In July 2000, County staff published "The Infill and Residential Development Study." This study included recommendations on how the County could better address issues associated with the impacts of new residential development. One of the priority recommendations of the Infill Study was that the County review and revise Appendix 9 of the Land Use part of the Policy Plan, "Criteria for the Assignment of Appropriate Residential Development Density." This appendix, also know as the "Development Criteria," is a tool used to evaluate rezoning requests for residential developments. The Board of Supervisors authorized a Plan Amendment to amend the current criteria and the Planning Commission established the Development Criteria Review Committee.

During the past year, the Planning Commission committee, chaired by Walter Alcorn, Commissioner At-Large, held many committee meetings. All of the meetings were open to the public. Two general outreach sessions were held in April, 2002. Members of the development community; members of boards, authorities and commissions established by the Board and numerous citizen groups were invited to these workshops. In addition to the Planning Commission public hearing, the Commission held its own workshop to discuss the proposed amendment and the public testimony regarding the amendment. The material distributed at the workshops as well as a draft staff report, the final staff report, various versions of the proposed text and other information was posted on this Web site. The modifications to the current residential development criteria pertain to issues such as: site design, neighborhood compatibility, transportation impacts, tree preservation, preservation of environmental and heritage resources, affordable housing, stormwater management and effects on public facilities, as well as how rezoning applications will be evaluated against the criteria.

On July 24, 2002, the Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation for Plan Amendment S01-CW-18CP to the Board of Supervisors. That recommendation included three parts. The first was recommended text for the Residential Development Criteria, as Appendix 9 of the Land Use portion of the Policy Plan was renamed. The second was an implementation strategy, which is primarily focused on the Public Facilities Criterion. The third motion recommended that the Board of Supervisors move forward with a study of the current Affordable Housing Trust Fund to investigate whether or not there should be a contribution or contribution expectation set or developed for non-residential development.

On Sept. 9, 2002, the Board of Supervisors held its public hearing on the Plan Amendment. After the public hearing, the Board adopted the recommendations of the Planning Commission with several minor modifications to the proposed text for Appendix 9, the residential development criteria; adopted the implementation strategy; and accepted the Commission's recommendation to study the Affordable Housing Trust Fund with regard to contributions from non-residential development. The Board also set Jan. 7, 2003 as the effective date of the amendment. The adopted text and the implementation motion are available below.

Adopted Text for Residential Development Criteria (PDF)
Adopted Implementation Motion (PDF)