HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board minutes - 120121 Approved 3.2.22
1 MEETING MINUTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 DECEMBER 1,2021
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), Cedar
9 Grove Township Representative; Lamar Proctor, Cheeks Township Representative; Kim Piracci, Eno Township
10 Representative; Carrie Fletcher, Bingham Township Representative; Statler Gilfillen,At-Large Representative;
11 Randy Marshall,At-Large Representative; Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill Township Representative;Whitney Watson,At-Large
12 Representative; Melissa Poole, Little River Township Representative;Alexandra Allman,At-Large Representative;
13
14 MEMBERS ABSENT: Charity Kirk,At-Large Representative;
15
16 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Benedict, Planning Director; Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor;Ashley Moncado, Planner
17 II;Tina Love,Administrative Support
18
19 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
20 Chair David Blankfard called the meeting to order.
21
22 AGENDA ITEM 2: INFORMATION ITEMS
23 a. Planning Calendar for December and January
24 b. North Carolina Annexation Statutes
25
26 AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES
27 November 3, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes
28 November 3, 2021 Ordinance Review Committee Notes
29
30 MOTION BY Adam Beeman to approve the November 3, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes and ORC Summary Notes. Seconded
31 by Melissa Poole.
32
33 ROLLCALL VOTE:
34 Lamar Proctor Yes
35 Susan Hunter Yes
36 Kim Piracci Yes
37 Carrie Fletcher Yes
38 Adam Beeman Yes
39 Melissa Poole Yes
40 Alexandra Allman Yes
41 David Blankfard Yes
42 Statler Gilfillen Yes
43 Whitney Watson Yes
44 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
45 Randy Marshall's internet connections was disconnected as he attempted to vote so his vote was not recorded.
46
47 AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA.
48 There were none
49
50 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE
51
52 INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC CHARGE
53 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, appoints the
54 Orange County Planning Board (OCPB) to uphold the written land development law of the County. The
55 general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and harmonious development. OCPB shall
56 do so in a manner, which considers the present and future needs of its citizens and businesses through
Approved 3.2.22
57 efficient and responsive process that contributes to and promotes the health,safety,and welfare of the overall
58 County. The OCPB will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive governance and quality public
59 services during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations.
60
61 PUBLIC CHARGE
62 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its citizens to
63 conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with fellow citizens. At any
64 time, should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge, the Chair will ask the
65 offending member to leave the meeting until that individual regains personal control. Should decorum fail to
66 be restored,the Chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to this public charge
67 is observed.
68
69 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS
70 There were none
71
72 AGENDA ITEM 7: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE(UDO)TEXT AMENDMENTS—DECRIMINALIZATION OF THE ORDINANCE
73 VIOLATION—To make a recommendation to the BOCC on Planning Director-initiated amendments to the
74 LIDO in response to Session Law 2021-138 (Senate Bill 300)which decriminalized violations of certain
75 types of ordinances, including ordinances regulating planning and development. This item was reviewed at
76 the November 3,2021 ORC meeting and is scheduled for BOCC Public Hearing on December 14,2021.
77 PRESENTER: Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor
78
79 Michael Harvey reviewed this item and reminded the Board that it was reviewed and discussed at the November 3, 2021 ORC
80 meeting.
81
82 MOTION BY Adam Beeman to approve statement of consistency and recommend approval to the BOCC. Seconded by Melissa
83 Poole.
84
85 ROLLCALL VOTE:
86 Statler Gilfillen Yes
87 Lamar Proctor Yes
88 Susan Hunter Yes
89 Kim Piracci No
90 Carrie Fletcher Yes
91 Adam Beeman Yes
92 Melissa Poole Yes
93 Alexandra Allman Yes
94 Whitney Watson Yes
95 Randy Marshall Yes
96 David Blankfard Yes
97 MOTION PASSED 10—1 (PIRACCI)
98 Randy Marshall's internet connection was disconnected as he attempted to vote so his vote was not recorded.
99
100 Kim Piracci: I did explain that last month why I wasn't going to support it. I know of a developer who has broken so many
101 things that he was not allowed to do and as far as I'm concerned, he should be in prison. It looks like there is nothing going to
102 happen to him and so it seems like this is a tool in the toolbox that could be used, maybe not with the current County Staff we
103 have now but in the future. When someone who is oblivious to laws that are in place including planning,that's all.
104
105 AGENDA ITEM 8: PLANNING BOARD ANNUAL REPORT AND WORK PLAN—To discuss the annual input form which informs the
106 BOCC of the past year's activities of advisory boards/commissions and assists in overall County work
107 planning.
108 PRESENTER: Craig Benedict, Planning Director
109
110 Craig Benedict reviewed the annual report and work plan
111
Approved 3.2.22
112 Lamar Proctor: I would make the suggestion that our Planning Department and the City of Mebane Planning Department has
113 a lot more institutional and specialized knowledge of how the pieces and parts work together between a town and a county.
114 Mebane is growing at an exponential rate and it is creating a lot of uncertainty in western Orange County and in west
115 Hillsborough as to how far it's going to go. Mebane is growing every day, I see new projects breaking ground on a weekly or
116 monthly basis. It seems the Planning Department could, if it chose to, continue to say`hey you need to do something, Board
117 of County Commissioners' because if it just sits there waiting for the Board of County Commissioners,who already have a
118 huge amount of issues on their plate, then Mebane's going to turn into some huge, unplanned Burlington that really destroys
119 any sort of certainty for people in western Orange County because once it goes in and they get surrounded and their property
120 values get destroyed, or their neighborhood is gone, then it's done because the County has no control over Mebane's zoning.
121 If Mebane just continues to blow up and expand with no agreements and no understanding then it's going to be a mess and
122 it's going to be a real problem for Orange County citizens but yet you guys, the Planning Department, have much more
123 institutional knowledge and much more specialized knowledge of how these pieces and parts work together so I would
124 encourage you to please continue to remind the Board of County Commissioners that this is an issue that Orange County
125 citizens need some certainty on. You've got a model sort of agreement, I'm not saying it should be the same agreement, but
126 you've got WASAMBA with Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough and you've got nothing with Mebane.
127
128 Craig Benedict: Your comments will be put into the context that this work plan was presented to the Planning Board and here
129 are their topics and so this will come forward to the Commissioners and accent to your concerns.
130
131 Adam Beeman: Since it was brought at the last meeting that Hillsborough, Durham and Mebane have no plans to extend any
132 further water or sewer and that is was a political decision, I would hope they would go back and think about that for a long-
133 term plan, I would hope the political decision moving forward with some change in Commissioners that they look at that long-
134 term because evidently once you suck up all the land the next step is for density is to go up. I understand that it gets
135 expensive so we might as well make investments in the near term rather than wait. They should be thinking about that.
136
137 Craig Benedict: I think that's a good point. When the water and sewer boundary agreement was put together in 1996 and
138 approved in 2001 and there were a lot of assumptions of population growth and how much land was necessary to
139 accommodate that population growth so we will turn this item#7 to discussing with OWASA, Hillsborough, Mebane and
140 Durham about what is the potential of their infrastructure and do they have interest in expanding their infrastructure and if they
141 even have the ability. I'll make sure it's incorporated in the minutes.
142
143 Kim Piracci left the meeting
144
145 Whitney Watson: I wanted to commend you guys for putting community outreach so high in the list. That seems to be an area
146 where the professional staff has not been appreciated by the public. They have not understood the process or the guidelines
147 and code that is in place. It's a good idea to put that up and make that a priority. I also want to hook on something that Adam
148 brought up about the waste and water infrastructure, and maybe encourage the Planning Staff and Board to look more broadly
149 at the meaning of infrastructure and know that rural broadband is on the list of things to try to address in the coming years.
150 Perhaps, other kinds of infrastructure, especially for Northern Orange County could be considered.
151
152 Craig Benedict: Those comments are well taken. I think there's a lot of growth in how to fix that and that is one of my areas of
153 interest to create a better network for the rural areas.
154
155 David Blankfard: Is staff looking at ways of getting funding through the Build Back Better Infrastructure Bill?
156
157 Craig Benedict: Yes,that's a good comment and I didn't mention it here but besides the Build Back Better Infrastructure Bill,
158 we have allocated some money for Broadband infrastructure in the tune of 5 million dollars which we hope to leverage that
159 with some private providers to help get service to the rural areas.
160
161 Melissa Poole: Broadband is the number one concern in my district.
162
163 Craig Benedict:Well taken
164
165 Carrie Fletcher: Internet is very problematic and really needs to be addressed.
166
Approved 3.2.22
167 Lamar Proctor: I would echo everyone's statements about broadband. I would like to the Planning Department and County to
168 reach out to the UNC School of Government, specifically their development finance initiative. They are doing good work
169 coordinating local government with investors, developers and community interaction to come up with economic projects. 1
170 want to add under climate change, I would ask you to think about ensuring public water availability because as climate change
171 kicks in we are going to have periods of flooding and periods of drought and so public water availability is going to be an
172 issue. And forestation and deforestation— I don't know what's in our regulations in terms of cutting down trees but we need to
173 stop clear cutting trees because that is exacerbating the problem of increased temperatures and destruction of ecosystems.
174 Also, I would be super hypercritical of any reduction of watershed protected areas in light of the new legislation from the state.
175
176 Craig Benedict: If there are rules that we can implement,that the state lets us implement,we will try to do that.
177
178 Lamar Proctor: We're coming to a critical phase where we need to develop these EDDs in different parts of the County but 1
179 want us to do it smartly. I don't think we need to rush, I think Orange County is the place to be and I don't want to see us end
180 up like Haw River where there is stuff built right up on the river and there is massive pollution into their waterways and it's a
181 mess between Haw River and Burlington you can see what happens when there's not good planning.
182
183 Carrie Fletcher: I'm hearing concerns about traffic due to lots being split and subdivisions being developed. What is being
184 done to control that impact on traffic due to the growth factor.
185
186 Craig Benedict: When we do some of the census data about where the populations are,we can come up with a map that
187 shows minor subdivisions and there are a lot of minor subdivisions—5 lots and less. That is what I think is occurring in some
188 of our rural areas. We'll make note of it and will show where this new subdivision growth is occurring.
189
190 MOTION BY Randy Marshall to ask staff to incorporate the results of the discussion into the annual report and work plan and
191 submit the form to the Clerk's Office. Seconded by Melissa Poole.
192
193
194 ROLLCALL VOTE:
195 Randy Marshall Yes
196 Statler Gilfillen Yes
197 Lamar Proctor Yes
198 Susan Hunter Yes
199 Carrie Fletcher Yes
200 Adam Beeman Yes
201 Melissa Poole Yes
202 Alexandra Allman Yes
203 Whitney Watson Yes
204 David Blankfard Yes
205 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
206 Kim Piracci left the meeting early, as noted in the body of the minutes.
207
208
209 AGENDA ITEM 9: ADJOURNMENT
210 Meeting was adjourned by consensus at 8:52 p.m.
211
212
213 David Blankfard, Chair