Vesting

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Projects approved on or after January 1, 2015, are bound by a Vesting period, during which time the development standards of the City in effect upon approval of the project shall remain the applicable standards to the project, so long at the project meets certain milestones within specific time frames. Vesting applies to the local adopted development standards, not development standards required by federal or state laws, rules, regulations, and policies. Vesting specifics can be found in Chapter 20 of the Zoning Ordinance.

What Projects are Vested?

Vesting begins with the first development application for a project. This can be the development plan or preliminary plat, or it can be a site plan when other approvals are not first required.

When Does the Vesting Clock Start?

A project is considered vested once it has been approved or approved with conditions by the applicable approving body.

Application Type	Vesting Start Date
Development Plan	Effective date of approved Resolution
Preliminary Plat	Date of vote by FMPC
Site Plan	Date of vote by FMPC, or date of Administrative Agenda

Milestones of Vesting

For a project to maintain its vested rights, the project must meet specific milestones for the development of the site. Not meeting these milestones could mean expiration of the development package and may require the application to be re-approved by the applicable approving body.

From the Vesting Start Date, a Project has 3 Years to:

Secure the approval of a site plan;

Obtain necessary permits to start site preparation; and

Begin site preparation work, which includes: grading, excavating, and physical improvements such as water and sanitary lines, footings or foundations installed

If these milestones are met, a project has 2 additional years from the Start date to commence construction and begin going vertical.

Once Construction commences, a project extends their vesting for:

10 years; or

15 years for a plan with two or more sections/phases

Extension of Vested Rights

An applicant can request an extension of their vested rights if they feel that they will not be able to meet the milestones in the required amount of time, or they do not feel like they can complete their project within the 10- or 15- year timeframe. An applicant must submit their request to extend their vested rights to the Department of Planning and Sustainability prior to the vested rights expiring. The original review body will review the extension request, unless the Site Plans was originally approved administratively. In these cases, the FMPC will be the approving review body.

Expiration of Vested Rights

If a project allows their vesting period to expire, the project will then be reviewed by staff and inspectors under current development standards. If this happens, it may mean that an application must be resubmitted to comply with current requirements.

Revisions to a Plan…Revision to the Vesting Period?

If an applicant applies for a revision to their Development Plan, Preliminary Plat, or Site Plan, it does not “restart” the clock on their vesting period. However, a revision may be denied, as it relates to vesting, if the revision is proposing major changes as defined in Subsection 20.19.4 of the Zoning Ordinance. The review body may decide that a revision proposing one of the five changes identified in Subsection 20.19.4 should meet the current development standards in place. Upon this determination, the applicant may choose to:

Keep the original approved plan set, and abandon their revision plans, or
Terminate their vested rights and submit the application with the proposed revision for a review under current development standards, establishing a new Vesting start date.