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Home My WebLink AboutOCPB minutes 090617Approved 10/4/17 1 MINUTES 1 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 3 REGULAR MEETING 4 5 6 MEMBERS PRESENT: Tony Blake (Vice-Chair), Bingham Township Representative; Kim Piracci, At-Large; Randy 7 Marshall, At-Large; David Blankfard, Hillsborough Township Representative; Patricia Roberts, Cheeks Township 8 Representative; Laura Nicholson, Eno Township Representative; Andrea Rohrbacher, At-Large Chapel Hill 9 Township; Alexander Gregory, Chapel Hill Township Representative; 10 11 MEMBERS ABSENT: Lydia Wegman (Chair), At-Large Chapel Hill Township Representative; Donna Coffey, Cedar 12 Grove Township Representative; Buddy Hartley, Little River Township Representative; Paul Guthrie, At-Large 13 Chapel Hill Township; 14 15 STAFF PRESENT: Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor; Allison Reinert, Staff Engineer; Meredith Kern, 16 Administrative Assistant II 17 18 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 19 20 Tony Blake called the meeting to order. 21 22 AGENDA ITEM 2: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 23 a) Planning Calendar for September and October 24 25 Tony Blake noted upcoming Board of Adjustment meetings. Michael Harvey said that the Board of Adjustment has no 26 upcoming meetings. There will also be no Quarterly Public Hearing on September 11, 2017. 27 28 AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES 29 August 2, 2017 Meeting Minutes 30 31 MOTION by Randy Marshall to approve the August 2, 2017 minutes. Seconded by Laura Nicholson. 32 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 33 34 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE 35 36 Introduction to the Public Charge 37 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, 38 appoints the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB) to uphold the written land development 39 laws of the County. The general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and 40 harmonious development. OCPB shall do so in a manner, which considers the present and 41 future needs of its citizens and businesses through efficient and responsive process that 42 contributes to and promotes the health, safety, and welfare of the overall County. The OCPB 43 will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive governance and quality public services 44 during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations. 45 46 PUBLIC CHARGE 47 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its 48 citizens to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with 49 fellow citizens. At any time, should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this 50 public charge, the Chair will ask the offending member to leave the meeting until that individual 51 regains personal control. Should decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting 52 until such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. 53 Approved 10/4/17 2 54 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS 55 56 Tony Blake commented on the quality of the minutes. He said that he was pleased to read that the airport was 57 discussed at the last meeting and hoped that Staff’s recommendations are adopted. He also commented that he was 58 glad that Laura Streitfeld provided comments to the Board. Mr. Blake said that he had been encouraging Ms. 59 Streitfeld to attend the meeting and give her pitch. He hopes that the County Commissioners will read her comments. 60 61 AGENDA ITEM 7: COMMITTEE/ADVISORY BOARD REPORTS 62 a) BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT 63 b) ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION 64 65 Michael Harvey said that there are no upcoming Board of Adjustment meetings. He also reported that there are 66 several cases pending but no dates have been set. There are some applicants with unique challenges. 67 68 No report from the Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUT Board) 69 70 AGENDA ITEM 4. CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 71 72 Randy Marshall asked if there was any new information on tire storage issues at Triangle Tire. 73 74 Michael Harvey answered that Staff sent out a Notice of Violation to Triangle Tire but he has not heard a response 75 from the business at this time. This matter is being handled by Mr. Harvey’s division: Current Planning. 76 77 Randy Marshall said okay. He then talked about the situation in Houston with Hurricane Harvey and flooding where 78 there is lots of concerns about the fact that developers built on top of wetlands, impacting the extent to the damage 79 done there. He asked – Do we feel comfortable with the regulations we have in place in Orange County? Are 80 wetlands are well-protected or do we look at this matter further down the line? 81 82 Tony Blake commented that he would defer to Michael Harvey to answer this question, but that it is his 83 understanding that Orange County goes above and beyond what the state requires. 84 85 Randy Marshal replied that he would think that was the case. 86 87 Tony Blake said that the state has taken actions to override some of Orange County’s regulations. He deferred to Mr. 88 Harvey for more information. 89 90 Michael Harvey said that he has no concerns as of this evening. He asked the Board to remember that the state is 91 awaiting the results of a report on buffer requirements that could impact the County’s environmental management 92 program significantly. He said that Orange County has a fairly aggressive and proactive buffer protection program on 93 streams, wetlands, water features, and floodplain. It is conceivable, based on state action, that the County could lose 94 buffers currently enforced on wetlands, water bodies and streams and would have to follow the state minimum 95 model. Orange County does gets credit, especially when it comes to floodplain protection. Despite state action, Mr. 96 Harvey plans to enforce federal law to protect the County’s floodplain buffers, and he doubts that the federal 97 government would intercede. If Houston had respected its floodplain, it may not have had some of the issues it is 98 having now. 99 100 Randy Marshall wondered about the development off Homestead and the nearby creek downstream from Hogan 101 Farms. It seemed to him that the development was close to Bolin Creek. Does the County have any input into this 102 area or is it Carrboro’s jurisdiction? 103 104 Michael Harvey said that he thought the area was in Carrboro’s jurisdiction. The Orange County Planning 105 Department does not have regulatory authority of this area. However, the department may have been involved in joint 106 Approved 10/4/17 3 planning review with the Town of Carrboro but he was not assigned to courtesy review of this. If the Board wants an 107 update on this project, he recommended that members ask Craig at the next Planning Board meeting for more 108 information. 109 110 Randy Marshall asked if Michael Harvey knew the project to which he was referring. 111 112 Michael Harvey replied that while he is vaguely familiar with the project, he did not know specifics. 113 114 Randy Marshall thanked Mr. Harvey. 115 116 Kim Piracci reported on the Board of County Commissioners meeting last night. The BOCC passed a referendum to 117 commit to being fossil fuel-free by 2050. Ms. Piracci said that this commitment may seem like a day late and a dollar 118 short, but it is a step in the right direction and it made her happy. 119 120 Randy Marshall asked if this measure included vehicles. 121 122 Kim Piracci confirmed that it did include vehicles and that the point was to get rid of fossil fuels. 123 124 Tony Blake said that it is important that the power stations are not running on coal. Mr. Blake asked if anyone had 125 any other items to discuss. 126 127 Tony Blake called for a motion to adjourn the Planning Board meeting. Randy Marshall made the motion Seconded 128 by David Blankfard 129 130 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 131 132 AGENDA ITEM 8: ADJOURNMENT 133 134 ____________________________________ Lydia Wegman, Chair