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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19781030755 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BDARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARp DGTDBER 30, 197$ The Board of County Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board met in special .joint session on Monday, October 30, 197$, at 7:30 p.m., in the Com- missioners' Room of the Courthouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Members present: Commissioners Richard Whitted, Norman Gustaveson, Donald Willhoit and Norman Walker. Planning Board members: Dr. Robert Bonar, Chairman; Mr. Art Cleary, Mr. Andrew Dobelstein, Mrs. Jean Anderson, Mr. Lindsay Efland, Mr. John Scarlett, Dr. Logan Ervin, Fqr. Robert ,reer and Mr. Paul rates. P1r. Richard Whitted, chairman of the County Commissioners, called the meeting to order. Chairman Whitted said the purpose of the meeting was to review objectives set at the meeting two years ago, establish where Orange County planning was now and devise a work plan for future planning of Orange County giving the planning staff the objectives both boards would like to see accomplished. Commissioner Gustaveson said he would like to discuss Board policy as it had been for the last two .years and develop a new set of ob.jecti•ves for the next two year period with the new Planning Director. He said he would like the planning staff to develop a work schedule for these objectives. Commissioner Whitted said the joint boards had. come uo with basic objectives and work schedules two•years ago and one of the major objectives, revision and ex- tension of subdivision regulations, had been accomplished. Commissioner Willhoit listed the following objectives which were established two years ago: baseline data, such as soils; enlargement of Planning Board to 12; zoning of Bingham, Cheeks and Hillsborough townships; establish township advisory councils in Chapel Hill, Bingham and Cheeks townships; zoning ordinance and sub- division regulation revisions, implementation of OCPC; focus on land-use element; identification of environmentally critical areas and look at housing opportunities. Dr. Boner, Chairman of the Planning Board, said he felt baseline data -aas one of the most important objectives accomplished over the last twa years. Commissioner Whitted introduced the new Planning Director, Jim Polattv. Mr. Polatty said he had been looking forward to this meeting and he would like to see a two-year work plan established. Commissioner Whitted said he would like to activate the Orange Comprehensive Planning Committee. Commissioner Willhoit said a continuation committee was formed: after the Growth Options Conference who put together a proposal called the growth Options Plan. This proposal recommended the Planning Board establish an Orange County Planning Council to coordinate actions of different planning agencies. Separate planning jurisdictions with individual staffs would continue to exist but planning councils would serve as a mini-type government with representation far each local or special purpose planning board for the general public. He said actions•of many different agencies had an impact on planning and the county needs to have more coordinated input. Mrs. Josephine Barbour said she thought there was some question concerning the people who would serve on this committee. She thought the proposal was to ga back to the Commissioners for reconsideration or restructuring. Commissioner Willhoit said he would like to consider mare issues than OCPC and Growth Options Plan. Commissioner Whitted suggested getting new members to the Intergovernmental Task Force. Dr. Bonar said he would like to see better coordination and exchange of information. - 756 Commissioner Gustaveson said he would like to hear from each of the Commissioners and each of the Planning Board members their ideas and discussions of the main objectives for the next couple of years in afree-wheeling atmosphere. He felt one of the main objectives should be the extension of the zoning ordinance to Bingham, Cheeks and Hillsborough townships. Mr. Cleary said he thought land use plans were needed for areas that did not have them. He felt enforcement had to come from the zoning ordinance and a workable ordinance would allow us to carry through the land use plan. He suggested revising the ordinance immediately so the advisory councils could go ahead with land use planning. He said he would like to see areas who would later came under the zoning ordinance have same input. Dr. Bonar said the development of the land use plan and revision of the zoning ordinance inform and support each other. He said. more work needed to be done on the Chapel Hill land use plan. Commissioner Whitted said, "5o far, our objectives are extension of zoning ordinance in Cheeks, Bingham and Hillsborough townships; revision of our present ordinance and completion of the land use plan township by township": Mr. John 5carlett said he thought recreation areas are an important objective. Dr. Logan Ervin felt major objectives were zoning ordinance, land use plan and bringing people to advisory councils who are interested in commercial and industrial expansion. He wanted to try to coordinate the zoning ordinance with other instruments far attaining land use planning. He explained the tax advantage of having a tax exempt organization accept a scenic or conservation easement whereby the owner could still use the land, the tax value of the owner's property would be decreased and the county would have an expansion of recreation and open space areas. Mrs. Jean Anderson said she saw a need for commercial and industrial zoning revisions. She said a new sign ordinance and flood plain ordinance needed to be included in zoning ordinance revisions. Mr. Lindsay Efland said he thought revision of the zoning ordinance was long past due for the two townships under the zoning ordinance. He thought the county's land use plan could should be developed in the next two years. He said the county needed a mechanism or special use permit to consider developers' intensions for the land. Dr. Bonar .said he thought the zoning ordinance and land use plan should be worked on together and changed periodically as needed. Mr. Efland asked about having a different zoning ordinance for each township. The County Attorney said the best method to handle different uses is to have one zoning ordinance that takes in all possibilities but is applied according to a land use map which would reflect the differences. Mr. Greer said there was a need to encourage participation by the advisory councils. He said he felt the land use plan should b.e a top priority. Commissioner Willhoit said he thought watershed protection was an important objective along with defining potential reservior sites. He felt watershed protection . criteria far University Lake should be included in tie zoning ordinance. Other ob- jectives Commissioner Willhoit felt important were strip commercial zoning of Highway 54 41est, subdivision ordinance amendments, defining roll of township advisory councils and an industrial development provision in the zoning ordinance. Mr. Paul Gates said his objective would be to have a residential lot size - such .as larger minimum lot sizes in subdivisions in the county. Dr. Bonar said he wanted to modify the ordinance to treat all industrial development equally. He felt informing the public and inviting their participation important so they would understand what the Planning Board is doing and why and what the effect will be. He thought continuing the data base and encouraging advisory councils were also good objectives. Commissioner Walker said his objectives would he to identify potential reservoir sites, develop water resource sites that have been identified and develop Seven Mile Creek and Cane Creek. Commissioner Willhoit said the State Department of Water Resources should identify the sites. 75? The County Manager said Triangle ~ identified seven to thirteen sites in an FHA study made some years ago. Mr. Andy Dobelstein said he felt building a plan as you went along seemed contrary to the notion of a plan. He felt the plan should come first and then a mechanism to achieve the plan. He wanted the public to be informed of haw things were to be developed. He said he had been frustrated as a member of the Planning Board by the lack of comprehensive information. He felt the county needed better source data to be able to develop a plan. Commissioner Gustaveson said he felt both boards agreed the county needed an overall comprehensive plan but there were day-to-day decisions that also needed to be made. Commissioner Willhoit said there were many preemptive decisions made every day that point to the need to be sketched into the comprehensive elan framework or the county will loose the chance to make these decisions. Mr. Efland said he did not think the county residents saw a pressing need for zoning as do the people who live in more highly developed areas. Commissioner Whitted said the four main things we have talked about are: I) revision of present zoning ordinance, 2) completion of land use plan, ' 3) extension of the revised ordinance to Bingham, Cheeks and Hillsborough townships and 4) reservoir sites. Industrial and recreational development are other aspects of the land use plan. He said priorities needed to be put in perspective so the planning ' staff can develop a workable program. Commissioner Gustaveson said he was concerned that the county manage its growth and protect its natural areas. such as Eno and watersheds, and same of its basic industries, such as agriculture and the University. Commissioner !Jhitted said the Orange County tax base needs to be expanded in terms of industrial development to help diversify the residential tax•base. ' Dr. Bonar said industrial development should be expressed in land use plan by the advisory councils. Commissioner dJillhoit proposed the planning staff look into the four main items Commissioner Whitted suggested and give the boards an indication of what can be done with the existing staff or what additional staff might be necessary to achieve these objectives. The Planning Director asked for discussion of the roll of township advisory councils and how the staff should interact with them. Commissioner !Jhitted said township advisory councils Were created to advise the Planning Board• in the development of land use plans for individual townshios. Commissioner !talker said the advisory councils were developed to start land use planning at a grass roots level to bring to the Planning Board. The purpose of advisory councils is not to carry out policies of the Planning Board. Dr. Bonar said members of .the advisory councils are interested people who know their community and know what is desirable for their communities. He said land use planning was set aside during consideration of subdivision regulations. He said the Planning Board had asked the advisory councils to return to land use planning process and they have been working on it. He said he felt the planning staff should provide technical assistance and information to the advisory councils in a supportive roll rather than a directive roll. Commissioner Gustaveson expressed his concern that staff time might be exhausted in keeping up with the advisory councils. He felt the Commissioners might need to consider increasing the staff by three people. Dr. Bonar said he felt the staff should provide technical assistance and not secretarial assistance. Mr. Dobelstein said he thought advisory councils needed a lot of attention and staff time. 758 Mrs. Anderson said members of the advisory. councils were lay persons. Their function is to give input for the land in question. Without schedule data they cannot see where they want open space, residential, industrial, etc. Commissioner Walker said the advisory councils were organized so people would be in favor of land use planning. Participation in these councils is how the residents are involved in land use planning. Dr. Bonar said he felt gut reactions of the residents were important but the advisory councils needed to know forecasts for development in order to make decisions. He said the Planning Board realized staff time was expensive and he felt there needed to be a balance between what councils needed for maximum efficiency and the limitation of resources available. Dr. Ervin said the Planning Board needed to have a better mechanism to find out what people who do not attend the meetings think. He felt advisory councils were not , necessarily representative of the entire area. Mrs. Josephine Barbour said she thought staff time could be consolidated and all advisory councils could be invited when an important speaker visited a council. She said the advisory councils were nine months late in getting set up. She said - .. she felt it was very hard to make changes in the zoning ordinance and she had seen many recommendations turned down because they did not appeal to a few people. She said the Eno Council had asked land use plan information be sent to the people of Eno township to invite them to a public meeting for educational purposes and so all people of Eno township would have input in land use planning. Mr. Ben Lloyd said he felt a basic problem was a few people in control of planning not knowing all the needs of Orange County. He said a land use plan would not work without the consent of the people. Mr. Tony 5eber, an advisory council member, said the councils waited nine months to be set up, then tried to revise some things already in the picture and felt like nothing came out of it. He said members of the council were frustrated. _ He felt the need for an educational meeting to show the public what the picture is. for the next ten years. He said the advisory councils would like to know why their requests are turned down. Mr. Efland said he felt the advisory groups were in a state of transition. He felt the need for open meetings and an open forum.. He said the Cheeks Council members were not attending their meetings and, if the members were involved in land use planning, they might feel a sense of purpose. He suggested the planning staff come up with a work schedule or proposed agenda for a certain period of time then we could reassess where we stand and make adjustments from there.• Commissioner Walker said he felt advisory councils were imperative because they are elected by a democratic process on a grass roots level and are representative of the people in the various townships. Mr. Efland said the Cheeks Council had only four members out of 21 attending since the subdivision regulations were completed in the spring. Mr. Greer said his council thought their purpose had been resolved upon completion of subdivision regulations. He said if advisory councils did nat participate, the Planning Board would have to perform their function. He felt the Commissioners should let the advisory councils know their function is not aver. Commissioner Walker felt the advisory council members should have been invited to this meeting. .Commissioner Willhoit said the Planning Board could not delegate responsibility to township advisory councils. He felt the advisory councils a mechanism to provide input-in land use planning. He felt staff members should set up an agenda whereby all councils could proceed in a focused direction. Mrs. Barbour suggested articles be printed in the paper explaining land use planning.- She also suggested the public be invited to educational meetings with all advisory councils present. She felt goals could be set at these meetings to be taken back to the individual councils. Dr. Bonar said they had been trying to move toward joint council meetings for educational purposes. He said members of the councils were taking their own minutes and he questioned whether a member of the planning staff always needed tv be present. 759 Commissioner Whitted suggested the Planning Board set out what the councils needed and what could be provided for them. Mr. Efland asked if the planning staff would be enlarged by another planner this year. He said it would be helpful for the Planning Board to know what the Commissioners have planned far the planning staff this year. Commissioner Gustaveson said the county had budgeted for the planning staff in duly. He said the Planning Director intended to fill a position after this meeting. Commissioner Willhoit said he would like the Planning Director to establish a time table on the major priorities. He said he would like to work on obtaining the support of the advisory councils and he did not envision the staff serving as a sole support system to the advisory councils. He felt there were priorities listed that had to proceed insparallel. Mrs. Barbour said it was her understanding that a member of the staff had to be present at the advisory council meetings. Commissioner Willhoit said the advisory councils were public bodies who had to follow open meeting laws whose meetings should be publicized and planning staff should be notified. He said the planning staff should provide support to the advisory councils but the advisory councils needed to follow an overall work plan. Dr. Bonar said the Planning Board and advisory councils were all volunteer members and haw much responsibility can be shifted from the staff to the Planning Board without over burdening the Planning Board needed to be kept in mind. Commissioner Gustaveson said he was concerned about the balance between too many resources going into public involvement before dealing with critical areas in the county. Mr. Cleary said the advisory councils will do the work necessary to reach the goals set for them. - Commissioner Whitted said he thought participation in advisory councils would pick up after an educational process. Mr. Tony 5eber said he fel G. the advisory councils would like to look at the county as a whole first. He felt the public did not understand why there had to be a plan. He said the county had to have the support of the grass roots level in order to be eligible for federal funding. Commissioner Whitted said we need to have an educational process to articulate goals once they -are set. Commissioner Gustaveson said he would like to see pCPC revived. The Planning Director asked when the boards would like to see the first draft of the zoning ordinance. Commissioner Gustaveson said the Commissioners needed to put things into a framework to give the planning staff objectives and goals we would like to have accomplished within the next two years. Mr. Greer said he thought the planning staff had the ability to tell the Commissioners what goals could be accomplished in the next two years. Commissioner Gustaveson said there were some policy goals he felt should be set by the Commissioners. Commissioner Willhoit said he would like the planning staff to study the four major objectives then report back to the Commissioners on time and staffing so the Commissioners could make policy decisions. Commissioner Whitted said he would like to receive a report using current staff giving the number of months it would take to revise the zoning ordinance and the land use plan, including citizen's participation, telling where we would be at the end of a 24 month period on the major goals listed. 760 Dr. Bonar said he thought the revision of the zoning ordinance and land use plan should proceed in parallel. He felt the planning staff should be able to tell the Board if these things can be accomplished in two Years. Commissioner Willhoit said he would like the Planning Director to report on the time limit far the priorities listed at this meeting. He said, however, he personally was not willing to wait two years to consider zoning along Highway 5~}!Jest or to implement land use plan to protect reservoir sites. Commissioner Whitted said the Board would like to have a time estimate of a work plan as soon as the staff could put one together. The Planning Director said he would have a plan and time estimate ready for the Commissioners at the third Tuesday meeting in November. There being no further business to come before the Board of Commissioners, the meeting was adjourned. ---~... ~~ _~ Richard Whitted, Chairman Mary Lou 8ouley, Clerk