[Amended 10-23-2001 by L.L. No. 43-2001; 10-26-2010 by L.L. No. 33-2010; 7-11-2017 by L.L. No. 16-2017]
A.
For decades, the Town Board considered applications for planned development districts (PDDs). PDDs, which craft specific and unique zoning regulations for a particular parcel in exchange for predetermined public benefits, were meant to achieve flexibility within the Town Zoning Code in order to accommodate growth and development. Over the years, the Town Board received numerous PDD applications and approved more than 20 of them.
B.
The original purpose of the PDD law was "to facilitate increased flexibility to achieve more desirable development through the use of more creative and imaginative design of residential, mixed-use, commercial and industrial areas than is presently achievable under conventional land use techniques and zoning regulations….." Despite this stated purpose, the PDD approval process was often confronted with vehement public opposition, both to specific applications and the process in general. Much of this opposition condemned the very flexibility PDDs were established to create.
C.
As a general concept, zoning is intended to "provide an orderly fashion for residents' needs for various types of...structures." See Marx v. Village of Mill Neck, 137 AD2d 333 (2d, Dept., 1988). Municipal planning and zoning exists to preserve "a uniform and harmonious development of growth." See Village of Lynbrook v. Cadoo, 252 N.Y. 308 (NY, 1929). It is among the primary municipal powers whose goal must be the "development of a balanced, cohesive community which efficiently uses the municipality's land." See Marx v. Village of Mill Neck, 137 AD2d 333 (2d, Dept., 1988). Implicit in these calls for balance, cohesiveness, uniformity and order is the need for predictability. To that end, The American Planning Association has endorsed policies that emphasize predictable zoning controls. Residents must be able to predict with relative certainty where specific uses and structures will be permitted and how their neighborhoods and communities will look and feel as time progresses. Naturally, with increased flexibility comes decreased predictability. Accordingly, despite its noble intent, the PDD law created a level of unpredictability that effectively rendered all parcels on the Town's Zoning Map open to innumerable uses at any time.
D.
In May of 2016, the Town Board adopted Chapter 319 of the Southampton Town Code. This chapter called for a moratorium on PDDs, thereby enabling the Town to undertake a year-long comprehensive review of the PDD law, its historic use, and the process for approval. This review culminated with the majority of the Town Board agreeing that the unpredictability of PDDs outweighed their benefits as a zoning tool, and that the objectives of the PDD would best be achieved through the use of zoning tools that could accommodate both versatility in use and predictability in application. Such tools, which could include greater reliance on special exception approvals, would best be identified by reviewing and updating the Town's Comprehensive Plan for the first time since 1999.
E.
In light of the foregoing, the Town Board hereby eliminates PDDs as a zoning tool for all applications made after June 6, 2016, that being the date the moratorium became effective. This permits unresolved PDD applications existing at the time of the moratorium to complete the application process while, at the same time, eliminating PDDs going forward from that point.