(A) The Board of Commissioners determines whether or not a special use permit shall be regarded as a site specific development plan under the provisions of G.S. § 160D-108.1; therefore, once a special use permit or conditional use permit has been issued, the permit recipient shall have a vested right to complete the development authorized by such permit in accordance with its terms, irrespective of subsequent amendments to this chapter to the extent provided in G.S. § 160D-108.1
(B) The Board of Commissioners further determines that recipients of zoning permits should be entitled to the same protections as recipients of special or conditional use permits; therefore, subject to § 152.217, once a zoning permit has been issued, the permit recipient shall have a vested right to complete the development authorized by such permit in accordance with its terms, irrespective of subsequent amendments to this chapter to the extent provided in G.S. § 160D-108.1 for development authorized by the approval of site specific development plans.
(C) A vested right under this section commences upon the issuance of the permit in question, and the date of issuance is to be determined in accordance with the provisions of § 152.057.
(1) A zoning right that has been vested as provided in this section shall remain vested for a period of two years. This vesting shall not be extended by any amendments or modifications to a site specific development plan (that are not processed as new applications) unless expressly provided by the permit-issuing authority (Land Use Administrator, BOC, or BOA) at the time of the amendment or modification.
(2) As provided by G.S. § 160D-108.1(e)(4), a right which has been vested in accordance with this section shall terminate at the end of the applicable vesting period for buildings and uses for which a valid building permit application has not been filed.
(D) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the revocation of a permit pursuit to § 152.158, and the vesting of rights provided for under this section shall be terminated upon such revocation.
(E) The effect of this section is to ensure that during the period of vesting, the developer will be protected from subsequent changes in this chapter to a greater extent than is authorized under § 152.180 which provides for a vesting of rights only after a building permit has been obtained, or under § 152.177 which generally provides for a vesting of rights only after the developer has made substantial expenditures in good faith reliance upon this chapter.
(Ord. passed 12-20-2001) Penalty, see § 152.999