved that is not consistent with the comprehensive land use plan map.
(2) In addition to the consistency statement required in division (B) above, the Board of Commissioners shall also adopt a statement analyzing the reasonableness of any proposed map amendment as provided by G.S. § 160D-605(b). The statement of reasonableness and the plan consistency statement required by this section may be approved as a single statement.
(D) An amendment to zoning regulations or a zoning map that down-zones property shall be as provided by G.S. § 160D-601(d).
(Ord. 21- , passed - -2021)