Approved by City Council on December 3, 2012
UDO-233 is an important protection for Hanes Park and the downtown area. It does not prohibit the building of a new high school stadium, however it set a limitation on the number of seats and so size of a stadium based upon available parking.
See video of the City Council meeting here. UDO-233 and stadium discussion begins at 1:08:33
UDO-233 Corrects an oversight in the 2006 amendment (UDO-146) that removed all parking requirements for high school stadiums. It introduced the following requirements:
- Requires the provision of on-site parking of 1 spot per 4 seats for high school stadiums that are over 1500 seats in areas designated as GMA 1 & GMA 2
- Ensures the establishment of a public process for stadium projects that do not meet the above parking requirements
- Requires the submission of a reasonable parking plan for review
- Requires project approval by City Council
What UDO-233 does not:
- Prevent R. J. Reynolds High School (or any other high school) from building a stadium
- Affect every school in GMA 1 and GMA 2 areas
- Affect suburban high schools outside of GMA 1 & 2
The state already dictates minimum land and size requirements for high schools. Most exisiting elementary and middle schools are simply too small, do not meet these requirements and therefore could not be converted to high schools and so would not encounter these requirements. The text amendment only applies to high school stadiums.
LINKS
UDO-233 as written and proposed to the Winston Salem City Planning Board
City Council Meeting Minutes from December 3, 2012