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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19951108PFr 1 APPROVED 12/19/95 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS NOVEMBER 8, 1995 6:00 P.M. SPECIAL MEETING The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Wednesday, November 8, 1995 at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the wording for the Flexible Development/Open Space Preservation Strategies for the advertisement for public hearing for November 27, 1995 that was approved on November 1, 1995. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. , and Commissioners William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. , Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (other staff members will be identified where appropriate) The Board discussed flexible development. It was decided that they would take the items in the order they are listed in the public hearing notice and that staff would put estimated times on each item. The Board discussed optional versus mandatory open space. Marvin Collins noted that developers are becoming sensitive to the desire for open space and want to provide some open space, even for smaller developments. Commissioner Willhoit indicated he would like for there to be sufficient incentives for a developer to want to provide some open space regardless of how many acres are in the development. Commissioner Gordon feels that if open space is made mandatory for one acre lots, it might encourage the use of alternative systems instead of conventional wells and septic tanks. Commissioner Willhoit noted that he feels the County can write in as part of the approval process the protection needed for alternative systems. John Link noted that the Board will receive early in 1996, a plan for monitoring and maintenance of alternative systems. The Board discussed mandatory versus optional open space and decided on sending the optional choice to public hearing. The County will try it for two or three years, and consider changing it to mandatory if it doesn't work. The Board discussed the percentage of open space -- 33% or 50% and if this would apply to the entire tract or just the buildable portion of the tract. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to hear from the public before making a decision. Commissioner Willhoit and Chair Carey both indicated they would like to get something adopted to see if it works. They can always consider amendments if it does not. Marvin Collins said that once the flexible development guidelines are adopted, there will be an educational process for the public including landowners, developers and surveyors. Flexible development will apply to areas outside the municipalities and outside the Joint Planning Area. It does apply to areas in the watershed. It was the consensus of the Board to send to public hearing the option of 33% open space of the entire tract as stated in the proposal. There were no further questions and this Special Meeting adjourned at 7: 15. 2 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH COMMISSIONERS NOVEMBER 8, 1995 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with the Hillsborough Town Commissioners for a joint work session on November 8, 1995 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Government Services Building in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. , and Commissioners William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit TOWN COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Horace Johnson and Commissioners Evelyn Lloyd, Catherine Martin and Richard Simpson COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. , Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (Other staff will be identified where appropriate) NOTE: The items below are listed in the order they were discussed. 1. FIRE PROTECTION ISSUES FOR HILLSBOROUGH AND ORANGE RURAL Town Manager Eric Swanson distributed copies of a letter sent to Chair Carey dated September 8, 1995 with regard to fire protection issues. Chandler Cates spoke on behalf of both fire departments. He gave historical data on both fire departments and said that the problem is they don't have enough volunteers during the day. He feels that with the number of schools and county buildings in the Hillsborough area that better fire protection is needed. The letter that was distributed gave the present organizational structure and some options for improving the service. He noted that the same volunteers serve both fire districts. The Town provides for the fire department the building in which they are located, one truck and makes payments on a ladder truck. The budget for Hillsborough is $112,000 and the budget for Orange Rural is $157,000. The town does receive some benefit from Orange Rural in that they do provide some vehicles they use. The two districts cooperate to provide fire protection. Annexation will hurt the Orange Rural area. He feels that since the County has such a large presence in the Town that they should be aware of the problem and assist the Town in looking at options for providing fire protection. Mayor Johnson said that if the Town funded three full-time fire protection workers, it would mean 11 cents on the tax rate. Commissioner Crowther asked if there was any incentive for town employees to be volunteers and Mayor Johnson said they do not have enough employees to fill the need. Commissioner Willhoit suggested that some arrangement be worked out between the rural district and the town based on the number of calls each receive. Chandler Cates reported on the number of calls each received for 1991 through the first g it t six months of 1995 which seem to indicate that Hillsborough receives about double the number of calls that Orange Rural receives. He noted that even with full-time staff they would need volunteers. 3 In answer to a question from Chair Carey, Mayor Johnson said he feels the cost of protecting county buildings should be paid for by all the citizens of Orange County because they use these facilities. Note: Commissioner Simpson arrived at this point in the meeting. Commissioner Willhoit asked if any other county in North Carolina fund fire protection out of their general fund and John Link indicated that there are counties which subsidize a fire district. Commissioner Willhoit noted that if subsidizing a fire district is considered, he feels it would need to be done uniformly across the County. Town Commissioner Martin said that the Town has identified a problem that could impact the protection of County buildings. What they are asking is that the County help them solve this problem. They want the County's input on how fire protection can be accomplished. Commissioner Willhoit agreed that it is a problem and that the County and Town need to find the most appropriate way of providing this protection. Chandler Cates pointed out that the Orange Rural tax of 4.25 is paying for protection of all the County buildings and County schools. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested that both the County and the Town study what other municipalities and counties are doing before making a decision on what needs to be done in this particular situation. Chair Carey agreed that they need to identify and study the options. Commissioner Willhoit asked for the property value of property other than County buildings like other nonprofit organizations, churches and town property. It was decided that Rod Visser or John Link would meet with the committee that was formed by the Town to explore options for providing fire protection in these two areas. 2. PROPOSED PARK BEHIND THE COURTHOUSE Economic Development Director Ted Abernathy said that the Park Committee met this week. He showed on a map the major features of the area. They are looking to divide the park into a passive park with a couple of key features. There may be trails, a stage for various events and an Occaneechi exhibit like a small village. The concerns include what to do with a pond and what should the bandstand look like. The next step is to do a design and layout of the entire area. Commissioner Halkiotis expressed a concern with the flooding of the area that happens once or twice a year. Commissioner Gordon supports the park concept. She feels that the plan should include future needs for County buildings and parking. Commissioner Willhoit questioned if the County had given up on putting a parking deck in the lower lot between the Sheriff's office and the new Courthouse. Commissioner Halkiotis indicated that it was not a dead issue and needs to be considered for future parking needs. John Link stated that his hope is that the parking deck could be a public/private venture. In answer to a question from Commissioner Willhoit about the Town's need for a fire station, Mayor Johnson said that they will need to 4 consider that in the near future because the fire department will need to expand. Ted Abernathy said that the Committee will bring back a report at the next BOCC/Hillsborough meeting scheduled for March 13, 1996. 3. REPORT ON THE I85/NEW 86 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (EDD) Margaret A. Hauth, Planning Director for the Town of Hillsborough gave this report. She distributed information on the intent and application criteria for the Entranceway Overlay District and additional requirements in these districts as well as a list of permitted uses. In answer to a question from Commissioner Wilihoit, Ms. Hauth said that the buffer for this area is 50 feet and the landscape buffer is 50 feet. The height limit is 65 feet. There is a 100 foot setback with parking allowed in the last 50 feet of this setback. Ms. Hauth reported that they met with the majority of the property owners in this vicinity. It seems that an EDD similar to the one cooperatively adopted at I-40/Old NC86 is not desired by the landowners. Most of the property in this area is already zoned for commercial development and they perceive EDD zoning would reduce their property's value by reducing the density at which they could develop the land. She proposed several options as listed in her handout. Chair Carey said he would like for the Board to take these options under advisement and provide comments back to Hillsborough. Mayor Johnson and Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd said that they don't agree with some of the options and would like to have further study. The County Board and the Town Commissioners agreed that additional information is needed on the comments made by the property owners and then it could be determined later what the Town and the County would like to see in this area. Chair Carey suggested that the governmental boards set up a process for reaching a final decision. It was decided that a committee including Town Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd, County Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis, Ted Abernathy, Margaret Hauth and County Planner Mary Willis will meet to set up a process for reaching a final decision. They will use as their basis Option 4 which states "Propose the Overlay district without the use restrictions, but with EDD site volume ratios or landscaping requirements". ADJOURNMENT Since there were no other items for discussion, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners will be held on November 14, 1995 at 7: 30 p.m. at the OWASA community meeting room in Carrboro, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr. , Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk