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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 12-12-2000APPROVED 5115101 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS December 12, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in a continued session on Tuesday, December 12, 2000 at 5:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiatis and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, and Barry Jacobs 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 (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below} NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. NOTE: This meeting was continued from Saturday, December 9, 2000 to this date, time and place. 1. CONTINUED REVIEW OF PROPOSED GOALS FOR FY 2001-02 Cooperative Agreements Commissioner Gordon made reference to page four, the third item, and suggested that it be worded, "Work with Hillsborough an a list of transportation priorities." Commissioner Jacobs said that he thought we were aiming for the fall and not the spring far the EDD transportation issues. Planning Director Craig Benedict will switch the time to August and October for an actual recommendation to come forward. Commissioner Brawn suggested adding a page that reflects all of the intergovernmental task forces. She asked if the County Commissioners wanted to do that. Commissioner Gordon feels it is okay to put the list in somewhere. Her preference would be to put the goals and then have a list of the task forces as an appendix. Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe will compile the list of intergovernmental task forces. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page five where it says, "discuss Mebane's participation in countywide water and sewer boundary agreement." She said that this reminded her that the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement was not yet approved. Craig Benedict will rewrite this portion of the goal. He agrees we need to get the six-year project completed from our end and then include Durham and Mebane. The Planning Department has provided information to Mebane. Commissioner Jacobs asked Craig Benedict if he envisions that the EDD standards will be the same for Buckhorn as they are for Hillsborough. Craig Benedict said that the EDD area for Buckhorn was written into the goal of the Efland/Buckhorn study area and it will have different standards. Commissioner Jacobs said that it seems that it is time to set up another meeting with Mebane. There was consensus of the Board that the Manager would set up a meeting with Mebane. The Manager will create an agenda and send to the County Commissioners for their review and input. Craig Benedict said that the biggest issue facing Mebane is their urban growth area. Expansion of the Efland Sewer System In answer to a question from Commissioner Brown, Craig Benedict said that, regarding the Efland sewer system, the priority is to find out the commitments from the bond program. The next priority is to determine where and when to expand sewer in Efland, or to develop some kind of sewer extension policy. The staff is still actively working on objective two with the Orange Alamance water system. Objective three has to do with the transportation system. It is projected that Mt. Willing Road will be the most over capacity in the Efland area, because the two 90-degree turns cannot handle the traffic movement from Efland-Cedar Grove Road. There will have to be some sort of improvement in the near future. Objective four has to do with the intensity of the land uses. If we have water, sewer, and roads, then we need to work on the intensity of the land uses. Efland has more potential than most places for development. This is where we get into discussion of identifying areas within Efland for possible increases in density where water and sewer facilities are focused. The County Engineer, the Economic Development Director, and the Planning Director will provide a report to the Board in a couple of months about recommendations for development patterns in the Efland area. This area is probably the prime land use issue within rural Orange County that is being addressed at this time. There are 672 subdivided lots in the pipeline in Cheeks Township, where typically there are 300 in any rural area in any given year. He distributed a map showing the projects that have been approved in the last ten years and a list of those that are being reviewed for approval at this time. Commissioner Brown asked Craig Benedict what the County Commissioners could do about the growth in the Efland-Mebane area. Craig Benedict said that we could try to get a commitment from Orange-Alamance or limit growth because the infrastructure is not available. There could also be a change in land use so that the impacts are lower. Commissioner Brown would like for these to be proposed by Craig Benedict. Craig Benedict said that no one was asking for rezoning in the Cheeks area and everything that has been approved has met the regulations of the Zoning and 5ubdivisian Ordinances. He said that he could provide recommendations for the Efland area based on scenarios of the availability of water and sewer. Commissioner Jacobs said that a sewer service area should be defined and that a sewer expansion policy should not be developed. He said that everything depends on the availability of water. We would have to get this water from Mebane orOrange-Alamance. Craig Benedict said that he would start with identifying the area and then developing an expansion policy. Commissioner Gordon made other changes, which were so noted by Craig Benedict. She would like to do what the bond referendum said, but she would also like to know what else should be done, what it will cost, and how it will be done. Regarding the goal outline and the goal statement, she suggested including environmental impacts in the statement. Craig Benedict said that there is a certain amount of money left in the band program. The money can be spent on expansion for service which was outlined in the bond program, or the money can be leveraged for grants. Commissioner Carey asked about the delay that would be expected if they were to try to leverage this bond money to get bond grants. County Engineer Paul Thames said that the deadline for grant applications is March 2001. In order to be eligible to receive the grant you have to have a complete set of construction documents and be ready to begin construction. There is no way to get everything done by March 2001. However, everything could be ready far a March 2002 grant period. He said that even if the County Commissioners approved a plan at this time, it would be late in the summer or early fall before a contract could be let. Then because of the weather, it would be spring 2002 before anything could be constructed. So it makes sense to work toward applying far a grant in March 2002. Chair Halkiotis made reference to a problem in a mobile home park across from Hanco Products and said that he feels we need to help some of the citizens in that area that have waited for a long time for something to be done about water and sewer. There are a lot of failing septic tanks in that area that he has seen firsthand. Commissioner Brown questioned a plan taking a year to develop and asked what is going to happen with the growth in the Efland area. John Link said that Paul Thames is ready to begin developing the plan for the citizens that were expecting help with sewer systems using the bond funds. Commissioner Jacobs feels that there is more of a sense of urgency in making some decisions on the overwhelming impact of growth in the Efland area. He feels we need to find out if there is water first. We cannot promote higher density development if we do not have water. He agrees that we need to make a determination in less than a year about the development in the Efland area. Craig Benedict said that he will have a recommendation to the County Commissioners in March 2Q01 about development in the Efland area and will present at that time any recommendations that involve changes in land use or rezoning for the May 2Q01 quarterly public hearing. Commissioner Carey asked if Craig Benedict would include, as a part of objective two, a timeline for a meeting with Orange-Alamance. Craig Benedict said that this meeting should take place in January. The County Manager was asked to facilitate the process of setting up a meeting with Orange-Alamance. A letter was sent to Orange-Alamance from the County, but there has been no response. Urban Rural Boundaries Commissioner Brown asked if we had a joint meeting on the calendar with the Town of Hillsborough and Chair Halkiotis said no. Chair Halkiotis suggested bringing the two small planning groups and the two staffs together and report to both elected groups on the success of the subgroup. Commissioner Brown asked about the proposal for the Upper Eno watershed. Craig Benedict said that a survey was forwarded to the Commissioners to get some additional input. He said that there were a few different ways to achieve what the County is trying to achieve {i.e., density reduction, density transfers, etc.). He is suggesting that with transfer of development rights that the County seek a firm that has worked with Huntersville, which is trying to transfer densities within watersheds. Commissioner Brown asked where we are in the timeframe for any recommendation about Cheeks Township, the Upper Eno watershed, etc. Chair Halkiotis made reference to the workload in the Planning Department. He asked Craig Benedict to do a chart showing everything his department is trying to accomplish at this time. He suggested that a significant part of the agenda for the possible work session on January 29t" be reserved to listening to a report an the Planning Department. Transfer of Development Rights Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Transfer of Development Rights {TDR) and said that this is something the Smart Growth Committee is discussing. He made reference to Huntersville and said that we should not focus on their successes and failures. He said that it was perfectly within the County's purview to transfer density from one place to another. Geoffrey Gledhill said that he could write a letter to Craig Benedict and copy the Commissioners regarding the work session presentation. Public School Impact TaxlFee Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Public School Impact TaxlFee and noted that it does not say anywhere in this goal that the County Commissioners will continue to seek legislative authority to change the impact fee to an impact tax. He said that this should be an ongoing goal. Craig Benedict will add this to the goal. Regional Transportation Planning Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page two and the statement, "Coordinate with Orange County local government jurisdictions to provide an ongoing comprehensive transportation planning process." He asked if this includes the comment on thoroughfare plans. Commissianer Gordon said that this would be addressed in the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. Commissioner Jacobs feels it is a step we ought to consider so that the County understands better what the municipalities are after. He said that it was a good idea to periodically review the process for the thoroughfare plan. Commissioner Gordon thinks that the area outside of the MPO is what needs more effort. Sustainability Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the environmental assessment in our ordinances and the enforcement of standards based on the results of the environmental assessments. He wonders if this should be revisited and if this was the place to put it. Geoffrey Gledhill said that the environmental assessment was not regulatory, but informational, in nature. Commissianer Jacobs would be interested in how the environmental assessment is used and haw it could be used better. Commissioner Gordon would like to add as an objective to review and revise the County's Environmental Impact Ordinance. Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance In answer to a question about the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, Craig Benedict said that the Orange County School Board voted to approve this ordinance. The Chapel Hill-Carrbaro City School Board has had it on their agenda a couple of times. He has not heard from the Towns of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, or Carrboro. He will let the County Commissioners know as dates become available. Chair Halkiotis asked for a fact sheet on the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance and a list of the steps that have to take place before implementation. He feels that there is a lot of deliberate misinformation out there an this issue. The administrative issues need to be clarified, especially regarding the school systems. Commissioner Brawn would like for the process an approval of this ordinance to be tracked, and if it gets stalled, it should be brought to the attention of the County Commissioners. Drainage and Stormwater Management Commissioner Jacobs added the following under objective six: "Work with County Forester and NC Division of Forestry to improve coordination of forestry activities within Orange County with watershed protection, land use, natural areas, and other adopted County plans." Rural Character Preservation Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 11, objective 2b, Visual Resource Protection. She would like to revise the last sentence to read, "Draft standards to allow interconnectivity in access to open areas internal and external to the development, while protecting existing neighborhoods from adverse impacts." Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 14 and said that the private road standards were not complete since there were sections to be reworked by the planning staff. She said that this should come back in January for completion. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page four, objective 1 a, the Voluntary Ag Districts Program, and added the following goal: "Examine and incorporate appropriate incentives to increase participation in voluntary agricultural districts." Commissioner Jacobs has same concerns about the stakeholder process. He asked that the space study committee look at the notion of an Ag Center. Commissioner Jacob made reference to the bottom of page seven that reads, "Recruit and hire Agricultural Economic Development Specialist." He said that there was a recommendation by the Economic Development Commission to pursue this kind of position but there is no grant money. Commissioner Gordan suggested rewording the goal by leaving out the jab title and putting the Agricultural Economic Development Specialist in Resources. She pointed out that if a goal was approved, it did not mean a new position was approved. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page eight and acquiring conservation easements. He thinks the County should have an active campaign to promote easement acquisition programs to inform people. 20Q1. It was decided that the remaining goals will be finished at the work session on January 29, 2. REVIEW OF ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS a. Transportation Advisory Commission This will be addressed by a task force. b. Youth Services Advisory Commission This will be eliminated. ADJOURNMENT OF CONTINUED MEETING The meeting was adjourned at this time because it was time for the joint meeting with the Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD DECEMBER 12, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in joint session with the Orange County Planning Board on Tuesday, December 12, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiotis and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, and Barry Jacobs 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 (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Leo Allison, Barry Katz, Karen Barrows, Howard McAdams, Runyon Woods, Rachel Preston ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Nicole Goading-Ray, Crauford Goodwin, Lynne Holtkamp, James Selkirk, Robert Strayhorn NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. A. OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR Chair Halkiotis welcomed everyone to the meeting. PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Halkiotis read the public charge. B. AUTHORIZATION TO SEEK FINANCING FOR PROPERTY ACQUISITION AT 112 AND 118 NORTH CHURTON STREET IN HILLSBOROUGH Director of Purchasing and Central Stores Pam Jones made this presentation. She said that Central Carolina Bank has accepted the County's offer of $485,000 for both pieces of property as well as the land around it. The projected interest rate is 6.5°~. The detailed information on the interest rate will be brought back at the meeting on January 18, 2001. The financing period will be for ten years. The only outstanding issue is the environmental assessment. There is one underground storage tank and it appears to be abandoned. This information will be confirmed by January 18, 2001. A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Brown to: Approve the resolution, which is incorporated herein by reference and calls for the plan to purchase the property Authorize the Finance Director to seek financing far the acquisition; and Establish January 18, 2001 as the date for public hearing an the acquisition. VOTE: UNANIMOUS C. PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS (To be heard by the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board.) 1. Consideration of Economic Development Districts (EDD1 within Moratorium Areas Planning Director Craig Benedict made general comments about this agenda item. He said that the six items on the public hearing have to da with economic development districts and some work that has been conducted by a joint task force of individuals from Orange County and Hillsborough. Since February 2000, two County Commissioners, two Hillsborough Commissioners, the Economic Development Director, the Hillsborough Planning Director and the Orange County Planning Director have held meetings twice a month to discuss the area near old NC 86, new NC 86, I-85, and I-40, which totals 800 acres. This has been designated an the County's land use plan since 1994 as an economic development district. Discussions with the Town of Hillsborough indicated that the present standards were inadequate to handle development in that general area. Based an the first few months of input, both the Town of Hillsborough and Orange County created some moratoria areas within the County. Areas within Hillsborough had afour-month moratorium and areas within Orange County had asix-month moratorium. He showed the moratoria areas that were up for discussion. The moratorium has been released in Hillsborough based on recommendations from the task force. The interest of the task force was to make sure that the economic development districts are viable, aesthetic, and would improve the general area. Craig Benedict explained each of the six items on the public hearing. The first item has to do with the creation of a limited office district. It is a text amendment and has nothing to da with anyone's property. The second item has to do with the creation of an Economic Development Special Entranceway District. The third item has to do with the actual rezoning of land shown as 3a and 3b to Limited Office. The fourth item is an extension of the six-month moratorium, which would have expired in January 2001 for areas A one and two. The extension of the moratorium is to April 2001. This extension would be to a time certain. The fifth item is some new regulatory standards. The Economic Development District Design Manual has been in effect since 1994 far the entire area that is within the economic development district in area A. After discussions with the task force and the general public, it was decided that the existing manual was laborious and difficult to understand. The task force is recommending that the manual be abridged to something more understandable. The sixth item is a continuation of the public hearing that was held on November 27t" and has to do with the subdivision of property in non-residential lands. This item suggests that subdivisions have larger lot sizes rather than the undefined minimum that was in the previous manual. This would reduce access points to old NC 86 and new NC 86. The task force has also suggested a balance of different uses for the economic district by creating some different categories of land use and zoning. He said that this entire area was developed as retail, which would have been permitted under the existing economic development design standards. Over 100,000 cars would be generated from the 800 acres. Anyone who owns property that is zoned to the Limited Office district could, by right, bring a proposal directly to the staff and would not have to go through a legislative process for approval. Any testimony ar written information after tonight's meeting can be submitted to the staff to be distributed to the Planning Board at their next meeting. Commissioner Jacobs spoke as a member of the task force that worked on this project. He said that the task force tried to make the standards the same for Hillsborough's and Orange County's jurisdiction. The task force has tried to accomplish master planning. They have tried to make this clear, simple, and flexible. This is an effort to create a supposition of certain kinds of activities taking place and a somewhat streamlined process to enable them to do so. The task force has tried to accent environmental issues, especially preservation of open space, how we define buffers, transportation, and connectivity. The task force has talked about having 20% retail, 25% officelflex space, 15°~ residential, 35% office, and 5°~ miscellaneous. One of the thrusts is to try and promote mixed use. Even with the office areas, they tried to include eating facilities within those uses so that people will not have to drive somewhere in order to eat and add to the traffic peak. The general sense is that this has been a rewarding and cooperative venture with Hillsborough. a. Creation of an "EDDILimited Office" zoning district in the Urange County permitted use zoning tables. The new district would permit primarily community and regional office development with accessary restaurants. There were no questions from the Baard of Caunty Commissioners. Planning Baard member Barry Katz asked about the mixed-use plan and asked what the estimate was of the number of trips per day. Craig Benedict referred to a chart and said that it would include 98,000 cars, if the 800 acres were built out. Even with the base numbers, by promoting a lot of mixed use, that number would be reduced. Barry Katz asked if there were plans to preserve existing vegetation in the EDD areas. Craig Benedict said that one of the standards that will be part of the abridged manual is that there will be a 50°~ impervious area maximum. There is strong emphasis for the preservation of natural features and natural buffers. Planning Board member Runyon Woods made reference to a chart, which shows the vehicles per day and asked how that number was generated. Craig Benedict said that they took an 800-acre area and took off a 20% environmental constraint. From the 560 remaining acres, they took footprint coverage in four area ratios that were indicative of different land uses. Runyon Woods asked how the gross number of square footage was figured to generate the number of vehicles per day. Craig Benedict said that the amount of gross floor area that would be allowed in the area would be 6.6 million square feet {535,000 for retail on 61 acres, 1.7 million square feet for affice flex an 160 acres, 4.4 million square feet far office park on 252 acres, and 600 units of median-density and high-density residential}. Public Comment Vic Knight owns property on Old NC 86 south of Hillsborough. He feels that the general public will not have any understanding of how to develop property in the EDD. He feels that it is a very complicated process and not simple. He feels the process is not straightforward. With reference to this item, he does not feel that the best approach is the legislative approach to approvals. He thinks that going through a legislative approval process leaves out all of the potential objective standards. Scott Radway said that he feels that the process that the EDD task force has gone through has been gratifying to see. The issue that is not addressed in the material is the concept of trying to deal with large properties and master plans. This was one major focus of the EDD task force. He made reference to the abridged EDD manual and asked about the statistical standards versus subjective standards. He asked for clarification on the abridged EDD manual and if it would be a guidebook or part of another ordinance. Craig Benedict said that the parts of the EDD design manual that are not highlighted would be an adopted ordinance. The unabridged EDD design manual is also an ordinance. The guidebook portion, or the shaded portions, are guides and subjective standards. A motion was made by Cammissianer Carey, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1 a to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of County Commissioners na sooner than January 18, 2001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS b. Creation of an "EDD1Special Use Entranceway Overlay District." This district would include a set of general and specific standards for development to be Commissioner Jacobs said that a couple of the issues that came up with discussions with Hillsborough was (1) limiting the floor area of big box retail, and (2} limiting or eliminating drive-in windows for air quality reasons. Also, he asked Craig Benedict that clear-cutting be covered in the ordinance. Barry Katz asked if Craig Benedict could identify a 650-acre parcel in the County. Craig Benedict said that 6.6 million square feet is a build-out scenario and would not came online in 10, 15, or even 20 years. The new South Point Mall in Durham is about 1.2 million square feet. Barry Katz made reference to maintaining the character of Hillsborough and asked how that would be accomplished by putting development at this site. Craig Benedict said that traffic would be focused to this area instead of traveling through the center of Hillsborough, which would make this area the appropriate place far development. Public Comment Scott Radway asked about the proposed EDD development chart that has the designations which are O-OF (office and office flex), O-MDR (office and medium density residential), and the last one for mixed use. He asked if what is intended is for the County Commissioners to adopt as an ordinance the categories with uses when this comes back to the County Commissioners for approval. He asked where this fits within the continuing work of the EDD task force between now and when the moratorium ends. Craig Benedict said that these are categories that are not assigned to any of the properties at this time. The focus of the work on A-1 and A-2 will be in this area. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1 b to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of County Commissioners no sooner than January 18, 2001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS c. approximately 77 acres. These parcels can continue their present activity pursuant to existina zonina codes if presently developed. If the site is undeveloped or previously Hated site is to be redeveloped, then the parcel would be developed consistent with Limited Office district or request rezoning through a special use rezoning and permit process. These parcels would also be removed from the moratoria. Barry Katz made reference to South Paint Mall in Durham and the exit ramps an I-40 and asked if there are any plans for I-40 or NC 85 to sustain a reasonable flow of traffic to this development and what plan they would need to augment this future development. Craig Benedict said that it was agreed at the Commissioners' retreat that the EDD task force would evolve into a task force with a transportation emphasis at the end of the land use issues. The task force would focus on the issues raised above by Barry Katz. The task force will take a look at over 40 intersections and come up with a priority package by late summer 2001 and submit it to the MPO by fall 2001. Public Comment Lawson Brown, attorney from Alamance County, spoke representing Chandler Concrete Company, which is located in area 3A. The Chandler Concrete site is a 5.$-acre tract of land located between SR1710 and the railroad tracks. The easternmost two acres of this site are not developed. Chandler Concrete Company has been in operation since 1973. He feels it is important to note how this site is situated on Highway 10. The building was expanded to a two- story building just a year ago. He asked that this site not be included in the EDD. If Mr. Chandler's property is included in this designation it will become a nonconforming use. He does not think that Chandler Concrete is appropriately included in the EDD because of its unique location, history, and unique size in relation to the railroad and SR1710. Hazel Lunsford said that her house is included in this proposed area. She said that changing residential zoning to limited office or anything else would mean that she could not rebuild her property in the event of a disaster because it would be nonconforming. Her property has been a life investment. This will change the amount of property taxes that she will have to pay. If the property remains residential, she said that she would also lose because no one would want to buy in a limited and restricted residential area. She asked for protection of her property and rights. She suggested a written agreement with the residents that are affected by this proposal. John Parker is one of the residents that is supposedly within the 500-foot area bordering the rezoning. After an answer from Craig Benedict to his questions about area 3A, it was determined that he was not within the 5Q0-foot area. He asked about the notification to citizens far projects in areas bordering whatever is being built. Craig Benedict said that if the properly goes through a rezoning, there is a public hearing and two other meetings. Pete Landfer lives in Wildwood and asked about the traffic that may be generated. Craig Benedict said that presently there is no public right-of-way connecting old NC 86 and new NC86. When a project is submitted, that will be the basis for dedicating right-of-way between those two corridors. This will be required for all plans submitted in that corridor. Commissioner Gordan asked what the Economic Development District Review Committee is and Craig Benedict said that this was a development review committee that was made up of the Economic Development Director, the County Engineer, the Planning Director, and a member of project staff. When a project comes in, the staff meets with the Economic Development Review Committee and if the project meets the design manual, it will be approved by the review committee. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brawn to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1 c to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of County Commissioners no sooner than January 18, 20Q1. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Time period extension for the EDD moratoria area near I-401O1d NC$6, and I-851O1d NC86. These parcels include approximately 768 acres and were noted on the June 6, 2000 moratorium maps as parcels A, 1 and 2. The extension is proposed from the original 6-month period ending January 2001 to April 2001 where the moratorium will expire on said parcels. The Orange CountylHillsborough Economic Development District task force is conducting open meetings on a regular basis to complete its amendments to the EDD guidelines and regulations. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Craig Benedict said that the moratorium ended and development proposals have begun to come forward under the new regulations for these areas as identified. We are now focusing our attention on Al and 2. We are on a course to make recommendations within the next two months with final adoption in early April in advance of the expiration of the moratorium. The first four months of the moratorium focused on I-85 and NC 86. The Town Attorney and the County Attorney spent time on 3A and 3B because that is where the focus of the work was. The County needs a few months to study and make recommendations on how they will be addressing master plan issues and processes. Barry Katz said that he understands that Hillsborough is providing water and sewer lines. Craig Benedict said that with Hillsborough's new reservoir that is coming on line, the Town feels that they will have adequate water for this area. With some modification to their sewer plant, they will be able to provide sewer service to this area. Hillsborough realizes that they will have to focus their infrastructure to this EDD area. It will be beneficial to Hillsborough to run lines to a concentrated area. Public Comment Vic Knight asked about adoption of what has been presented tonight. Craig Benedict said that a Quarterly public hearing is scheduled for February 26. It is the intent that the Economic Development manual will be the same for the County and Hillsborough so the standards will be the same. He said that Hillsborough did indicate that their moratorium has ended. However, Hillsborough will not approve any development proposals until the County has lifted their moratorium. He asked if a proposal has already been submitted, if the County Commissioners could go ahead and review and approve it so that it will not be held up until April. Vic Knight asked that Hillsborough be allowed to go forward with any proposals rather than waiting until the end of the County's moratorium. Brent Bocook is an attorney and the developer of the Gateway Oaks project, which is approximately 115 acres and four parcels between I-40 and NC 86. He said that he appreciates the work that the EDD task force has done, but there are some conflicting interests. He said that he started assembling land at this area because they knew this was an EDD area. One reason they purchased this property was because of the very fact that this property was already zoned by right. They understand that as long as they are in conformance with the EDD manual that that was all that was necessary. He distributed information on the project that they are working an at this time. The project was submitted January 24, 2000. When they submitted this project they took extreme caution in developing this to stay in conformance with the EDD manual. He read from the EDD manual and the permitted uses. He said that this project is not asking for any different type of use than is already allowed in the EDD. This project would also be in conformance with the proposed new EDD design manual. He feels that there is an issue of fairness in that they submitted this prior to the moratorium being passed. The town was working an the annexation of this property when the moratorium was placed on this area. One of the issues is that when you create a moratorium, it is actually a taking of property without just compensation. He requested that the Board consider not including their particular project in this moratorium for the following reasons: (1) they submitted their project prior to the moratorium, and {2} they have assembled these four lots. Kennon Barden also spoke about the Gateway Oaks project, which is office development as allowed in the EDD manual currently. He said that they were in conformance with the current EDD. He asked that the moratorium not be extended so that they could be allowed to continue their work an this EDD. He would like to continue the process of annexation of this property to the Town of Hillsborough. Allen Addison showed where he and his wife live. They have been an hold for several years to do some repairs and renovation of their home. If the moratorium includes his property, it may never get developed because they will proceed to do renovations. He made reference to the letter that he sent to the Town of Hillsborough. He asked that the County Commissioners give fair consideration of exempting this parcel from the moratorium. Jessie Kaufman just bought some property 2110 of a mile south on old NC 86 from the area under consideration. They would like to start clearing a road to a site they will use for a school. Barry Katz asked Mr. Borden if he owns any land in the proposed area and Mr. Barden said that he does not own the land at the present time. Regarding the issue of fairness, Commissioner Jacobs said that Hillsborough has repeatedly pointed out that they asked for more detail and more planning on the Gateway Oaks project and did not receive it. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1 d to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of County Commissioners na sooner than January 18, 2001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS e. Amendments to the Oranae County Economic Develoament District [EDD) Desian Manual related to the I-401r31d NC86 and I-85tNC86 economic development district to include abridging and revising the manual to cite more objective standards of review in the areas of performance standard, landscaping, buffers, parking lighting, setbacks and architecture. These standards would be used in site plan review of Craig Benedict said that this was an abridged version of the existing manual. The volume ratios are deleted and replaced with guidelines about building and parking area volumes. Planning Baard member Rachel Preston asked where the tree and shrub list came from. Craig Benedict said that this list is the original list from the 1993-94 design manual. He would be willing to work with someone on this. Public Comment Scott Radway requested an electronic file of this abridged manual. Vic Knight made reference to area two and asked whose area this was in and Craig Benedict said that area two is within Hillsborough's jurisdiction. The jurisdictional boundary between Orange County and Hillsborough is Cates Creek. Vic Knight asked if the manual that is being discussed tonight will be adapted by the Town of Hillsborough and Craig Benedict said that they are working toward a code that is similar or the same as the County's. Mr. Knight has asked Robert Davis for a copy of the abridged manual. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1 a to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Baard of County Commissioners no sooner than January 18, 2001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS At this time, it was 10:35 p.m. The Board agreed to continue the meeting until 11:00 p.m. f. Non-residential subdivision amendments continued from November 27, 2000 public hearing. Craig Benedict said that this would set standards far non-residential subdivisions. Presently, there are no minimum lot sizes for non-residential subdivisions. The amendments would establish a minimum lot size of four acres in an EDD. If someone brings forth a master plan of 20 acres ar more, they have the ability to have pods that could be two acres in size. Public Comment Vic Knight feels that the current subdivision regulations address this issue. There are many uses for parcels of property less than four acres. For an office building, afour-acre lot is extremely large. He understands the issue with curb cuts but feels that there are other ways to control traffic within a parcel. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Brown to accept the staff and public input into the public hearing record, and to refer item C1f to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Baard of County Commissioners no sooner than January 18, 2001. VOTE: UNANIMOUS ADDED ITEM -Economic Development Districts Workaraup Continuation Craig Benedict said that there was a need to continue and evolve this task force to address transportation related issues to handle the potential impacts of the EDD. The staff believes that the task force should include other stakeholders besides elected officials and staff. Page two has a list of suggested stakeholders. Attachment two is a list of transportation capacity considerations. The staff is asking that the Board authorize the staff and the EDD task force to recruit for appointment at the January 18, 2001 meeting. Chair Halkiotis said that he is willing to step off of the EDD task force if there is another County Commissioner who would like to serve. Commissioner Gordon suggested adding an environmental advocate to the list of stakeholders. Regarding the purpose, she suggested changing the opening statement to say, "Therefore the following issues must necessarily be considered and affirmed or rejected....." She also asked that notices be sent out about these meetings. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to authorize staff and existing EDD workgroup to be empowered to recruit to fill these organization- oriented stakeholder positions as revised above. VOTE: UNANIMOUS D. CLOSED SESSION A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Carey "To discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase real property," NCGS 143-31$.11(a)(5). VOTE: UNANIMOUS E. ADJOURNMENT With no further items for the County Commissioners to consider, A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Brawn to adjourn this meeting. The next meeting as listed on the regular calendar will be held an January 18, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Stephen H. Halkiotis, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, CMC