Bruce Bishop of the SPBA Board participated in the initial UDO meetings as a member of the Steering Committee. The nature of the UDO is to provide zoning structure for the next 20 years. In addition to greater Southern Pines, there was also an emphasis on the downtown historic district as well as western Southern Pines. A comprehensive long term plan was developed last year for Southern Pines. What the UDO does is move the Plan to building codes i.e. zoning. The firm Planning Works was contracted by the Town to design and implement the UDO.

The Steering Committee is geared to provide “big picture” input. There was discussion of what is working well in Southern Pines and what isn’t. Regarding the historic district the general consensus was that Southern Pines has a lot going for it, a good mix of businesses and restaurants. There was of course are areas of concern discussed and Planning Works was very receptive and attentive to the committee.
Other meetings included UDO workshops at the Southern Pines elementary school, brown-bag luncheons and Focus Groups.

The time frame going forward will be committee tele-conferences in February, an outline developed by Planning Works in March and open public forums in April and May. Next will be assembling codes in the summer, and adoption and implementation in the winter.It will be completed by the end of the year. Planning Works welcomes input from Southern Pines citizens and business owners. There is a website you can visit -  www.southernpinesudo.org  There will be updates and there is a “comments” section. You are encouraged to comment and view upcoming events.