Morrisville UDO - June 2017 version

49 / 601

Article 2: Administration
Section 2.4. Standard Review Procedures
2.4.7. Board of Adjustment or Town Council Review and Decision
Morrisville, NC June 23, 2017
Unified Development Ordinance Page 2-23
b. The body conducting the hearing is not bound by the rules of evidence, or limited to
consideration of evidence that is admissible in a court of law. It may consider all testimony and
evidence it deems competent and material to the application under consideration, and may
exclude testimony or evidence it determines to be irrelevant, immaterial, incompetent,
unreliable, or unduly repetitious.
c. All persons who will testify at the hearing shall be sworn in or affirmed.
d. On being properly recognized by the person chairing the hearing, the applicant, Town staff,
or other affected party may be granted an opportunity to ask questions of any other person
who has testified at the hearing or to rebut any testimony, comments, documents, or materials
presented by such person. Any such inquiry or rebuttal shall be limited to matters raised directly
by the testimony being questioned or rebutted.
B. Review and Decision
The Board of Adjustment or Town Council shall consider the application, relevant support materials, staff
report, the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Board (if applicable), and any comments
made at a public hearing (if required), and shall make one of the decisions authorized for the particular
type of application, based on the review standards applicable to the application type, as set forth in
The Board of Adjustment or Town Council shall clearly state the factors considered in its decision
and the basis or rationale for the decision.
If the review involves a quasi-judicial hearing, the decision shall be reduced to writing, be signed
by a duly authorized member of the Board of Adjustment or Town Council, as appropriate, include
findings of fact based on competent, material, and substantial evidence presented at the hearing,
reflect the determination of contested facts, and state how the findings support compliance with
applicable review standards. The decision is effective upon its filing with the Planning Director (for
Board of Adjustment decisions) or the Town Clerk (for Town Council decisions).
The Board of Adjustment or Town Council shall take action as promptly as possible in consideration
of the interests of the applicant, affected parties, and citizens of the town.
C. Conditions of Approval
Any conditions of approval shall be:
Expressly set forth in the approval;
Limited to conditions deemed necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements and particular
standards of this Ordinance, Manuals referenced herein, or related approvals (e.g., conditional
zoning, special use permit, etc.); or
Related in both type and scope to the anticipated impacts of the proposed development.
D. Revision of Application
After the Board of Adjustment or Town Council, as appropriate, has reviewed an application but
has not yet taken action on it, the applicant may request an opportunity to revise the application.
The Board of Adjustment or Town Council, as appropriate, may grant such a request on condition
that revisions shall be limited changes that directly respond to specific requests or suggestions made
by the staff or the Board of Adjustment or Town Council, as appropriate, and shall constitute only
minor additions, deletions, or corrections, and not significant substantive changes, to the
development proposed by the application.
Any other revisions to the application may be submitted, but the revised application shall be
submitted to the Planning Director and reviewed as if it were a new application. The revised
application is subject to additional application fees to defray the additional processing costs.