Morrisville UDO - June 2017 version

13 / 601

Article 1: General Provisions
Section 1.3. Relationship to Comprehensive Plan
1.2.4. Application to Governmental Units
Morrisville, NC June 23, 2017
Unified Development Ordinance Page 1-3
(Ord. No. 2014-051, 11/10/2014)
B. Activities Not Subject to Ordinance
Unless part of a more extensive activity identified as development in subsection above, the following
activities do not constitute development subject to this Ordinance:
The inspection, maintenance or repair of an existing transportation facility (roadway, walkway,
railroad tracks, bus shelter, traffic control device, etc.) or an existing utility, stormwater
management, or public service facility (pipe, cable, valve, catch basin, outlet, ditch, basin, bulk
refuse container pad, etc.), if no substantial engineering redesign is involved;
The ordinary maintenance and repair of existing structures, where no activities identified as
development in subsection above are involved;
The ordinary planting or maintenance of vegetative landscaping or gardens;
A change in the ownership or form of ownership of any parcel or structure;
The creation or termination of easements, covenants, condominium titles, or other rights in land or
development, where no street right-of-way dedication in involved;
Any division of land proposed as one of the activities specially listed as excluded from the definition
of “subdivision” i
1.2.4. Application to Governmental Units
To the extent allowed by law, this Ordinance shall apply to any development by Town, county, state, or
federal agencies within the Town’s territorial jurisdiction, and any land, buildings, and structures—including
uses thereof—owned or otherwise controlled by such agencies. Where this Ordinance does not control such
development, land, buildings, and structures, such agencies are encouraged to meet the provisions of this
Ordinance.
1.2.5. Emergency Exemption
The Town Manager may, after consultation with the Planning Director and Town Engineer and without any
otherwise required prior notice or public hearing, authorize Town agencies to deviate from the provisions of
this Ordinance during and after an emergency (such as a hurricane or other storm, flooding, chemical spill
or leak) when the need to act quickly to secure the public health, safety, or welfare makes it impossible to
submit to the normal procedures and requirements of this Ordinance.
SECTION 1.3. RELATIONSHIP TO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
This Ordinance is intended to ensure that all development within the Town’s jurisdiction is generally consistent
with goals, objectives, and policies of those plans and policies adopted by the Town Council to address the
Town’s growth and development. Such plans and policies comprise the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and
include, but are not limited to, the Land Use Plan, the Town Center Plan and other small area plans that
provide guidance on desired development in specific geographic areas and corridors, as well as the
Transportation Plan, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and other functional plans related to public
infrastructure and services. To the extent this Ordinance is or becomes inconsistent with the Comprehensive
Plan, this Ordinance or the Comprehensive Plan should be amended so the plan and this Ordinance remain
generally consistent with each other. Additionally, all amendments to this Ordinance’s text or Zoning Map
should maintain and enhance consistency between this Ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan.