A decision on whether and how to rezone property is left to the
sound discretion and good judgment of the elected officials.
The philosophy behind this thinking is that the decision to
rezone or not to rezone is a legislative decision, and any recourse
against a legislative decision should be at the ballot box.
However, the protest petition allows citizens a
more direct say in a rezoning decision at the time it is
made.
What they can do. The protest petition law states, generally
speaking, that if the owners of a sufficient amount of land most
directly affected by a rezoning decision file a protest petition,
the rezoning can be adopted only if it is approved by a
three-fourths (3/4) majority of the municipality's governing
board rather than the usual simple majority. In other words,
if a valid protest petition is filed -- and the rules are strict --
the voting requirement to pass a rezoning goes from a default
simple majority to a super majority.
What they can't do. Protest petitions can only be used
to object to changes in the zoning map. Protest petitions
cannot be used to protest changes to the zoning ordinance text, nor
can they be used to protest the initial zoning of a parcel or
parcels of land, such as in the case of an annexation.
Moreover, protest petitions cannot be used to protest
individual permits -- like special and conditional use permits --
nor can they be used to protest minor changes in special and
conditional use districts or conditional zoning amendments.
The law governing protest petitions is at NCGS 160A-385, 160A-386.
Why are we talking about the protest petition?
Well, they might go away. And people are mad, or at least
skeptical, as you can read here, here and here.
On March 25, 2015, the N.C. General Assembly's House passed HB 201. The bill now goes to the General
Assembly's Senate. Entitled "An Act to Amend the
Process By Which the City Councils Receive Citizen Input In Zoning
Ordinance Amendments", if adopted in its current form, the
proposed law will remove protest petitions from the statutory
processes and the protest petition power will be removed from State
law.
We will keep an eye on this bill as it makes its way through this
session.
"Please, sir. Stop asking me about my 'frontage'."
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