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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board - 100720 Agenda Packet ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT 131 W. MARGARET LANE, SUITE 201 HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 9� faro r ^ n t z Fz ra. ;�artri �astl'�o AGENDA ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD Wednesday, October 7, 2020 Regular Meeting — 7:00 pm Due to current public health concerns, the meeting will be virtual. Members of the Planning Board and staff will be participating in the meeting remotely. Interested persons can view and participate in the meeting by pre-registering at: https:Horangecountync.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN g2r-ZZfxRQCPnad6cnBrxQ After registering, Zoom will email registrants additional information and a link which must be used to access the meeting. No. Page(s) Aggnda Item 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 3 -4 a. Planning Calendar for October and November APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3. 5 - 6 July 29, 2020 Training Notes 7 - 8 September 2, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes 9 — 10 September 2, 2020 ORC/Training Notes 4. CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 5. PUBLIC CHARGE Introduction to the Public Charge The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, appoints the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB)to uphold the written land development laws of the County. The general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and harmonious development. OCPB shall do so in a manner which considers the present and future needs of its residents and businesses through efficient and responsive process that contributes to and promotes the health, safety, and welfare of the overall County. The OCPB will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive governance and quality public services during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations. Public Charge The Planning Board pledges its respect to all present. The Board asks those attending this meeting to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner toward each other, County staff, and Board members. At any time should a member of the Board or the public fail to observe this charge, the Chair will take steps to restore order and decorum. Should it • Page(s) • ' •. Item become impossible to restore order and continue the meeting, the Chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. The Planning Board asks that all electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, and computers should please be turned off or set to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 6. CHAIR COMMENTS 7. 11 — 12 PLANNING BOARD PROCEDURAL ISSUES - TO discuss Issues raised by Planning Board members during the training session on September 2. Specifically, the ideas of concluding Planning Board meetings by a certain time and placing limits on the amount of time spent on repetitive public comments were raised. Presenter: Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator 8. ADJOURNMENT IF AN EMERGENCY OCCURS, OR IF YOU ARE RUNNING LATE FOR THE MEETING, PLEASE LEAVE A VOICE MAIL FOR PERDITA HOLTZ(919-245-2578). 3 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 BOCC Planning Board BOCC Business 7:00 pm* Work Meeting Session Virtual Meeting Virtual Meeting Virtual Meeting 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 BOCC Business Meeting Virtual Meeting 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 30 31 Notes: *Planning Board Member Attendance Required- Virtual Meeting 4 • - • - 1 1 Mik Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Planning Board BOCC 7:00 pm* Business ELECTION Meeting DAY Virtual Meeting Virtual Meeting 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 BOCC Work Session Virtual Meeting 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 BOCC Business Meeting Virtual Meeting 22 23 24 126 27 28 29 30 Notes: *Planning Board Member Attendance Required Virtual Meeting 5 1 SUMMARY NOTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 3 JULY 29,2020 4 TRAINING SESSION 5 6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions. 7 8 Due to current public health concerns, the training session was virtual. Members of the Planning Board and staff 9 participated in the meeting remotely. 10 11 MEMBERS PRESENT: David Blankfard (Chair), Hillsborough Township Representative; Adam Beeman (Vice-Chair), 12 Cedar Grove Township Representative; Kim Piracci, Eno Township Representative; Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill 13 Township Representative; Patricia Roberts, Cheeks Township Representative; Randy Marshall, At-Large 14 Representative; Hunter Spitzer, At-Large Representative; Alexandra Allman, At-Large Representative; Melissa 15 Poole, Little River Township Representative; Carrie Fletcher, Bingham Township Representative 16 17 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Benedict, Planning Director; Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator; Michael Harvey, 18 Current Planning Supervisor; Brian Carson, GIS Tech III; James Bryan, Staff Attorney; Tom Ten Eyck, Land/Use 19 Transportation Planner; Nish Trivedi, Transportation Planner; Tina Love, Administrative Assistant III 20 21 22 AGENDA ITEM 1: PLANNING BOARD TRAINING SESSION—Staff will lead training on virtual meeting in preparation of 23 the Planning Board's first remote meeting scheduled for August 5, 2020 24 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator 25 26 27 Perdita Holtz conducted a training session on use of zoom in virtual meetings in preparation of the Planning Board's 28 remote meetings. 1 7 DRAFT 1 MEETING MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 3 SEPTEMBER 2,2020 4 REGULAR MEETING 5 (Due to current public health concerns, this meeting was held virtually. 6 Members of the Planning Board, staff and public participated remotely) 7 8 MEMBERS PRESENT: David Blankfard (Chair), Hillsborough Township Representative; Adam Beeman (Vice-Chair), 9 Cedar Grove Township Representative; Kim Piracci, Eno Township Representative; Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill 10 Township Representative; Patricia Roberts, Cheeks Township Representative; Randy Marshall, At-Large 11 Representative; Hunter Spitzer, At-Large Representative; Alexandra Allman, At-Large Representative; Melissa 12 Poole, Little River Township Representative; Carrie Fletcher, Bingham Township Representative 13 14 MEMBERS ABSENT: Glo Molllnedo,At-Large Representative;Vacant,At-Large Representative 15 16 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Benedict, Planning Director; Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator; Michael Harvey, 17 Current Planning Supervisor; Molly Boyle, Planner;Tina Love,Administrative Support 18 19 OTHERS PRESENT: Daniel Arneman; Jon Lorusso; Janet Marks; 1 caller 20 21 Perdita Holtz reviewed the technical processes and rules for the virtual meeting 22 23 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 24 Chair David Blankfard called the meeting to order. 25 26 AGENDA ITEM 2: INFORMATION ITEMS 27 a. Planning Calendar for September and October 28 29 AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES 30 August 5,2020 Regular Meeting 31 August 19, 2020 Special Meeting 32 33 Randy Marshall and Adam Beeman offered minor corrections to the minutes for the August 19, 2020 special meeting 34 35 MOTION by Randy Marshall to approved the August 5, 2020 Regular Meeting and the August 19, 2020 36 Special Meeting Minutes with corrections. Seconded by Adam Beeman. 37 38 ROLLCALL VOTE: 39 Randy Marshall: Yes 40 Kim Piracci: Yes 41 Adam Beeman: Yes 42 Patricia Roberts: Yes 43 Melissa Poole: Yes 44 Susan Hunter: Yes 45 Hunter Spitzer: Yes 46 Alexandra Allman Yes 47 Carrie Fletcher: Yes 48 David Blankfard: Yes 49 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 50 51 AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA. 52 53 Randy Marshall: Not an addition but Craig said at the last meeting that Frequently Asked Questions would be 54 answered by the staff and given to the Board and the public. I want to make sure there was a copy of those that 55 could be made available to us. 8 DRAFT 56 57 Craig Benedict: We had discussion today that draft FAQs have been prepared and it's likely they will be released to 58 the public on Friday. It's 24 pages so we think it's a comprehensive and objective response to a variety of questions. 59 60 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE 61 62 Chair Blankfard asked Adam Beeman to read the full public charge,which Mr. Beeman did. 63 64 INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC CHARGE 65 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, 66 appoints the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB)to uphold the written land development law of 67 the County. The general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and 68 harmonious development. OCPB shall do so in a manner, which considers the present and future 69 needs of its citizens and businesses through efficient and responsive process that contributes to 70 and promotes the health, safety, and welfare of the overall County. The OCPB will make every 71 effort to uphold a vision of responsive governance and quality public services during our 72 deliberations, decisions, and recommendations. 73 74 PUBLIC CHARGE 75 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its 76 citizens to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with 77 fellow citizens. At any time, should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this 78 public charge, the Chair will ask the offending member to leave the meeting until that individual 79 regains personal control. Should decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting 80 until such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. 81 82 83 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS 84 85 There were no chair comments. 86 87 AGENDA ITEM 11: ADJOURNMENT 88 89 MOTION by Randy Marshall to adjourn. Seconded by Adam Beeman. 90 91 Randy Marshall: Yes 92 Kim Piracci: Yes 93 Adam Beeman: Yes 94 Patricia Roberts: Yes 95 Melissa Poole: Yes 96 Susan Hunter: Yes 97 Hunter Spitzer: Yes 98 Alexandra Allman Yes 99 Carrie Fletcher: Yes 100 David Blankfard: Yes 101 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 102 103 Meeting adjourned at approximately 7:14 p.m. 104 105 106 107 David Blankfard, Chair 9 1 SUMMARY NOTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 3 SEPTEMBER 2,2020 4 ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE/TRAINING SESSION 5 6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Ordinance Review Committee meetings or Training Sessions. 7 8 Due to current public health concerns, the ORC meeting/training session was virtual. Members of the Planning 9 Board and staff participated in the meeting remotely. 10 11 MEMBERS PRESENT: David Blankfard (Chair), Hillsborough Township Representative; Adam Beeman (Vice-Chair), 12 Cedar Grove Township Representative; Kim Piracci, Eno Township Representative; Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill 13 Township Representative; Patricia Roberts, Cheeks Township Representative; Randy Marshall, At-Large 14 Representative; Hunter Spitzer, At-Large Representative; Alexandra Allman, At-Large Representative; Melissa 15 Poole, Little River Township Representative; Carrie Fletcher, Bingham Township Representative 16 17 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Benedict, Planning Director; Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator; Michael Harvey, 18 Current Planning Supervisor; Tina Love, Administrative Assistant III 19 20 OTHERS PRESENT: Daniel Arneman; Jon Lorusso; Janet Marks; 1 caller 21 22 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER 23 24 AGENDA ITEM 2: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE(UDO)TEXT AMENDMENTS—"160D" LEGISLATION-To receive 25 an overview on upcoming amendments related to State legislation that is referred to as 160D 26 (a reference to the statute section). The expected timeline for the Planning Board 27 recommendation and BOCC public hearing has not yet been determined, but is expected this 28 fall. 29 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator 30 31 Perdita Holtz presented a PowerPoint Presentation on proposed amendments to the UDO due to new legislation 32 referred to as "160D" 33 34 There were concerns expressed regarding the sole use of print media for notification of large-scale map 35 amendments. Perdita explained that it would be an option in certain instances and that the word could get out via 36 other means, such as social media, rather than through mailed notices to potentially thousands of people. She 37 discussed times in the past when FEMA flood maps were updated, necessitating mailed notices to several 38 thousand people within 1,000 feet of affected parcels when the amendments were required to be made and had no 39 or limited impact on adjacent property owners. 40 41 The Planning Board members were asked if they would like to see the 300+ pages of changes come back to the 42 ORC review prior to going to a Regular Planning Board meeting with the understanding that there will be limited 43 ability to make changes required by the State. If it goes to a regular meeting it could be continued but if ok with the 44 300+ pages, a recommendation could be made that night. 45 46 Jon Lorusso addressed the Board about notifications of projects and pointed out that newspapers are not the best 47 way to advertise the legal ads as readerships are down two thirds. He would have liked to have heard about the 48 RTLP sooner, he did not receive a letter. He said the Planning Board site is not adequate, it's too much text, it's not 49 organized very well and he thinks the public needs to be engaged in a better way. He didn't want to say the 50 Planning Board or County is trying to hide information but thinks the County would want to keep the public informed 1 10 51 about everything that's going on and be fully transparent. He noted that social media is very cheap, engage the 52 public that way and make it clear how they can find out easily rather than finding out what is the cheapest and 53 hoping for the best. 54 55 Kim Piracci expressed the need to take as much planning technical language/jargon as possible out of the 56 information that is shared with the Board and information shared with the public in meetings and on the website. 57 58 Jon Lorusso agreed with Kim and indicated that he had difficulty with the language as well and it took him a while to 59 understand the process that the Planning Board makes the recommendation to the BOCC and they vote on it. He 60 said at the meetings the public is swimming in acronyms that make no sense and maybe there needs to be an 61 educational component or some way to involve the public in a more meaningful manner. 62 63 MOTION by Adam Beeman to take the upcoming UDO amendment directly to a Regular Planning Board meeting. Seconded 64 by Kim Piracci. 65 66 ROLLCALL VOTE: 67 Randy Marshall: Yes 68 Kim Piracci: Yes 69 Adam Beeman: Yes 70 Melissa Poole: Yes 71 Hunter Spitzer: No 72 Susan Hunter: Yes 73 Patricia Roberts: Yes 74 Carrie Fletcher: Yes 75 Alexandra Allman: Yes 76 David Blankfard: Yes 77 MOTION PASSED 9-1 (SPITZER) 78 79 Adam Beeman asked to have staff highlight the items that the Board will be able to have some discretion to modify. 80 81 AGENDA ITEM 3: MOTIONS ON AGENDA ITEMS — To receive training on making motions and voting on agenda 82 items. 83 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Planning Systems Coordinator 84 85 Perdita Holtz presented a PowerPoint Presentation on making motions and voting 86 87 Melissa Poole asked to have a limit to the length of Planning Board meetings and the length of public comments 88 instituted for future meetings. Perdita indicated this topic would be brought back as a discussion item at an 89 upcoming Planning Board meeting. 90 91 AGENDA ITEM 4: ADJOURNMENT 92 The ORC/Training session was adjourned at approximately 8:20 93 94 2 11 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 7, 2020 Action Agenda Item No. 7 SUBJECT: Planning Board Procedural Issues DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: None. Perdita Holtz, Planner III (919) 245-2578 Craig Benedict, Director (919) 245-2575 PURPOSE: To discuss issues raised by Planning Board members during the training session on September 2. Specifically, the ideas of concluding Planning Board meetings by a certain time and placing limits on the amount of time spent on public comments were raised. BACKGROUND: At the September 2 Planning Board training session, a Planning Board member requested the Board discuss putting a time limit on both Planning Board meetings (e.g., have a definitive end time) and the length of time public comments are heard by the Planning Board. Planning staff has consulted with the County's Legal staff regarding these issues and offers the information below for consideration. Length of Meeting Placing a time limit on the length of a meeting could occur in these ways: • If a meeting is running long, it is within the current purview of a Planning Board member to make a motion for adjournment at any time. o The motion would need to be seconded and voted upon. o If approved, any items still on the agenda would move forward to the next agenda. ■ Depending on topics, it might be desirable to also declare a special meeting before the next regular meeting (so that items do not wait a month in order to be addressed at the next regular meeting). • If the Board anticipates a meeting will run long, members could discuss a potential end time during the portion of the agenda for "Consideration of Additions to Agenda," which is near the beginning of all agendas, and come to an agreement regarding the time at which the meeting is likely to adjourn. This would give everyone in attendance knowledge of the likely end time. o A member would need to make a motion at the agreed upon time to end the meeting, as in the first bullet. o This option would give the Board the ability to keep the meeting going past an absolute end time which could be useful if items are almost complete but just need a few more minutes. • All meetings could end by a specific time (which would need to be determined) or could continue past a specific time only if a majority of members vote to go longer. 12 o If there is to be no/limited flexibility in the meeting end time, this option would need to be added to the Planning Board's Rules of Procedure, which must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Public Comments In many North Carolina jurisdictions, the Planning Board acts as technical reviewers and public comments are not taken by the Board. There is no statutory or case law that requires Planning Boards accept public comments. In Orange County, the requirement that the Planning Board hear and consider public comments is found in Section 2.8.8(A) of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) which states: The Planning Board shall allow public comments at its meeting and those comments shall be taken into consideration by the Planning Board in making its recommendation. If the Planning Board wishes to limit or eliminate public comments at its meetings, the following are potential options: • The Planning Board could limit public comments to a set time period per agenda item, perhaps one hour with a per-speaker limit of 3 minutes. o Formalizing a limit would require an amendment to the Rules of Procedure, which must be approved by the BOCC. ■ Language could be added to discourage repetitive comments while allowing for a range of viewpoints. ■ Language could be added to encourage written comments prior to the meeting rather than oral comments at a meeting. • Amend the UDO in such a way that the Planning Board will no longer hear public comments and instead will act as a technical review board. o Several sections of the UDO would need to be amended as there would no longer be a need to send out notifications nor post a sign on the property advertising the Planning Board meeting if the Planning Board is not going to hear from the public. ■ If the Planning Board wishes to pursue this option, staff will evaluate the UDO more thoroughly for necessary edits. o The Planning Board has the authority to initiate an amendment to the UDO (see Section 2.8.2(A) of the UDO). A motion and affirmative vote would be necessary to initiate an amendment. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact to discuss these topics. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Planning Board discuss the topics and, if necessary, provide direction to staff on any next steps.