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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19940531843 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MAY 31, 1994 The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board met for a work session on Tuesday, May 31, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. at the Planning and Agricultural Center on Revere Road in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey,Jr., and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, Verla C. Insko and Don Willhoit. PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair William Waddell and members Elizabeth Walters, Larry Reid, Cherie Rosemond, Paul Hoecke, Joan Jobsis, Karen Barrows, Clinton Burkl,in, Virginia Boland and Margaret Brown COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Planner Gene Bell, Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe, Planning Director Marvin Collins, Transportation Planner Slade McCalip, Planner David Stancil and Planner Mary Willis I. INTRODUCTIONS AND OPENING COMMENTS BY CHAIRS Chair Moses Carey thanked everyone for attending. He hopes this meeting will clarify perceptions and directions in serving the citizens of Orange County and improve communications between the two boards. Bill Waddell feels this meeting will help everyone to understand the different viewpoints, concerns and thoughts which will help to improve and build better communications between the two groups. It has become clear to him that these two boards represent a real diversity of opinion and concerns with the common thread being a real concern of where Orange county is going and where they ought to be. The Planning Board is trying to give the County Commissioners a. consensus of what they feel is good and right for Orange County. He hopes that this meeting not only improves communications between the-two groups but helps them to make better decisions to lead the County forward. Chair Carey thanked the members of the Planning Board for their dedication and.the time spent serving on this Board. II. ANY ADDITIONS/CHANGES TO THE AGENDA One additional item "water and sewer boundaries" was added as 19 under IV. III. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE PLANNING BOARD - CONCEPTUAL AND ACTUAL 1. Provide diverse opinions, each view documented, 2. Develop reasonable consensus with discussion and documentation of reasons for chosen direction, 3. Provide the "right" answer in recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners? 844 In answer to a question from Commissioner Willhoit about what things must be referred to the Planning Board, Marvin Collins stated thz.` ., legally zoning matters must receive a Planning Board recommendation. T-.. County Commissioners has the option to refer or not in other matters. In answer to a question about public hearings that have sworn- testimony and if the County Commissioners can only consider what is given under oath, Attorney Doug Thoren clarified that whether or not the testimony must be taken under oath depends upon whether the county Commissioners are expected to take a legislative or judicial role. A judicial role is where the Board would act as judge and only the testimony given under oath can be considered when making the final decision. In a legislative public hearing, the Board can consider information given at the public hearing and other information heard elsewhere. Chair Carey stated he would ask the County Attorney to write a brief paragraph to hand out to the citizens so they understand what type of public hearing is being held. Chair Carey stated that generally the County Commissioners understand the advisory nature of the Planning Board and how they arrive at the decision is really left up to that Board. Bill Waddell noted that the Planning Board usually tries to work through the options and communicate only the final option or one where there was a real consensus. . Commissioner Insko noted that the County Commissioners are not asking for diverse opinions but are asking for a recommendation. Commissioner Gordon stated she would like to know if there are other important minority views and also other concerns or issues involved. She feels that when there is a consensus, documentation of the majc viewpoints or opinions should be made. Commissioner Willhoit feels that the dialogue is very- important because it brings out the different viewpoints and pertinent information which helps him to evaluate which direction to go. Commissioner Halkiotis feels the richness of the Planning Board is the diverse background of its members. The Planning Board provides a vital role to the citizens and the responsibility of the County Commissioners is to listen to the Planning Board. In answer to a question from Chair Carey.about the.-Planning Board'.s expectations of the Board of County Commissioners, Joan Jobsis stated that- they do not expect the County Commissioners to always follow their recommendation. They do expect the Board to consider their recommendation is making the final decision. They try to give the County Commissioners their best judgment on everything with complete knowledge that the final decision is made'by the County Commissioners. Bill Waddell noted that the Planning Board members discuss as many points of view possible and weigh them, discuss them and come up with a recommendation. He stated that sometimes he is not clear where the County Commissioners are coming from and asked how the Planning Board can .receive updates on the Board's priorities. They want to address the questions and concerns that the County Commissioners have. It was suggested that the Planning Board may better understand what the County Commissioners are talking about with respect to different issuer by reading the minutes. Joan Jobsis feels that the Planning Board is not getting clear messages on what the County Commissioners want. Bill Waddell said there are 845 such questions as what does the-Board wish?the Planning Board to consider, in what timeframe and what issues need to be addressed. To consider all aspects may take some time. In terms of priorities, he feels there are some contradictions like affordable housing versus open space. Larry Reid indicated he would like to receive additional direction on what specifics should be considered in deciding an item or. in reconsidering an item that is sent back to the Planning Board after they have made a recommendation. This would give the Planning Board a better view of what the county Commissioners feel is important. Chair Carey feels that the County Commissioners can be specific on why they refer things back to the Planning Board. In terms of priorities, it would be diff icult for the Commissioners to make that decision because they are not always sure which priority should be given more weight in making a decision. Elizabeth Walters asked that the Commissioners tell them which items should be given top priority. She would like to know what the Board's goals are for this year. Paul Hoecke feels it important that the Planning Board know the total picture or that the vision for Orange County is made very clear. Commissioner Willhoit said that each goal has a time line and stated that priorities do change. Chair Carey emphasized how much the County Commissioners depend upon the Planning Board and staff to do the real work and how much they rely on them. It does mean that judgment decisions on what the Planning Board feels is the right way to go may need to be made Commissioner Gordon explained that the Board sets priorities at their retreat in December and are continually reviewing them. She realizes that there are a lot of issues and that maybe the Board needs to be more comprehensive. She feels that long range comprehensive planning is vital and she would. like to see the Board spend more time on pursuing these comprehensive planning issues. Clear directions to the Planning Board with parameters is important. Sometimes the Planning Board works hard on an issue and the recommendation is not accepted because there has been a change midstream or the Board needs additional information on why that particular decision was made. Karen Barrows, made reference.--to. the.D.eGr_o.ve Conference and the emphasis on utilizing what already has been done on land use planning by a lot of people in Orange county. She feels there needs to be a way to involve these people in the process. Commissioner Willhoit noted that it is usually the big issues that bring people out to public hearings. The people who specialize in land-use planning come and go. Clint Burklin said that he has been attending the long range planning committee meetings which have provided him a good perspective of how planning issues relate to other issues. He suggested that the County Commissioners meet at least once a year with this committee to get a perspective of the overall goals. Chair Carey suggested having a meeting with this committee before the Board retreat in December. The Board agreed with this suggestion. Commissioner Willhoit said that there are a lot of issues and questions that probably should be forwarded to the Planning Board for their input. Some of these involve lot size distribution by township, carrying capacity, the number of acres which are undeveloped, the kind of overall population that is likely to occur outside of the municipalities, the density 846 necessary to support a fixed guideway system, etc. It may be that the role of the Planning Board is to help the County commissioners do some long-rancr---,, planning and address some of these issues. Cherie Rosemond agreed with Commissioner Willhoit's comments. Sh4_1 ' asked if the County Commissioners would give the Planning Board a charge to this effect. Chair Carey made reference to the role of the Planning Board and encouraged them to work with other boards on a voluntary basis without a request from the County Commissioners. He noted that when the County commissioners make a request, they must take into consideration the time demands of the staff and Planning Board members. IV. WHAT ARE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRIORITIES? HOW CAN WE KEEP CURRENT AND "IN SYNC"7 1. Open Space/Rural Character 2. Farm Land Preservation 3. Environmental Protection (eg., water) 4. Affordable Housing 5. Economic Development 6. Fiscally Responsible Development 7. Transportation (eg., alternatives to the automobile) 8. Others 9. Water and Sewer Boundaries Chair Carey said that the Water and Sewer Boundary Committee has set a deadline of October 1 for presenting a report to the governing board On June 30, a public hearing will be set for .open space/rural character. With regard to farmland preservation, Chair Carey said that the,,.. County Commissioners recently me4 with the Agricultural Advisory Board and reached a consensus on a bond issue for preservation of farmland. With regard to the Cooperative Planning Agreement with the Town of Hillsborough, the Board has been notified of their desire to withdraw. However, the Hillsborough Town Commissioners must meet and make a formal action to withdraw before it is final. Commissioner znsko noted that the wastewater Treatment. Monitoring. Program has implications on the Cooperative Planning Program as well as the - Open Space/Rural Character strategies. By using alternative systems, the best land could be set aside for open space and the poor land could be developed using alternative systems. The Board discussed the rural character strategies. Commissioner Gordon noted that she would like to look at the issues, development options and the timeline. She feels that it is important to look at the comprehensive picture. Clint Burklin said that another option would be the exchange of water and sewer for open space. Commissioner Willhoit feels that this would increase the workload and is not necessary at this time to develop this option. He feels it is important to decide the density and a time line showing the sequence of decisions that need to be made. Larry Reid questioned setting a two-acre minimum lot size since there are a lot of other issues to be considered. He feels that for thr majority of the 37% available land in the County it would take more than to acres to locate a suitable septic site. 84°7 Commissioner Willhoit asked that the Planning Board require a special use permit if a development wants more than one driveway cut onto an arterial road. This should be changed soon so that people have the incentive to plan their subdivisions with only one road. Commissioner Gordon suggested using a collector road system instead of requiring a special use permit. Commissioner Willhoit made reference to #7 above and asked what will happen to the corridor when I-40 is widened to six lanes. In answer to a question from Joan Jobsis, Commissioner Willhoit said that the concept is open space. It could be preserved by deed, open space requirements or owned by the land conservancy. They would encourage developers to set aside open space during the development process. Chair Carey reiterated that some of the open space could be owned by the County. However, a large portion will be owned by private groups like Duke University, homeowners associations or conservation groups. Commissioner Willhoit noted that their goal is to try to cluster homes and have viable reasonable economic development located around transportation. Commissioner Gordon thought that the goal was to designate economic development districts and not put economic development throughout the County. Joan Jobsis asked about the vision the County Commissioners have for economic development for the next twenty to forty years and how they want this balanced with residential development. Chair Carey stated that the Board intends to look at the economic development long range plans and consider these in the context of what they feel are the current priorities in the County. Commissioner Gordon feels that the Buckhorn corridor would be the first to look at in terms of economic development. With regards to a vision, she feels that the "Shaping Orange County" committee may develop this vision. Commissioner Insko noted that the vision shifts as they are pulled in different directions because they don't know what environmental and physical forces will pull them which way. Paul Hoecke said that the original components of the vision don't need to change. Each component has different issues and different priorities based on the reality of what actually is proposed. - V. PRIORITIES-FOR FUTURE ISSUES 1. Assuring adequate public facilities 2. Long range transit systems 3. Shaping Orange County's Future 4. Small Area Work Groups 5. Others Commissioner Insko made reference to item #5 and asked if there are any plans in place to provide public facilities before allowing development to occur, including the financing of these facilities. Commissioner Willhoit feels that a requirement to provide the facilities before development occurs will not happen until the impact fees are increased to fully pay for these facilities. Chair Carey noted that there are legal constraints in delaying development until the public services are in place. The issue is how closely can this burden be tied to the development. Cherrie Rosemond stated that what is happening is that development 848 is small and is costing orange county residents. Bill Waddell noted that some developments are 10 acres which does not require a person to go throug}-, the subdivision process. John Link noted that accurate information on where the growth i5...., occurring is important. Chapel Hill is developing three times as fast as Orange County. With the present impact fee of $750, the amount of revenue coming in is about a third of what was expected. Larry Reid asked what was being done to educate the public about the reason for the impact fee. Chair Carey noted that it is everyone's responsibility to educate the public on this fee. VI. OPERATIONAL ISSUES 1. Current status of Application Supplement 2. Best use of Board of County Commissioners/Planning Board sessions 3. Reorganization and use of Township Advisory Councils 4. Others Chair Carey noted that the application supplement has been tabled until one is developed which is more acceptable. Karen Burrows asked that the Planning Board be involved if another supplement is developed. With reference to #2, the County Commissioners are holding bi- monthly work sessions at which time they will receive updates on goals with the opportunity to made midcourse corrections. Commissioner Gordon made reference to #3 and said that a group is working-on reactivating the TACs. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested putting together a video on what they have learned over the last fe;a years on what it costs to put in development. This would be educational for the citizens and let them kno,. what is happening. He noted that Orange High School has a video course and probably he could get some young people involved in doing a video of this type. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to discuss, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting of the County Commissioners will be held. on June 6,. 3.994- at 7:30 .p.m.?at the Caldwell Community Center in Rougemont, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk