As of Tuesday, a new Orange County ordinance pauses some development applications while county staff and commissioners work on finalizing Vision 2050, a big-picture overhaul of the county’s comprehensive plan currently slated for adoption in September.
For the next six months, the temporary “zoning in progress ordinance” halts Orange County from processing new applications for development projects that would require changes to current county maps or plans in order to be approved. The measure won’t impact applications already submitted prior to Tuesday, May 28, according to Senior Planner Jason Sorensen.
“I just want to make clear, this is a suspension, not a development moratorium,” Sorensen said at commissioners’ May 21 meeting, before the ordinance’s unanimous approval. “The suspension is temporary in nature.”
Commissioners could decide to repeal the ordinance sooner than its six-month expiration date, which falls on November 28.
The ordinance pauses development applications requiring comprehensive plan amendments, rezonings and/or special exceptions for approval. But other development processes not described in the ordinance will continue, Sorensen said, including building permits and development approvals for the following master-planned communities: Horizon West, Avalon Park, Innovation Way and I-Drive District.
The goal of the suspension is to reduce confusion about Vision’s 2050 pending land use changes, designed to help the county grow sustainably over the next 30 years, while Orange County finishes working on those plans.
“The clock is ticking” to finalize Vision 2050, Sorensen said. In the meantime, he warned not all development applications submitted before Tuesday will necessarily be approved.
“We've already been telling applicants … they just have to be aware that we may not be able to process their application in time,” Sorensen said. “If it requires a conservation area determination, if it requires a community meeting, those things can take time.”
Making no guarantees, Sorensen said county staff would be open to “working with” one developer who, at the May 21 meeting, said he needed more time to submit project applications for 30 properties he recently acquired.
“I just got these properties, and I want to turn them into hospice facilities and residential assisted living facilities,” Christopher Cameron said, speaking during a public comment period. “But for me to apply, I need at least two weeks.”
Cameron expressed concern about how the ordinance might impact the community, saying “a lot of people are gonna be without jobs.”
“I agree with it; everything he has is a valid point,” Cameron said, referencing Sorensen’s May 21 presentation. “But the timing is horrible.”