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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 01-18-1990 PAGE 1 APPROVED 10-16-90 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING WITH TOWNS OF CHAPEL HILL, CARRBORO AND HILLSBOROUGH JANUARY 18, 1990 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in Special Session on January 18, 1990 at 7 : 30 p.m. in the meeting room of the American Heart Association, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of the meeting was to hear a report from Consultant Lane Kendig on the Rural Character Study. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chairman Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners Stephen Halkiotis, John Hartwell, Shirley E. Marshall and Don Willhoit. STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. , Deputy Clerk to the Board Kathy Baker, Clerk to the Board Beverly Blythe, Planner David Stancil. Chairman Carey made opening remarks. He stated that the purpose of the meeting is to hear the preliminary recommendations of the Rural Character Committee and for the elected officials of the three municipalities to ask any questions they may have about this subject. He emphasized that public comments will not be heard at this meeting. A public hearing will be at a later date for receipt of public comments. The presentation was made by Lane Kendig. He used slides to illustrate his narrative. Below is a summary of his presentation. Lane Kendig referenced the meetings which had been occurring with the Rural Character Study Committee, the individual townships, County Commissioners and Planning Board. He noted that the one issue which repeatedly arose was that of the constant conflict of the resource view of the land. The landowner basically looks at the land as a commodity and the planning view of the land is preservation and protection whether it be watershed protection, agricultural preservation, etc. He stated that the vast majority of very competent plans that fail, or seem to fail, that there are two separate views of the land. Mr. Kendig stated that his strategy was to try and give a system that will deal with rural areas of the County from four different viewpoints; agricultural preservation, preservation of natural resources, preservations of visual resources and the growth management element. He noted that the structure of the Land Use Plan with the Rural Buffer appeared to him to be predominantly a growth management strategy. He continued, that even though that element of the plan is well crafted, there is a giant loophole in it; you do not really create a rural area with two-acre zoning. A sizable amount of development will continue to occur in the rural areas, particularly the unzoned townships. The containment of the sprawl will not really happen. The policy recommendations by Mr. Kendig, when they are translated into a Zoning Ordinance, will not look like the zoning ordinance which PAGE 2 is familiar to Orange County. The suggestion from Mr. Kendig' s firm is a district that has three different types of residential uses, all of which would be permitted as a matter of right in the district. The reason for this is to address the conflict of the view of the land as a commodity and the view of the land as a resource. Kendig presented slides and transparencies indicating the residential uses and various options as recommended by his firm. He noted that the single-family and clustering is all recommended to be on wells and septic systems. The burden of this cost could be handled by the developers. Kendig continued, reviewing and explaining the proposed districts. Kendig stated that Orange County had plenty of room needed to accommodate growth for a substantial period of time. Therefore, he felt the issue becomes one of "Do you want Orange County to end up being just another suburban sprawl area just like every other metropolitan area in the country or do you want Orange County to be something special. " He indicated belief that Orange County can be made special, and, in doing so, will probably encourage growth. Economic development is not attracted to Hillsborough because of the "strip" that provides the entrance to town. Quality development is desired by those business who want to live in the same area in which they work. He referenced the quality of development in the Research Triangle Park noting that it has one of the lowest floor area ratios of any industrial office park in the United States. However, no one "shied away" because of the floor area ratio. There are very stringent controls, quality development and investments are protected. According to Kendig, the three policy issues which need to be addressed at this time area: (1) Are you satisfied with the character proposed using TDR' s and a bond issue; (2) Decide if TDR' s should be used; and (3) Decide if the Planning Board is to recommend to the County Commissioners an Open Space Bond Issue. In closing, Kendig stated that the recommendations provided by his firm address not only rural character and agricultural preservation but fully address the water quality problems resource protection, visual resource protection, and growth management. He indicated such plans had been used and proven in many areas since 1973 . He felt this was an opportunity for the County to stop "reacting" and do a comprehensive job of addressing all these issues in the rural areas. Discussion ensued on transfer development rights (TDR) . TDR has been viewed as a way to preserve land in the Rural Buffer portion of the County. In order for TDR to work there must be a viable system with free market real estate. The developers will not buy those development rights and utilize them unless they can buy them for a price that will enable them to produce additional units. One question for the local governments to decide is whether or not they want to join the county and have TDR. TDR must have local legislation and all municipalities must PAGE 3 agree. They discussed using TDR to protect watersheds, farmland or sensitive environmental lands. It was suggested that if a neighborhood conservation district is created, that subdivisions or areas be designated as such so that those landowners do not have to come in and ask for a variance. The purpose of those districts would be to recognize existing development. In answer to a question from Julie Andresen, Kendig sited other places around the County in which he has used the same type of concept he presented tonight. He indicated that there will not be a huge amount of development because development will be guided to where there is sewer. He suggested that the Board may want to identify corridors along major roadways where they would approve the extension of water and sewer. Extending water and sewer into low density areas is not a threat. The Comprehensive Plan would need to reflect this and allow the creation of a Rural Buffer. NOTE: During the early part of this presentation, a citizen in the audience called the Board bastards. Commissioner Halkiotis pointed this out to Chairman Carey who found it necessary to call a ten (10) minute recess to bring the crowd under control. Although this was not a public hearing, Chairman Moses Carey allowed Ben Lloyd to make comments. He asked that the elected officials review the proposals very carefully before final approval. 1 Chairman Moses Carey announced that the Board of Commissioners would discuss the process and timetable for the Rural Character Study at their regular meeting scheduled for January 23 . The recommendations will go to public hearing before any final decisions are made. With no further comments or questions, Chairman Moses Carey, Jr. adjourned the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 23 , 1990 in the Courtroom of the old Post Office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr. , Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk