(A)
This zoning chapter, including the zoning map, may be amended by the Board Of Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter.
(B) Proposed changes or amendments may be initiated by the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, or one or more interested individuals. All proposed amendments shall be referred to the Planning Board for its review and recommendation to the Town Board of Commissioners.
(C) A statement analyzing the reasonableness of any proposed rezoning shall be approved by the Board of Commissioners. This statement of reasonableness may consider, among other factors: the size, physical conditions, and other attributes of the area proposed to be rezoned; the benefits and detriments to the landowners, the neighbors, and the surrounding community; the relationship between the current actual and permissible development on the tract and adjoining areas and the development that would be permissible under the proposed amendment; why the action taken is in the public interest; and any changed conditions warranting the amendment. If a zoning map amendment qualifies as a large-scale rezoning under G.S. §160D-602(b), the Board of Commissioners' statement on reasonableness may address the overall rezoning.
(D) No amendment to zoning regulations or a zoning map that down-zones property shall be initiated nor is it enforceable without the written consent of all property owners whose property is the subject of the down-zoning amendment, unless the down-zoning amendment is initiated by the local government. For purposes of this section, "down-zoning" means a zoning ordinance that affects an area of land in one of the following ways: by decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was allowed under its previous usage; or, by reducing the permitted uses of the land that are specified in a zoning ordinance or land development. regulation to fewer uses than were allowed under its previous usage.
(E) If applicable, the future land use map is deemed amended when an inconsistent rezoning is approved.
(Ord. passed 4-1993; Am. Ord. passed 9-4-2007; Am. Ord. passed 6-7-2021)