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16 Planned Unit Development Planned Unit Development is a zoning technique that permits a developer and City to negotiate the applicable zoning standards for a project. PUD can affect a number of elements in any project design – those below are a generalized outline of common elements: a.The City will allow flexibility from some of its zoning standards, in exchange for a higher standard in other areas. b.The flexibility is intended to result in a project of superior design and amenity than would otherwise be possible if basic zoning regulations were to be applied. Superior design is often considered to be a better method of achieving the City’s land use objectives that would result from a common zoning approach. c.PUD is not intended as a method of merely skirting around inconvenient regulations. d.The process is designed to allow for the integration of several disparate project elements, resulting in better coordination of public facilities, and hopefully, more efficient use of land and public resources. e.The process ends with a development contract that accompanies an associated Zoning Ordinance amendment for the construction of the project. In many zoning ordinances, there are two types of Planned Unit Development projects. Both follow the processing section of the Zoning Ordinance, but they differ in the nature of the regulation. The first is a rezoning of the property to a PUD zoning district. In this type of PUD, The City is essentially writing a new zoning ordinance that applies only to this district. The ordinance will list which uses are allowed, what development standards apply, and any other requirements of the district. While this sounds complex, most PUD District ordinances refer to some other existing zoning district and the master development plans, and then list only additions or deletions. The second type of PUD is actually a Conditional Use Permit allowing the use of PUD flexibility on a development parcel, keeping the underlying zoning district in place. In this type of PUD, the base zoning district regulates the allowable uses in the district, and sets out the general conditions. The site plan and other documents are then used to identify the areas where flexibility is being approved. This type of PUD used to be quite common, but is becoming less common in favor of the zoning district approach. For many PUD projects (especially residential projects), one of the most common areas of flexibility requested is for the use of private streets. With private street design, an association is formed of the owners in the project, and the association becomes responsible for street maintenance, and many other aspects of project operation. For a developer, the advantage of using a private street design is a marked increase in potential density. Setbacks from the edge of a private street need not be a strict as might be typical with public streets, and the street itself will typically require less than half of the area of a public street right of way. The