HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.7.22 PB Agenda Packet ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT
131 W. MARGARET LANE, SUITE 201
HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278
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AGENDA
ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
WHITTED MEETING FACILITY
300 WEST TRYON STREET, SECOND FLOOR
HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Regular Meeting — 7:00 pm
No. Page(s) Agenda Item
1. CALL TO ORDER
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
2• 3-4 a. Planning Calendar for December and January
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
5 - 6 October 5, 2022 Training and Ordinance Review Committee Notes
3' 7 — 20 October 5, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes
21 — 22 November 2, 2022 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
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
No. Page(s) Agenda Item
7. 23 — 28 PLANNING BOARD ANNUAL REPORT AND WORK PLAN: To review and
approve the annual input form which informs the BOCC of the past
year's activities of advisory boards/commissions and assists in overall
County work planning.
Presenter: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor, and Cy
Stober, Planning Director
8. 29 — 42 UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS —
NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETINGS - To make a recommendation to
the BOCC on proposed amendments to the UDO pertaining to
Neighborhood Information Meetings. This item was introduced at the
August 3, 2022 ORC meeting and reviewed at the October 5, 2022
Planning Board meeting where it was continued to the next meeting. It
is scheduled for a BOCC public hearing in January.
Presenter: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
9. 43 — 54 UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS — FINAL
SUBDIVISION PLAT SIGNATURE BLOCKS - To make a recommendation to
the BOCC on proposed amendments to the UDO that would remove the
school district signature block on final subdivision plats. This item was
introduced at the October 5, 2022 ORC meeting and is scheduled for a
BOCC public hearing in January.
Presenter: Tyler Sliger, Planner II, and Perdita Holtz, Special
Projects & GIS Supervisor
10. 55 — 68 UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS —
EFFICIENCY UNITS - To make a recommendation to the BOCC on
proposed amendments to the UDO pertaining to efficiency apartments
(also known as "accessory dwelling units" or ADUs). This item was
introduced at the October 5, 2022 ORC meeting and is scheduled for a
BOCC public hearing in January.
Presenter: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
11. ADJOURNMENT
Written Comments
Interested persons who cannot attend the meeting in-person are invited to submit written comments on
agenda items to the Planning Board via email at planningboard .orangecountync.gov no later than 3:00
p.m. on the afternoon of the meeting. Please include in the Subject line of the email the title of the agenda
item your comment pertains to. Emails sent to this address are viewable on Google Groups:
https://groups.google.com/g/ocplanningboard
Written comments can also be dropped off at the Planning Department's offices at 131 W. Margaret Lane,
2nd floor, Hillsborough, NC during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday).
Written comments will be scanned and sent by staff to the email address indicated above.
Review Process
The Planning Board is an appointed volunteer advisory board which makes recommendations to the Board
of County Commissioners (the elected officials). The Board of County Commissioners holds a formal
public hearing and makes decisions. Section 2.8 of the County's Unified Development Ordinance contains
a flowchart depicting the review process for rezoning and text amendment applications.
3
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3
Notes:*Planning Board Member Attendance Required
Planning Board meetings are held in room 230 on the second floor of
the Whitted Building located at 300 W.Tryon St., Hillsborough, NC
27278
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
BOCC Planning Board
Business 7:00 pm*
Meeting
7:00 pm Whitted Bldg.
Whitted Bldg.
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
BOCC Board of
Business Adjustment
Meeting 7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Whitted Bldg.
Whitted Bldg.
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
HOLIDAY
Offices
Closed
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
4
1
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Planning Board
7:00 pm*
Whitted Bldg.
8 10 11 12 13 14
Board of
Adjustment
7:00 pm
Whitted Bldg.
17 18 19 20 21
BOCC :•
Business .
Meeting
7 pm
Whitted
7m Building
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
Notes:
*Planning Board Member Attendance Required
Planning Board meetings are held in room 230 on
the second floor of the Whitted Building located at
300 W.Tryon St.,Hillsborough,NC 27278
DRAFT 5
1 SUMMARY NOTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 OCTOBER 5,2022
4 TRAINING SESSION AND ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE
5
6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions and Ordinance Review Committee
7 meetings.
8
9 MEMBERS PRESENT: Whitney Watson, At-Large Representative; Beth Bronson, At-Large Representative;
10 Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair), Cheeks Township
11 Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township Representative;
12
13 STAFF PRESENT: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects& GIS Supervisor; Tyler Sliger, Planner II; Pat Mallett,
14 Interim Current Planning Supervisor and Erosion Control, Stormwater& Engineering Supervisor; Carlos
15 Sanchez, Planning Technician: Tina Love, Administrative Support;
16
17 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER
18
19 AGENDA ITEM 2: PLANNING BOARD TRAINING SESSION — Staff will lead training designed for recently
20 appointed Planning Board members on basic aspects of land use regulation in Orange
21 County.
22 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor
23
24 Perdita Holtz conducted a training session on motions and voting and on the basic processes of amending
25 the LIDO and Comprehensive Plan.
26
27 AGENDA ITEM 3: ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE — UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT
28 AMENDMENTS — FINAL SUBDIVISION PLAT SIGNATURE BLOCKS — To review proposed
29 amendments to the UDO that would remove the school district signature block on final
30 subdivision plats.
31 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
32
33 Tyler Sliger presented the proposed text amendments to the UDO regarding the removal of a school district
34 signature block on subdivision plats.
35
36 Lamar Proctor expressed serious reservations on removing the school district from being required to sign
37 all subdivision plats.
38
39 AGENDA ITEM 4: ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE — UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT
40 AMENDMENTS — EFFICIENCY UNITS — To review proposed amendments to the LIDO
41 pertaining to efficiency apartments (also known as "accessory dwelling units" or
42 ADLIs).
43 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
44
45 Tyler Sliger presented the proposed text amendments to the UDO regarding efficiency units or ADUs.
46
47 Adam Beeman expressed objections to allowing mobile homes and disagrees that it is any more affordable
48 than a stick built residence but depreciates faster, has worse building design and is not a good addition to a
49 property or neighborhoods.
50
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DRAFT 6
51 Delores Bailey stated that she is doesn't like ADUs but doesn't think it is fair to be prejudiced against
52 mobile homes.
53
54 Adam Beeman thinks ADUs should be allowed.
55
56 Lamar Proctor agreed that mobile homes are not desirable.
57
58 Beth Bronson requested the item come back to ORC prior to going to the regular meeting.
2
7
DRAFT
1 MEETING MINUTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 OCTOBER 5,2022
4 REGULAR MEETING
5
6 MEMBERS PRESENT: Adam Beeman (Chair), Cedar Grove Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair),
7 Cheeks Township Representative; Whitney Watson,At-Large Representative; David Blankfard, Hillsborough Township
8 Representative; Beth Bronson,At-Large Representative; Randy Marshall,At-Large Representative; Charity Kirk,At-
9 Large Representative; Delores Bailey,At-Large Representative; Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative;
10 Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill Township Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township Representative;
11
12 MEMBERS ABSENT: Melissa Poole, Little River Township Representative;
13
14 STAFF PRESENT: Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director; Perdita Holtz, Special Projects&GIS Supervisor; Pat
15 Mallet, Interim Current Planning Supervisor/Erosion Control, Stormwater&Engineering Supervisor;Tom Altieri,
16 Comprehensive Planning Supervisor; Brian Collie, Planner II; Tyler Sliger, Planner II; Carlos Sanchez, Planning
17 Technician;Tina Love,Administrative Support
18
19 OTHERS PRESENT: Briant Robey, Doug Barr, Beth Myers, Leah Cook, John Mark Thomas, Mimi Locathetis, Celia Rice
20
21
22 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
23 Chair Adam Beeman called the meeting to order
24
25
26 AGENDA ITEM 2: INFORMATION ITEMS
27 a. Planning Calendar for August and September
28 b. Countywide Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Land Use Plan Update
29
30 Tom Altieri updated the Board on the Countywide Strategic Plan the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and advised a
31 consultant may be on board by the end on the year to begin work on the Strategic Plan early next year. Additionally, a
32 resolution of intent for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan update is going forward to the BOCC on October 18, 2022.
33
34
35 AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES
36 September 7, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes
37
38 MOTION BY Randy Marshall to approve the September 7, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Beth Bronson.
39 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
40
41
42 AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA.
43 There were none
44
45
46 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE
47
48 INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC CHARGE
49 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, appoints
50 the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB)to uphold the written land development law of the County.
51 The general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and harmonious development.
52 OCPB shall do so in a manner, which considers the present and future needs of its citizens and
53 businesses through efficient and responsive process that contributes to and promotes the health,safety,
54 and welfare of the overall County. The OCPB will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive
55 governance and quality public services during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations.
8
DRAFT
56
57 PUBLIC CHARGE
58 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its citizens to
59 conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with fellow citizens. At
60 any time,should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge,the Chair will
61 ask the offending member to leave the meeting until that individual regains personal control. Should
62 decorum fail to be restored,the Chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment
63 to this public charge is observed.
64
65
66 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS
67 There were none
68
69
70 AGENDA ITEM 7: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE(UDO)TEXT AMENDMENT—NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETINGS
71 -To make a recommendation to the BOCC on proposed amendments to the UDO pertaining to
72 Neighborhood Information Meetings. This item was introduced at the August 3, 2022 ORC meeting
73 and is scheduled for a BOCC Public Hearing in November.
74 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
75
76 Tyler Sliger reviewed the proposed UDO text amendment.
77
78 Lamar Proctor: So this amendment is proposing taking Planning completely out of the NIM process?
79
80 Tyler Sliger: Yes. Like other jurisdictions, this puts the responsibility on the applicant. I couldn't find another jurisdiction
81 where they have a planner do this.
82
83 Lamar Proctor: Personally, it scares me because it seems like you are putting the fox in charge of the hen house. You
84 are going to leave the applicant who has a monetary interest in a land use change completely in charge of providing
85 information, posting, noticing. You are putting the applicant who has the monetary incentive for this thing to pass,they
86 are going to make a lot of money,they are unilaterally informing and noticing those neighbors who are most directly
87 affected without any oversight or even availability of planning to answer questions to the general public. That seems
88 hugely irresponsible to me.
89
90 Tyler Sliger: That is what the report is for. If they do not meet the requirements, they are not following procedure.They
91 would have to have the Neighborhood Information Meeting.
92
93 Lamar Proctor: Then they can just report whatever they want to report there is no independent witness to verify the
94 authenticity or credibility of what the developer who has a huge interest in making sure it passes, that it's verified and
95 true in the report. It says on page 15 sub 5 that the applicant shall submit a written report of the NIM to the Planning
96 Department before a public hearing is held and the written report shall include those things. So, before a public hearing
97 is held.
98
99 Tyler Sliger: Correct, before they get to this point they have to have a Neighborhood Information Meeting.
100
101 Beth Bronson: They could literally have given you the report on that this morning.
102
103 Delores Bailey: Don't you schedule the Public Hearing? So,they would have to have everything in before you would
104 schedule it.
105
106 Tyler Sliger: That is part of the application so they get it one day before this meeting and they don't have the necessary
107 documentation to go to the Planning Board or BOCC because you don't get this packet the day before.
108
109 Overlapping conversations
110
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DRAFT
111 Tyler Sliger: Before the packet is sent out everything you are sent has to be submitted a week before so if they don't
112 send this report in a week before your packet is go out then it's not on the agenda.
113
114 Beth Bronson: Then why is it changed from being scheduled to be held? I think that should be written into the text
115 amendment that would be my recommendation. That should be in the text amendment that the report is available 14
116 days prior to the Planning Board.
117
118 Adam Beeman: Look at the last sentence on page 15,the meeting shall be held a minimum of 14 days prior to the date
119 of the Planning Board meeting where the application is scheduled for review. So they have to have it 2 weeks ahead of
120 time that means they've got 14 days to get it sent in.
121
122 Beth Bronson:Then have 13 days to get out the report.
123
124 Overlapping conversations
125
126 Beth Bronson: I know it sounds nitpicky.
127
128 Delores Bailey: But they control whether it goes on the agenda so if they don't get the packet in enough time it won't be
129 on our agenda.
130
131 Beth Bronson: Well they say until the meeting then they can schedule the Public Hearing.
132
133 Delores Bailey: It doesn't matter.
134
135 Adam Beeman: If they don't pass their paperwork in then their meeting would just get kicked and they wouldn't be in
136 front of us.
137
138 Cy Stober: Question of direction from the Planning Board,would it be more satisfactory to have that trigger rather than
139 be scheduling a public hearing, be scheduling a Planning Board meeting? Rather than the language reading scheduling
140 a public hearing it would be to schedule the Planning Board meeting.
141
142 Beth Bronson: Yes.
143
144 Cy Stober: Ok.
145
146 Adam Beeman: That way they have to have the written paperwork in before you can even schedule a meeting with us.
147 The public hearing is this in front of the Planning Board the NIM is just the name of the information meeting. That's what
148 1 think you are getting flip flopped. The public hearing would have been they have to have the paperwork in before they
149 can get this meeting scheduled.
150
151 Cy Stober: The public hearing is the meeting before the Board of County Commissioners. This is a public meeting, it's
152 not a public hearing. So if we change the language from public hearing to the Planning Board meeting.
153
154 Lamar Proctor: The way this is written would it have allowed them to submit the NIM report after we heard about it?
155 After we considered it?
156
157 Cy Stober: No,the application would be considered incomplete without the written report but to address the concerns
158 that have been stated today this would provide additional time prior to even scheduling the Planning Board meeting. We
159 would have to have the written report in hand before we could even schedule it.
160
161 Lamar Proctor: Right, cause the way this reads you don't have to have the report in hand before you schedule it. They
162 can just turn the report in like Beth said.
163
164 Cy Stober: That's the concern I'm hearing so if we provided that textual change.
165
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DRAFT
166 Lamar Proctor: That's one concern but I still have the overarching concern of now you've taken any government
167 presence out of the NIM meeting and so allowing the developers or the applicant to unilaterally convey information
168 however they see fit whether correct or not correct,whether they are misstating the LIDO and the Comprehensive Land
169 Use Plan. Whether they are misstating the process,there is no representative from government that can correct any
170 misstatement by applicants whether intentional or not at the Neighborhood Information Meeting. Then what is reported
171 by the applicant in the NIM report,who knows, its accuracy. We have no idea.
172
173 Charity Kirk: How do other governmental bodies do this similar thing,validate that things were done as deemed?
174
175 Tyler Sliger: I reached out to Chapel Hill about how they do theirs because I could not find it in their ordinance and 1
176 have not heard back from them. Carrboro just states that they have to have one there is no requirement like we do in
177 having ours. It just says people in a 500 ft. radius have to be notified and that's it. It doesn't tell when they have to have
178 it or anything like that. Basically, Chatham County is a lot like this where they put the responsibility on the applicant to
179 do this process and they check what they do.
180
181 Charity Kirk: So how do you plan on checking what they do?
182
183 Tyler Sliger: Basically, confirming their report. If no one comes to a Neighborhood Information Meeting, that is a little bit
184 skeptical and if it is in a 1,000 ft. radius they are going to get a Planning Board notification letter. If they come and we
185 have a report of someone not getting or they weren't notified about a NIM then we would say that they didn't follow
186 procedure. They have to have it somewhere. If they don't go to,for instance, the Library or they say they are going to
187 have it that's a red flag.
188
189 Lamar Proctor: I love the system we have. I think it is a boon to our citizens. I think it keeps people very well informed
190 about the changes that are going on. Frankly, I think 1,000 ft. in the County is too short of a distance. I think it should be
191 2,500 ft. I think when you are talking about large projects that occur in the County that sometimes encapsulates 10,
192 scores, 100s of acres, involves millions of sq.ft.of impervious surface, 1,000 ft. is kind of way too small because those
193 sorts of projects are going to have effects for miles around. I think 1,000 ft. is ridiculously short for County projects
194 especially ones that are larger and involve larger acreage and sq.ft. I love the fact that Planning is there. I know it's a
195 lot of work for Planning but I feel like it assures me that applicants and developers aren't taking advantage of the
196 process.
197
198 David Blankfard: Can we just have a member of staff be required to go to the NIM?
199
200 Charity Kirk: Yea..
201
202 Cy Stober: We can do that. I would be more comfortable coming back to you with language rather than coming up with
203 a clause on the fly. We will consult with the Attorney's Office on a simple clause. Hopefully, 10 words or less.
204
205 Charity Kirk:Another thing is that rather than a written report, you could ask for a recording of the meeting. If the concern
206 is a lack of validation of a developer,you can validate what happened.
207
208 Cy Stober: My only concern is I would like to have leeway to have a recording or to have staff go to observe. The
209 concern from Planning staff and the reason that Planning staff often don't present at NIMs is that our opportunity to
210 provide findings of fact is this meeting. When we present at a Neighborhood Information Meeting, it gives the
211 appearance that we are representing the project which is not our role. Our role is to find the facts, disclose them to the
212 appointed and elected officials and the public at open meetings. Neighborhood Information Meetings are a courtesy
213 extended through our ordinance and through many ordinances, including most of our neighbors and most of our
214 municipalities, but not all of them, and the responsibility for leading that discussion is appropriately the applicant or the
215 developer. Having Planning staff also has the effect of chilling the opportunity for a robust and productive discussion
216 between the applicant and concerned neighbors to find solutions to their concerns. If we are always there saying no, no,
217 no,you can't do that it stifles some creativity that may result from a discussion between the applicant and those who are
218 most affected by what they are proposing to do. Those are the concerns that we have,the Planning staff. I hear your
219 concern about verifying the proceeding of the NIM. I think that we can come up with some basic very simple language to
220 address that.
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DRAFT
221
222 Randy Marshall: I completely agree with the notion that the applicant needs to defend his own project and the Planning
223 staff doesn't need to be there defending the applicant's project because I think that puts the focus, as you've said, on the
224 Planning staff and not on the applicant where it needs to be.That being said, I concur that there needs to be some
225 verification as to what happened at those Neighborhood Meetings either recording and/or a staff person present who
226 could answer questions if need be is just wise. If we could reword that to include it in this text amendment, I think that
227 would be preferable.
228
229 Cy Stober: If there are other concerns, I am happy to address them otherwise I would request a vote to continue that to
230 the next meeting to address those concerns stated tonight.
231
232 Beth Bronson:And prior to the Planning Board meeting being held.
233
234 Cy Stober: We'll address that text change as well.
235
236 MOTION BY Beth Bronson to continue this text amendment. Seconded by Statler Gilfillen.
237 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
238
239
240 AGENDA ITEM 8: ZONING ATLAS AMENDMENT(CONVENTIONAL DISTRICT)—To review and make a recommendation to the
241 BOCC on an applicant-initiated zoning atlas amendment to rezone a 7.05 acres portion of property,
242 which totals 54.23 acres,from AR(Agricultural Residential)to NR-CD(Non-Residential Conditional
243 District).
244 The parcel's is located at 9825 NC Highway 49 in the Cedar Grove Township(PIN 9940-46-0359).
245 This item is scheduled for the BOCC public hearing in November.
246 PRESENTER: Brian Collie, Planner II
247
248 Brian Collie presented a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed the proposed zoning atlas amendment.
249
250 Beth Bronson: Can you clarify the industrial zoning? The NR-CD applications,the red area that you mentioned is part of
251 a Rural Industrial Zoning District?
252
253 Brian Collie: No, it's not a zoning district. It's in an activity node, a certain amount of land is allowed to be rezoned to
254 commercial needs.
255
256 Perdita Holtz: The Rural Industrial Node is a Future Land Use Map classification that is found in the Comprehensive
257 Plan. It is not a zoning district;you can see there that the definition of Rural Industrial Activity Node is the areas that are
258 focused on designated road intersections. Designated road intersections in this case is the confluence of NC 49 and NC
259 86 and it serves as crossroads for the surrounding rural community and is an appropriate location for small scale
260 industrial uses. That is the vision of the Comprehensive Plan as it is written today for that type of node. That being said,
261 NR-CD is allowed in the Rural Industrial Activity Nodes and as part of that any of those permitted uses can be applied
262 for.
263
264 Brian Collie continued the PowerPoint presentation and review of the proposed zoning atlas amendment
265
266 Applicant Representatives Briant Roby and Doug Barr reviewed the site plan and gave an overview.
267
268 Charity Kirk: I have a general Comprehensive Plan question, on the map it looks like it is a Rural Neighborhood zone,
269 not a Rural Industrial zone, can you clarify? In the Comprehensive Plan document not in your slide. Page 86 of
270 Comprehensive Plan document shows that it's a pink area around that node which indicates Rural Neighborhood.
271
272 Brian Collie: It is within the Rural Industrial Activity Node.
273
274 Perdita Holtz pointed out the location on the Future Land Use Map.
275
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276 Charity Kirk: So this is more serving the county above us.
277
278 Brian Collie: A little bit of both. There is a need for them to submit the 30 ft. landscaping buffers on the site plan.
279
280 Lamar Proctor: Can you explain the relationship between the total acreage of the parcel, 54.23 acres but 7.05 acres is
281 what they are asking to be rezoned and you are going to develop. Is that the set ratio for Hyco Watershed?
282
283 Briant Roby: It's the 7 of the 54, its 7 acres based on the fact that 15%of that 7 acres is impervious.
284
285 Lamar Proctor: So it's a 15% impervious limit so to get the impervious surface,you have to rezone 7 acres.
286
287 Briant Roby: Exactly.
288
289 Lamar Proctor: But the rest of the property could be rezoned later. That's not at issue, it's just these 7 acres because
290 you're limited to 15%?
291
292 Briant Roby: That's correct. There is a limit in a protected watershed on how many can be impervious. We have been
293 through the exercise of ensuring that this is within those limits.
294
295 Whitney Watson: You had asked for a reduction in the number of parking spaces, I'm curious how you arrived at that.
296 What kind of studies were done to determine if the amount of parking spaces would be adequate for customers.
297
298 Briant Roby: Primarily based on rural character of the site, a traffic impact analysis was required as it is with all
299 conditional zoning requests. The peak traffic per hour didn't come out to justify the need for the full 53 spaces, 46 will be
300 adequate based on that. Part of that was also off-setting the use of those islands as landscaping as well. Based on
301 where this is located,we don't anticipate the need for the full 53 spaces.
302
303 Whitney Watson: Does that mean that you also did an assessment about customers per hour?
304
305 Briant Roby: That's correct.
306
307 Whitney Watson: So that's relatively low? If you are allowed 53-54 spaces and you want to reduce it to 46 or 47 is that
308 still going to be enough spaces. How do you justify the reduction or even in fact,the flipside of that is how do you justify
309 placing a retail establishment there that is going to have a relatively low use from customers?
310
311 Briant Roby: Understood.
312
313 Whitney Watson: They made some assessment, some calculation about this to begin with that it was going to be viable
314 based on this size store, this number of spaces,this many people per hour and I was curious how those numbers came
315 out.
316
317 Briant Roby: I would have to double check the report but we do have figures for what the peak hour is,what the total
318 daily trips are and looking at that and assuming length of trip,we can go back into whether or not that is enough spaces
319 for a particular use.
320
321 Statler Gilfillen: You are looking for a variance for fewer parking spaces, under what the code technically requires, if that
322 is approved and 2 years from now it turns out that all the planning that was done, all the estimates,the future there were
323 done were seriously in error and we need to put the additional parking back or it is determined that it should be put back.
324 What safeguards do we have to approve it less for now when in reality, say 2 years from now,they find out they really
325 need those spaces to require them to be put in. I don't know if there is a firm answer to that.
326
327 Briant Roby: There is a small amount of area on site that is not being used for impervious area. The spaces could be
328 added back later. We are very close to the threshold but good design guidelines include leaving a small amount of
329 additional area.
330
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DRAFT
331 Randy Marshall: Is there any elaboration that could be given for why the area was designated as Rural Industrial in the
332 first place. I don't know how long it's been that but what was thinking when it was designated that way? Some group,
333 presumably the County Commissioners, made a determination that this was going to be future Rural Industrial. My point,
334 down the road is if it has been designated, someone thought that this was an appropriate place to have this designation
335 in place and the developer is taking advantage of the County's designation of this to fulfill the Commissioners desires
336 that this could be developed at some point.
337
338 Perdita Holtz: It was part of the former Comprehensive Plan. The Future Land Use Map did not get changed in the
339 2008 update and so it was part of the 1981 Comprehensive Plan.Whether it was designated in'81 or sometime between
340 '81 and when I arrived in '03, 1 cannot say for certain but it has been that way since at least 2003 and my money would
341 be on that it has been designated that way since 1981.
342
343 Randy Marshall: So presumably, it's not a big surprise to anyone that this is a potential future use for this particular
344 piece of property.
345
346 Perdita Holtz: For people who are familiar with the Future Land Use Map, it shouldn't be but many people are not
347 familiar with the Future Land Use Map.
348
349 Delores Bailey: As a regular citizen, I wouldn't know that right? I could have gone past that parcel all my life and never
350 realized that was the designated use.
351
352 Perdita Holtz: It's been my observation that people buy houses and don't realize that the land next to them is designated
353 commercial. I'm not just talking about Orange County, I'm talking everywhere.
354
355 Beth Bronson: The Rural Industrial term, defined as land focused on designated road intersections that is appropriate
356 for small scale industrial uses which do not require urban type services, so to the conversation of if this is consistent with
357 what a Rural Industrial Activity Node looks like, I would say that this is a retail space in the application versus an
358 industrial manufacturing or building, am I misinterpreting industrial?
359
360 Charity Kirk: I believe this is on the allowed lists for the definition of Rural Industrial.
361
362 Adam Beeman: To the Conditional District, the industrial zoning is an overlay that they can fall under but it doesn't
363 actually mean that area is the industrial. If we give them the Conditional District that they're seeking,they say they only
364 want the retail but all those uses would be under this Conditional District.
365
366 Charity Kirk: Your question is how do we define Rural Industrial.
367
368 Beth Bronson: No,would the applicant's proposal for a Family Dollar meet that consistency,we would rezone it to non-
369 residential because it's within a Rural Industrial Node. However, does this application for the Family Dollar meet what is
370 interpreted in the Land Use as Rural Industrial or is it appropriate, consistent?
371
372 Adam Beeman: Dollar General is less than 4/10 of a mile from driveway to driveway and there is a gas station with a full
373 store and a little small restaurant just 4/10 of a mile away. I would ask why is it needed? What brought this about? 1
374 don't believe it represents the character or the area up there, so for me, I'm against the retail change in general. Right at
375 the point of this property is the sign that says Welcome to Cedar Grove which is essentially saying welcome to Orange
376 County because you just rolled out of Caswell County.
377
378 Charity Kirk: What was the intention of Rural Industrial?
379
380 Perdita Holtz: I read you the intention earlier. Beth just reiterated it. What it comes down to is that NR-CD is an
381 allowable zoning district within the Rural Industrial Future Land Use category and this is an allowable use within NR-CD
382 and the County has legislative discretion on whether to approve it or not.
383
384 Charity Kirk: So now, I guess now it's up to us to define what industrial does meet the definition.
385
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386 Adam Beeman: If you guys want to go forward and give them approval,you are allowed to give them conditions and
387 negotiate some conditions and give and take that everybody has to agree to. There is that opportunity if anybody else is
388 interested, you already know my position and I am going to stick with my position there is nothing, nobody is going to
389 change my mind so I'll let the rest of you guys debate.
390
391 David Blankfard: Should we let the public speak?
392
393 Adam Beeman: Ok, I didn't know if you guys wanted to debate or discussion on our end before we let the public speak.
394 That way maybe the public can understand where most of everybody stands.
395
396 Steve Kaufmann: Do you actually live in that area?
397
398 Adam Beeman: I do, I'm less than 10 minutes from that spot. I drive by there all the time. When I first came in 2008 a
399 Mebane Shrubbery sign was there and they had moved and that was last thing that was on that property and there has
400 been nothing there since 2008 since I've lived here, nothing.
401
402 Delores Bailey: With you being there that long, and you knowing exactly what it could do,what did you expect as a
403 neighbor of this spot? What did you think might go there?
404
405 Adam Beeman: I would like to see the industrial stuff. I would prefer to see some sort of manufacturing or something go
406 on because there is a Dollar General. There's not on Orange County's side, if you rode down coming into Caswell and
407 past this property, I think I passed 2 houses within a half mile of the place and if you go down 49, it's another half mile
408 before you hit residences. It really gets sparse out there, it's tobacco fields, soybean fields there is not a lot of density so
409 when they say they had to reduce their parking because the numbers didn't work,they're competing with Dollar General
410 and the other gas station with is 4/10 of a mile up the street. I don't see that store,just like White Cross, you guys all
411 were against the Dollar General rezoning in that White Cross property. To me, I don't see it any differently. There's
412 people there serving the need.
413
414 Delores Bailey: So light industrial you imagined would go there.
415
416 Adam Beeman: Yeah, down on 86 you see Happy Wax and what used to be the old forms place,that type of thing that
417 doesn't require a whole lot of staff, there's a building there and it's just kind of out there doing their thing. That's
418 something that I would envision or same concept with Efland where the gentleman wanted to put in some smaller
419 storefront with some storage space so a contractor up in my neck of the woods could rent a space and have something.
420 That would be more beneficial to the people in my area than another Family Dollar or another discount dollar store, 1
421 don't personally see the need for it and I don't see it being helpful to the County. I don't see it being in harmony with the
422 County. Like in White Cross it would take away any future availability for any other future land so that they could get that
423 spot. So you're taking away industrial space for a Family Dollar, I don't see it. You can never convince me that's
424 pushing the County forward and that's going to make us, it's the first thing people are going to see when they come in
425 out of State. People come down all the time from Virginia driving down 86 coming into North Carolina and they are going
426 to roll right Family Dollar and say welcome to Orange County.
427
428 David Blankfard: Don't you think competition would be good.
429
430 Adam Beeman: Again, there's not that many people out there. I did some work for the Dollar General, someone
431 crashed their car into the service and they were without power for 2 days, I had to replace the panel,there was maybe
432 150 a day that go past that store. I just don't see 2 stores, its wasting resources, my opinion. Everybody else can have
433 a completely different view but that affects me, it's right up in my corner of the woods and I just don't see it.
434
435 Doug Burr: I'm Doug Burr with Elkin and Associates and I certainly appreciate all the comments. This is a little bit
436 different, and I hear you, it is a Family Dollar but it's a Family Dollar and Dollar Tree which is something that cannot be
437 offered, Dollar Tree in and of itself, I'm sure most are familiar with it. It caters itself a little bit differently than Dollar
438 General and Family Dollar so it allows more gifting, gift wrap,seasonal, school supplies and that kind of thing. An
439 offering at that single price point, half the store is Dollar Tree and half is Family Dollar. This is an opportunity for them to
440 come into markets like this that are very rural. It's a large company,they have a significant amount of stores that do a
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441 significant amount of studies to understand what kind of business they are going to do here. They are not frivolous in
442 what they do when they invest money into a site like this and this is one that they've looked at for some time. The Dollar
443 General does do a decent amount of business. They would serve to some competitiveness with them to keep everybody
444 working hard. It offers jobs in that area which is a very rural area. I understand it is retail there is not an enormous
445 amount of retail and a limited amount of people in that specific area. If you were to go into a tight circle of it, it services a
446 much larger rural area,the people are driving in and around to and from all over the place and the traffic does play a big
447 role into as well. I just wanted to offer that up as to why our client is considering this a site. There are some limited
448 resources up there for shopping and this would be another one and adding the Dollar Tree portion of it in certainly sets it
449 apart from the gas station and the Dollar General up there by adding another part of it that the area doesn't have and
450 wouldn't have typically because you can't. A standalone Dollar Tree can't survive.
451
452 Delores Bailey: And a market study was done for this?
453
454 Doug Burr: Dollar Tree has 16,000 stores between the 2 of them,they do internal studies that they analyze the entire
455 area, population,traffic that kind of thing and come to the conclusion as to what kind of sales they are going to do.
456
457 Delores Bailey: With the area being so rural, you are telling us that the market study supported it.
458
459 Doug Burr: Yes,supported this store. Supported this store with the Dollar General as well. With the traffic, I might just
460 address that as well. Most communities have a traffic requirement of 4 per 1000 and that is in a market like
461 Hillsborough. If you were to go in for general retail it would be 4 per 1000. On this particular case we are pushing more
462 5 per thousand or something like that to get us to the 53 parking spaces that are there so even in a market like this that
463 would have much higher traffic, of people coming through, on a store like this generally somewhat between 32 and 40
464 parking spaces is about what we would need given the traffic we might expect and usually that comes at Christmas time
465 it's not even at a normal shopping dates. Up in this particular area we are going to far exceed what we would need if we
466 were to go into a community as dense as where we are right now so the 53 parking spaces far exceeds what we typically
467 would need pretty much anywhere and how they operate. Usually we go with the extra ones because it's a requirement
468 of the area or code but generally speaking somewhere between 32 and 40 is what we usually are going for with this
469 client.
470
471 Randy Marshall: You are essentially counting on out of county customers or commuters to build your customer base to
472 make this a viable business because everyone seems to agree there is not sufficient residents within the circle around
473 the business to make it viable, is that correct?
474
475 Doug Burr: I would say that certainly plays a part of it. The other thing that happens is when you get into a rural area
476 like this generally you look at a 5 mile radius for this particular client as to how many people are there. When then look
477 at these rural areas and they've done many of them,they are looking at a much bigger circle, say 15, 20 miles. What
478 that will bring in is commuters coming back and the traffic that is actually going back and forth. I'm sure there is a lot of
479 people that might live up there that work down in Hillsborough or other place but traffic would play a role in that and draw
480 from a much larger area for people's daily needs rather than driving here or driving someplace else.
481
482 Randy Marshall: My point being if we are pulling in out of county customers,we're pulling in tax dollars to the Orange
483 County tax base that would not have been available otherwise.
484
485 Doug Burr: That's a good point.
486
487 Beth Bronson: Is there a plan to add groceries?
488
489 Doug Burr: They do have groceries but as far as fresh produce,they don't do that if that's what you're asking. They do
490 have a grocery component including freezers and coolers that would carry milk, eggs, and those types of things. It
491 would be somewhat limited by the nature of what they do. This store is going to offer the same things they would offer in
492 any other store.
493
494 Beth Bronson: Do they ever use local vendors?
495
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496 Doug Burr: I don't exactly know they sourcing since I am the developer but they are a large company and they buy in a
497 huge selection and they have a limited price on their items so I don't know.
498
499 Beth Bronson: So whether or not they deviate from their very structured plan.
500
501 Doug Burr: I don't know the answer to that, I'm not sure.
502
503 Charity Kirk: A question about the conditional nature of this because that's one of the things in the White Cross
504 development,we couldn't set conditions,what kind of conditions are possible for us to set?
505
506 Adam Beeman: Things in the past that we've done was we negotiated electric charging stations in the parking lot. One
507 of the things they wanted to get away from the adding of the tree buffer and a lot of people don't get away with not
508 having the tree buffer. They are asking for that exception here. You can basically ask them for anything you want but
509 whether they agree to it is a different story. It's up to you and the applicant to agree on that and the Planning Board
510 would have to come to a consensus on whether we all agree with somebody's proposal before we presented it to the
511 applicant to go back and forth on but you can set any kind of condition you want to try.
512
513 Cy Stober: I am Cy Stober, Planning and Inspections Director for the County. Mr. Beeman is largely correct, it has to be
514 mutually agreed upon. The site plan the staff had on hand when packets went out and the site plan that is featured in
515 your packet,there were 2 waivers requested, 2 conditions requested to deviate from the development standards of the
516 ordinance; 1 for the parking because they were deficient at that time by 1 space but they also did not have the terminal
517 landscaped islands in the parking lot. They've since addressed that in the site plan you saw before you tonight so that
518 waiver is no longer being requested. The consequence of providing that landscaping is that they essentially lost 2
519 parking spaces per terminal island so now they are requesting the condition to not meet our parking standard to have 46
520 rather than 53 spaces. I think that was also based on a slightly different building footprint; it's about 52 so they are
521 deficient by 6 spaces at this time but Mr. Beeman is correct if there are additional elements that you'd like to see on the
522 site plan, this is a site specific plan,this will be the footprint that is binding to the property. All other development
523 standards must be complied with in Article 6 or any use specific standards for the retail use must be complied with
524 unless the condition has been requested by the applicant at this time as has been disclosed to staff it is simply the 1
525 condition to deviate from the parking standards. If are additional amenities or features you would like to negotiate with
526 the applicant this is an appropriate time to do so.
527
528 Randy Marshall: I am a little confused,we're dealing with an application for zoning atlas amendment but you're talking
529 about putting conditions on proposed project that seems like its 2 different items to me.
530
531 Cy Stober: Welcome to the wild world of conditional zoning, it does not have a long history in North Carolina. It is a
532 relatively new allowance under General Statutes, it dates back about 15+years and it does allow for site specific
533 requirements for unique zoning districts with unique requirements and unique allowances to deviate from the ordinance
534 requirements as seen appropriately in the legislative authority by the elected body, in this case the County
535 Commissioners and as advised by the Planning Board. This is a zoning district, it is a zoning district with a site specific
536 plan, if approved, it would be a zoning district with a site specific plan and specific conditions. At this time the only
537 condition that would be different from any other development standard is the parking.
538
539 Randy Marshall: So we are doing 2 things with 1 decisions here.
540
541 Cy Stober: That is correct. This is how metro areas end up with literally tens of thousands of zoning districts each with
542 their unique characteristics and they all have to be tracked.
543
544 Delores Bailey: It says Planning Director Recommendation what was that,would you remind us again.
545
546 Cy Stober: I am recommending the request as presented given the consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and its
547 goals and objectives.
548
549 Brian Collie continued his presentation
550
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551 Beth Myers: My name is Beth Myers and I am a resident of Cedar Grove, I like on 86 at the intersection of 86 and Efland
552 Cedar Grove Road so very close here. I am about 2 miles south of the proposed project. I would like to say that I am
553 strongly opposed to it. As we've mentioned there is already a Dollar General in the area within walking distance of this
554 proposed project and I don't see this bringing any benefit to the County or to our rural neighborhood and we do want to
555 keep it rural. I am a farmer, I sell to Carrboro Farmer's Market and I really appreciate the rural area of Northern Orange
556 County and I really want to keep it that way. This project, other than I really don't understand the business aspect
557 behind it, they are competing with the Dollar General,they are absolutely not going to be bringing in new customers they
558 would simply be halving the existing customers between the 2 stores and there is already a gas station across from the
559 existing Dollar General. If you travel further south on 86 there is the Farm and Garden which recently reopened and they
560 have gas,they have a lot of local products that we talked about,food,things like that. There are some amenities in the
561 area and again I want to say I am strongly opposed to it. Thank you.
562
563 Leah Cook: Hi,thank you for your time, my name is Leah Cook and I live in Cedar Grove as well. I live on Allison Road,
564 I'm 1,000 feet within this proposed project. I am a farmer as well. I am here to say I am strongly opposed to this project
565 for a lot of the reasons Beth just specified. It makes no sense. We've got a Dollar General just over the Caswell line.
566 So to have a Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree, I didn't know it was Family Dollar and Dollar Tree and then the gas station,
567 it makes no sense. It is a waste of space. I am also concerned about the water table in our area, I farm. I sell at
568 Carrboro Farmer's Market and Weaver Street. I am concerned about light pollution as well and I'd like to ask these
569 gentlemen if they truly understand where their food comes from. It doesn't come from Family Dollar. It doesn't come
570 from Dollar Tree its farmers so to answer your question earlier yea you can get canned stuff there, eggs, milk. You can
571 get that at Dollar General,you can get that at the Triangle Grocery Store, you can get a pizza up there if you are in a
572 pinch. You can get gas but you can't get real food so thank you for your time.
573
574 John Thomas: Good evening and thank you for your time. Leah and I actually, she's my partner we farm together and
575 we have about 30 acres on Allison Road and we are very close to this. I am opposed to this. I don't see the value add
576 for the same reasons that have been stated as far as we already have multiple stores in the area that will offer what this
577 offers except for possibly Christmas wrapping. You are 12 miles to Yanceyville from this area, 12 miles to Hillsborough
578 from this area you are 5 miles or so from the store at the corner of Walnut Church Grove Road and 86 which is a pretty
579 nice store it's just been rebuilt that is much nicer than this. We offer jobs,we pay a living wage to our employees,we
580 pay$15 an hour to our employees,they are part time employees, I guarantee you nobody in this store will make$15 an
581 hour probably like the manager. The volume of traffic in the area is already increased and it is already a dangerous
582 intersection with the Dollar General and the way 49 and existing gas station is,to add 1 more thing in that mix and this is
583 going to be almost right on the curve where this gentleman knows there is a Welcome to Cedar Grove sign, it's just going
584 to make it worse. Again, I am opposed to this and don't see the value add and as Leah noted, so what's going to
585 happen is you're going to run farmers out. We also work and what we've done in the past is we work as an incubator
586 farm some of our employees have gone on to farm themselves in the area to produce stuff. We sell, like Leah said,we
587 sell at Carrboro Market,we sell at Weaver Street,we sell at restaurants in the Chapel Hill Carrboro area so I'm against it.
588
589 Mimi Locathetis: My name is Mimi, I live in Cedar Grove as well, neighbors with these guys. I am vehemently opposed
590 to this project. For the reasons stated previously there is no fresh food there,this creates food desert conditions for low
591 income rural communities, it's about 50% higher in these sort of situations. Just the health of our community. I can
592 barely get out of my driveway now with the traffic,this is just going to be one more thing making everything dangerous.
593 I'm glad it was brought up about notifying people in this area for these sorts of projects, 1,000 ft. is not nearly enough for
594 a rural community cause there are plenty of other people who are going to be affected by this that live in this area and
595 they don't even know about it yet. So, hopefully,we'll start talking a little bit more and let them know and if this does go
596 forward and to the Board of Commissioner meeting hopefully there will be a little bit more of an outrage but is not the
597 right project. I can think of a million other things that could go in this space but I'm also worried if this does get rezoned
598 once this fails,what then happens. It's just like opening a Pandora's Box of stuff we don't need. This is one other thing
599 we don't want in our community.
600
601 Celia Rice: I recently bought property in this area, I'm on Route 49 right across from this store is going to be located. 1
602 bought this property as a rural property. I intend to live there, I'm in the process of building a home, I have a neighbor
603 right behind me, he's not within the 1,000 ft. of notification so he was not notified and I would like to state that the
604 distance should be definitely increased for a rural community. I'm also concerned mostly about the traffic. I have
605 property as well in Caswell County and have been driving on 86 for the last 15 years,the traffic has exponentially
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606 increased a great deal and I've talked to some of my neighbors about the incidents of accidents in that area and they say
607 that they have definitely increased. I don't personally verify that but I am not surprised that they have said that so my
608 concerns are the change in our rural status and the traffic that was possibly increased along that area and the
609 reduncency of the store there. It just seems a waste of property. It could be used for something else some other time
610 and if you rezone this for this type of store, are you going to rezone something for another type of redundant store?
611 You're kind of setting your standards pretty low and I'm surprised. Thank you.
612
613 Delores Bailey: Are we allowed to ask the citizens questions?
614
615 Adam Beeman: I don't see why not.
616
617 Delores Bailey: Leah,would you come up please. What do you imagine should go there?
618
619 Leah Cook: That's a great question. Honestly, I've lived in Cedar Grove for over 20 years. I've farmed in Cedar Grove
620 for over 20 years and I hadn't really thought about that because I assumed, it had been Mebane Shrubbery, it had been
621 a hot dog stand before that,so I hadn't thought about that prior to this and Mimi had some pretty great suggestions. To
622 give you my honest answer, nothing. Why can't we leave it? Why can't we preserve the integrity of the rural area in very
623 Northern Orange County? I bet most of you all don't live there in the very northern tip of Orange County. It's pretty great
624 up there and we live there because we like it that way. I don't need to have a grocery store right down the road from me.
625 I'm ok with going into Hillsborough once a week. I have to plan a little more, Mark and I have to double up on our
626 errands. Let's go to the bank, let's go to grocery store and we'll hit Home Depot or something like that or we go to
627 Roxboro to Tractor Supply so honestly nothing. Shiver. Mimi had some pretty great thoughts,what about a Vet's office
628 or Tractor Supply what about a real grocery store could we come up with something innovative that will provide food to
629 people in the area aside from canned stuff.
630
631 Lamar Proctor: Planning's recommendation is that this is consistent with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Planning
632 believes it's consistent? Is that fair to say? That's the recommendation correct? I'm wondering if Planning could
633 articulate what is consistent given the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and maintaining the rural character and I'm looking
634 through the Table of Permitted Uses and retail is not listed as an Industrial Use and this is a Rural Industrial Activity
635 Node so I don't know if there is anything Planning could add to that or if there was some thinking there or what the
636 thought process was.
637
638 Cy Stober: The General Statute compels us to make 2 findings, 1 is that it is consistent with the Goals and Objectives of
639 our adopted plans, particularly our Comprehensive Plan which is to be maintained to reflect the needs of the County and
640 that it is generally consistent with that Plan so we evaluate the Future Land Use Map,we determine if an amendment is
641 needed to that. We've determined that it is not because it is in the Rural Industrial Activity Node and that the zoning
642 request is consistent with the Plan and per Appendix F,which is the land use matrix which defines the allowable uses
643 within the Future Land Use Map not the zoning district. This is one of the uses that is allowed so that is the basis of the
644 finding of staff plus insuring that the submitted site plan is in compliance with the development standards of the Unified
645 Development Ordinance and should it not be a condition is noted and if the condition appears to produce any safety
646 concerns or intersectionality, negative impacts,to surrounding neighborhood properties that we would not support a
647 waiver or deviation from our standards that would introduce negative impact on surrounding land uses. Otherwise the
648 zoning determination, land use determination in this case is defined largely by the Future Land Use and the Appendix F,
649 allowable uses for that Future Land Use.
650
651 Statler Gilfillen: I'm trying very hard to listen to what they are saying what the objection is, regardless of the industrial
652 zone. I live in the Eno District and not too long ago, I believe it went through the zoning because it is a major retail
653 establishment, the Eno River Farm at St. Mary's and Lawrence Road, it is a major retail establishment right there in my
654 neighborhood that generates a lot of traffic. I took no exception to what was done or any of the zoning on that issue
655 because I felt that was compatible with what was there. If I'm hearing you and the other neighbors,the issue may be not
656 an Eno River Farm but a national chain store coming in to the neighborhood, it's the type of business in retail that is
657 there that you feel is really incompatible with what that neighborhood is.
658
659 Adam Beeman: I think it's the duplicity, its 4/10s of a mile to Dollar General and the gas station there is nothing out there
660 that warrants another store. I don't care if it's a tobacco or vape store or whatever, I don't see any kind of convenience
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661 store going there right now. It's just not necessary. It's like in my mind you look at CVS and Walgreens they go across
662 from each other,whatever happened to Rite Aid,we have a bunch of empty Rite Aid buildings because CVS and
663 Walgreens knocked them off and you've got AutoZone and all those guys next door they all want to be next to each
664 other and compete with each other but I just don't see this, it's not necessary there is not enough, they already said it
665 they have to reduce their parking spaces just because their numbers aren't going to hit the full parking spot. It's just not
666 necessary. It's reduncency upon reduncency and if there was a tire shop, heck you've got one down the street, a tire
667 shop,you don't need one of those. There's all sorts of better uses that I think we could put there and they'll hook onto
668 Efland Cedar Grove and run down Efland Cedar Grove to avoid 86 so they don't ever get any further than that and that's
669 what they are counting on. The catch is the out of state traffic running by and I understand the taxes but we turned down
670 Buc-ee's which was printing money and I don't see a Dollar Tree, a Family Dollar, is going to provide that much tax
671 money to justify a building that maybe 5 years down the road is abandoned and it's just sitting there as an eye sore. 1
672 don't know it might thrive who knows, there's too much reduncency there. We don't need a shopping mall up in the top
673 of the County and that's essentially what you're trying to provide is multiple choices. We have choices.
674
675 Statler Gilfillen: Would you like to make a motion one way or the other, I think we're at that point?
676
677 Adam Beeman: No. It's up to you guys, I can say I am against it but that's the only motion that we're at.
678
679 Statler Gilfillen: I think somebody has to do a motion.
680
681 Charity Kirk: Are we done with questions?
682
683 Beth Bronson: Anybody have questions?
684
685 Overlapping conversations
686
687 Adam Beeman: Does anyone else have any questions or concerns?
688
689 Lamar Proctor: Can I make a comment? I asked Planning about this and I'm looking at Appendix F and even if we're
690 trying to be consistent with the Future Land Use Map, this area the red circle is a Rural Industrial Activity Node, this is a
691 retail space which when I look at the Table of Permitted Uses, seems to suggest a zoning designation of LC-1 or NC-2
692 things that would allow for retail establishments. Under Appendix F,the Rural Industrial Activity Node suggests stuff that
693 falls more under 1-1 which is Light Industrial so I don't think that this is consistent with the Future Land Use Map and the
694 Comprehensive Plan because it is a use that would fall more under something that in the Future Land Use Map would be
695 Rural Community Activity Node or Rural Neighborhood Activity Node or a Commercial Transition Activity Node or CITAN
696 area. I don't think it's consistent with the Future Land Use Map and the uses that were anticipated under a Rural Industrial
697 Activity Node that it is cited as in that red circle.
698
699 Adam Beeman: I would say that I would prefer them not to take business away from the Farm and Garden store that just
700 reopened by the dump off of Walnut Grove they sell local Bison, beef, chicken, all sort of meat and fresh produce. That's
701 right down the street from where this proposal is so why would we want to put someone out of business or take people
702 away from that store that just came back after being burnt down and they are providing goods from the community where
703 they are selling local beef and meat and vegetables versus trucked in corn nibbles.
704
705 David Blankfard: Before you make a motion, are there any conditions that would change anybody's opinion?
706
707 Adam Beeman: Not mine.
708
709 Beth Bronson: Is this going to be sold to or is it going to be leased to?
710
711 Overlapping conversations
712
713 Doug Burr: We would be buying the 7 acres so he would still have the remaining.
714
715
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716 MOTION BY Beth Bronson to deny the UDO text amendment and rezoning application for Non-Residential Conditional
717 Zoning based on the finding that the application does not follow the intention of the Future Land Use Map designation
718 within the Comprehensive Plan 2030 via designation of Rural Industrial Activity Node and that it would not be harmonious
719 with the surrounding area or reflect the desires of the community. Seconded by Lamar Proctor.
720 MOTION PASSED 9—2(MARSHALL,BLANKFARD)
721
722 Adam Beeman: Based on that the rezoning is denied.
723
724
725 AGENDA ITEM 9: ADJOURNMENT
726 Meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
727
728
729 Adam Beeman, Chair
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DRAFT
1 SUMMARY NOTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 NOVEMBER 2,2022
4 TRAINING SESSION
5 (This training session meeting was held virtually.
6 Members of the Planning Board, staff and public participated remotely)
7
8 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions.
9
10 MEMBERS PRESENT: Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair), Cheeks Township Representative; Beth Bronson, At-Large
11 Representative; Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill Township Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township
12 Representative; Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative; Whitney Watson, At-Large Representative;
13 Charity Kirk, At-Large Representative;
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15 STAFF PRESENT: Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director; Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor
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17 OTHERS PRESENT: Anna Richards
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19 AGENDA ITEM 1: PLANNING BOARD TRAINING SESSION — Staff will lead training on basic aspects of land use
20 regulation in Orange County. The topic is Plans and Agreements that Affect Planning in
21 Orange County.
22 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor
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24 Perdita Holtz conducted a training session on Plans and Agreements that Affect Planning in Orange County.
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ORANGE COUNTY
PLANNING BOARD
AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 7, 2022
Action Agenda
Item No. 7
SUBJECT: Planning Board Annual Report/Work Plan
DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: (919)
Annual Report / Work Plan Form Cy Stober, 245-2592
Perdita Holtz, 245-2578
PURPOSE: To provide an annual report and work plan input to the Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC).
BACKGROUND: Each year the County Clerk's Office collects information from each of the
County's advisory boards to prepare a report for an early spring BOCC work session. The
annual report informs the BOCC of the past year's activities of advisory boards/commissions, as
well as proposed activities for the upcoming year.
Staff and advisory boards are asked to collaborate to complete the form that has been provided
by the Clerk's Office and return by January 27. Proposed activities are to be consistent with the
goals of the BOCC.
The attached Annual Report / Work Plan form has been completed by staff for Planning Board
review and comment. Some topics of prime interest include:
1. 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update
2. Analysis of and Revisions to the Conventional Zoning Districts
3. Affordable and Senior Housing
These topics are accented on page 3 of the attachment.
The Planning Board is involved with approximately 40 - 60% of the work Planning Department
staff is responsible for (the percentage varies by year, depending on specific work being
completed in a given year). For the upcoming year, Planning staff will be working and
collaborating on some items that do not go to an advisory board for a recommendation or for
which other advisory boards have primary responsibility. Examples of these tasks are work
related to the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) and the Transit Plan
Governance Study.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Planning Board:
1. Review the attached document prior to the meeting.
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2. Discuss members' ideas about any additional activities to be worked on in 2023 or
any additional issues to be brought to the attention of the BOCC.
3. Either:
a. Approve the attached Annual Report and Work Plan Form, or
b. Ask staff to incorporate the results of any discussion into the Annual Report /
Work Plan form and submit the form to the Clerk's office, or
c. Ask staff to incorporate the results of any discussion into the Annual Report /
Work Plan form bring the final form back to the January 4, 2023 meeting in
order to meet the January 27 due date.
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NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Planning Board
Report Period: 2022 calendar year for annual report; 2023 calendar year for work plan
ORANGE COUNTY ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
ANNUAL REPORT/ WORK PLAN FOR THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners appreciates the dedication of all the volunteers on their
boards and commissions and welcomes input from various advisory boards and
commissions throughout the year. Please complete the following information, limited to
the front and back of this form. Other background materials may be provided as a
supplement to, but not as a substitute for, this form.
Board/Commission Name: Planning Board
Person to address the BOCC and contact information: Adam Beeman, Chair, (919)
563-0463, abeeman4784CcDyahoo.com (Note: the Planning Board elects a Chair and
Vice-Chair every January; if the Chair changes in January 2023, the 2023 Chair would
be the presenter)
Primary County Staff Contact: Cy Stober, Planning Director; secondary contact:
Perdita Holtz, Special projects & GIS Supervisor
How many times per month does this board/commission meet, including any special
meetings and sub-committee meetings? Generally once per month for a regular
meeting + optional Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) or training session (ORC
or training sessions occur on the same evening as the regular meeting several
times a year).
Brief Statement of Board/Commission's Assigned Charge and Responsibilities.
Under the authority of NC General Statute, the BOCC created the Planning Board
to embark upon a continuing planning program, including but not limited to the
preparation and maintenance of a Comprehensive Plan for Orange County, in
protection of the public health, safety, and general welfare of present and future
residents and businesses, landowners and visitors. The duties of the Planning
Board are listed in Section 1.6.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance, and
reflect the duties and responsibilities charged to all jurisdictions by NCGS 160D.
What are your Board/Commission's most important accomplishments?
In 2022, the Planning Board accomplished the following:
• Reviewed and made a recommendation on a revision to a preliminary plat
for a major subdivision — The Lodges at Chapel Hill
• Reviewed and made a recommendation on extensive UDO Text
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Amendments pertaining to erosion control and stormwater provisions
• Reviewed and made a recommendation on an applicant-initiated request to
rezone a 2.32 acre parcel in Efland to 1-2 (Medium Industrial)
• Reviewed and made a recommendation for a rezoning in the White Cross
Rural Community Activity Node for a general retail store (applicant
withdrew application prior to the public hearing).
• Reviewed and made a recommendation for a rezoning in the Cedar Grove
Rural Industrial Activity Node for a dollar store (applicant withdrew
application prior to the public hearing).
• Reviewed and made recommendations on UDO text amendments
pertaining to Neighborhood Information Meetings, Efficiency Units (ADUs),
and subdivision plat signature blocks.
• Completed several training sessions offered by Planning staff.
List of Specific Tasks, Events, or Functions Performed or Sponsored Annually.
• Monthly Planning Board meetings
• Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) meetings and special meetings as
required
• Review applications for Unified Development Ordinance text amendments,
Zoning Atlas amendments, and major subdivisions, and provide
recommendations to the BOCC
• Develop and recommend policies, ordinances, administrative procedures and
other means for carrying out plans
• Coordinate with staff on ongoing planning updates, changes, and new
techniques
Describe this board/commission's activities/accomplishments in carrying out BOCC
goal(s)/priorities, if applicable.
The Planning Board is involved in the ongoing implementation of the 2030
Comprehensive Plan and any potential regulatory revisions resulting from
updates to BOCC priorities.
Describe the collaboration relationship(s) this particular board has with other advisory
boards and commissions?
In 2022, there was not direct collaboration with other advisory boards (e.g., joint
meetings). However, as the County embarks upon a Strategic Plan and eventual
update to the Comprehensive Plan (commencement expected in 2023), it is
anticipated that advisory boards may be part of the processes and joint
collaboration may occur.
Identify any activities this board/commission expects to carry out in 2023 as they relate
to established BOCC goals and priorities. If applicable, is there a fiscal impact (i.e.,
funding, staff time, other resources) associated with these proposed activities (please
list).
The Board will continue its work in partnership with staff to further BOCC
priorities, some of which may emerge at the January 2023 BOCC retreat (not in
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priority order):
1. 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update: The County is in the process of commencing
work on a countywide Strategic Plan which will inform an eventual Comprehensive
Land Use Plan update, including a survey that will serve both efforts. Both efforts
are expected to be completed with the assistance of a consultant with the Strategic
Plan underway in the first half of 2023 and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan
update beginning later in 2023. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan update is likely
to focus primarily on land use and will include a public outreach program.
2. Affordable and Senior Housing, including Co-Housing: On-going need for
affordable housing opportunities, including mobile home parks and senior housing,
in the county. Continue to work with the Housing and Aging Departments on their
adopted plans and policies to develop regulatory amendments that will further
mutual goals and objectives. (Note: the proposed UDO text amendments regarding
efficiency units furthers this goal).
3. UDO Amendments: Planning staff anticipates reviewing the UDO in 2023 to
compile amendments necessary to streamline and clarify the regulations and to
respond to recent court decisions.
4. Continue Training for Planning Board Members: Planning staff will continue to
offer training to Planning Board members on an as-needed basis. Suggestions on
additional topics for training are welcome.
5. Legislative Changes: Amend regulations as necessary in response to legislative
changes at the State level.
6. Water and Sewer Management, Planning, and Boundary Agreement Map
Amendments / Reconciliation of Future Land Use Map (FLUM)/Zoning Lines:
Work with WASMPBA partners to bring forward amendments to reconcile
discrepancies in the WASMPBA "Primary Service Area," County Future Land Use
Map (FLUM)/Zoning lines, and any discrepancies on similar municipal maps.
7. 2023 BOCC Retreat: Any priorities that emerge at the January 2023 BOCC retreat.
What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the upcoming
year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the Commissioners' attention?
1. Wireless and Broadband Access: Wireless and broadband access continues to
be a challenge in many portions of Orange County.
2. Climate Change: Continue to encourage and regulate builders to take into account
long-term changes; for example: encourage building locations well beyond the 100-
year floodplain to account for possible increases in flooded areas. Encourage better
building standards to withstand stronger storms. Ensure public water availability
during times of extended droughts. Be mindful of deforestation/clear cutting and the
destruction of ecosystems.
3. Growth of Mebane into Western Orange County: The continued growth of
Mebane has created uncertainty for area residents. More formal communications,
relationships, and/or agreements with Mebane should be pursued to ensure
residents have a better idea of future plans and growth areas.
4. Energy: Continue to allow solar arrays in appropriate areas, perhaps performing a
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reanalysis of locational criteria. Propose UDO amendments to better enable small
arrays for placement and use on major subdivisions and nonresidential projects.
Revisit energy information in the County's Comprehensive Plan to expand
information on the variety of energy types (DEAPR is the lead Department on this
Element of the Comprehensive Plan).
5. Watershed Review and Implications of County vs. State Watershed
Delineations: Review the County and State watershed delineation lines and the
implications of current differences, including stormwater standards. Be mindful of
any lessened watershed protection measures.
6. Rural Enterprises: Determine need to address innovative water & sewage disposal
issues in the Rural Activity Nodes (RANs) to encourage development in these
nodes. Evaluate non-residential acreage thresholds in both the Comprehensive
Plan and the UDO as part of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan update to better
enable retail services or other uses in identified (RANs).
7. Transportation Issues: Determine if rural "transit oriented development" could be
hubs of transit located in the rural community nodes. Accent focus on transit
dependent populations and their connection to other transit infrastructure.
8. Long-Term Planning for Potable Water and Waste Disposal: Planning for
potable water and waste (wastewater and solid waste) should continue to be a topic
for study (i.e., supportive infrastructure analysis) and potential discussion with public
and non-profit utility providers as growth in Orange County continues.
9. Post-COVID Needs: Evaluate planning-related changes that emerge post-COVID
and respond appropriately.
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29
ORANGE COUNTY
PLANNING BOARD
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 7, 2022
Action Agenda
Item No. 8
SUBJECT: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment - Neighborhood Information
Meetings
DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
1. Statement of Consistency Tyler Sliger, Planner II (919) 245-2586
2. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Cy Stober, Director (919) 245-2592
Amendments
3. August 3, 2022 Planning Board Minutes
Excerpt
PURPOSE: To review and make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners
(BOCC) on County-initiated text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to
require an applicant to host a Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM) instead of the current
requirement that Planning staff coordinate and host the NIM.
BACKGROUND: NIMs are a required step in the review procedures for several types of Planning
applications. Specifically, NIMs are required for the following applications:
• Special Use Permits (UDO Section 2.7.5),
• Conditional Districts (UDO Section 2.9.1),
• Minor and Major Subdivisions (UDO Sections 2.14.4 and 2.15.2), and
• Governmental Uses (UDO Section 2.24).
The purpose of a NIM is to educate attendees on the proposed project, a valuable engagement
opportunity for the public to become better oriented with a project. Currently, Orange County
Planning staff is required to schedule, host, and present the project to the public, which often gives
the public an impression that staff is involved with and has a bias in favor of the project. To
eliminate this confusion, staff has prepared proposed revisions to make the applicant responsible
for scheduling and hosting the NIM instead of staff. Applicant presentations of their rezoning,
special use, and subdivision projects at neighborhood meetings is common practice throughout
counties and municipalities in North Carolina; direct staff involvement in hosting such meetings is
not.
This item was presented at the August 3, 2022 ORC meeting (Attachment 3, Meeting Notes). This
item was reviewed by the Planning Board at its October 5, 2002 meeting. The following
suggestions for additional requirements were made by Planning Board members during the
October 5 meeting:
1. Submission of a recording of the NIM by the applicant, along with a required NIM report; and
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2. Ensure that the NIM is held with enough time for the NIM report to be submitted to staff for
inclusion in the Planning Board packet.
As a result, the following language has been added to the recommended amendment language:
The applicant shall submit a recording and a written report of the Neighborhood Information
Meeting to the Planning Department at least 14 days before the [type of meeting or action is
included in each UDO section proposed for amendment].
Joint Planning Area (JPA) Review: In accordance with the Joint Planning Agreement with the
Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the amendment package was sent to the Town planning staffs
on August 30, 2022. To date, Orange County staff has not received any comments from the Towns.
Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the:
• Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the text amendments are reasonable
and in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 1.
• Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments, as contained in Attachment 2.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There are no costs associated with this project other than the use of staff
time and the required legal advertisement for the amendment's public hearing. County staff has
and will continue to accomplish the necessary tasks associated with amending the UDO and the
legal advertisement will be paid from budgeted funds for this purpose.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Board:
1. Review the proposed UDO text amendments and deliberate as desired,
2. Consider the Planning Director's recommendation, and
3. Make a recommendation to the BOCC on the Statement of Approval and Consistency
(Attachment 1) and the proposed UDO text amendments (Attachment 2) in time for the
January 17, 2023 BOCC meeting.
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Attachment 1
STATEMENT OF APPROVAL AND CONSISTENCY OF
A PROPOSED UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT WITH
ADOPTED ORANGE COUNTY PLANS
Orange County has initiated an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to
revise its requirements for Neighborhood Information Meetings.
The Planning Board hereby recommends approval of the proposed text amendment and
issues this Statement of Consistency pursuant to NC GS § 160D-604 (d)Planning board review
and comments—Plan consistency. The Planning Board finds:
1. The requirements of UDO Section 2.8 Zoning Atlas and Unified Development
Ordinance Amendments have been met;
2. The amendment is consistent with the adopted 2030 Orange County Comprehensive Plan,
as prescribed by UDO Section 1.1.5 Statement of Intent—Amendments and Section 1.1.7
Conformance with Adopted Plans;
3. The amendment is consistent with the applicable plan because it supports the following:
a. Comprehensive Plan Land Use Goal 6: A land use planning process that is
transparent, fair, open, efficient, and responsive.
b. Comprehensive Objective LU-6.1: Undertake a comprehensive effort to inform
and involve the citizens of Orange County in the land use planning process.
4. The amendment is reasonable and in the public interest because it encourages
communication between the applicant and the public while allowing County staff to
maintain neutrality.
The Planning Board hereby adopts this Statement of Approval and Consistency and the
findings expressed herein.
Adam Beeman, Chair Date
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Attachment 2
The following pages contain Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) amendments to our
Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM) standards. These revisions are geared to help
residents get a better understanding of projects that require a NIM.
Within this amendment package:
• Red Underlined Text: Denotes new, proposed text that staff is suggesting be
added to the UDO.
• Red Strikethrough Text: Denotes existing text that staff is proposing to delete.
Users are reminded that these excerpts are part of a much larger document (the UDO) that
regulates land use and development in Orange County. The full UDO is available online at:
http://www.orangecountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8305/Unified-Development-Ordinance-PDF
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SECTION
2.7.5 Neighborhood Information Meeting
(A) Before an Evidentiary Hearing may be held for a Special Use the applicant is required to
schedule a minimum of one neighborhood information mootin Neighborhood Information
Meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to obtain surrounding property owner input and
comments on the proposed development project and allow staff an opportunity to explain
the review process associated with the request.
(B) The applicant shall obtain n or+„GWReF mailing address infOrmatien from the nraRgG
Geunty RaRRing DepartmeRt whiGh shall utilize Orange GGURty Land RGGerds data, and
shall moil n0tiGes of the mooting date and time send notice of the meeting via first class
mail to each property owner within one thousand feet of the property for which a Special
Use has been requested. The applicant shall use Orange County Land Records data to
determine which parcels are within the one thousand foot notification boundary and the
mailing address of the property owners.
(C) The applicant shall mail notice of the Neighborhood Information Meeting a minimum of 14
days prior to the date of the meeting.
(D) The applicant shall post a sign on the property advertising the date, place, and time of the
meeting a minimum of 40-14 days prior to the date of the meeting.
(E) The meeting shall be held a minimum of 45 days prior to the date of the Evidentiary
Hearing.
(F) The applicant shall submit a recording along with a written report of the Neighborhood
Information Meeting to the Planning Department at least 14 days before an Evidentiary
Hearing is heldsan be SGheduled.
e
(1) The written report of the meeting shall include a list of those persons and
organizations contacted about the meeting and the manner and date of contact;
the time, date, and location of the meeting; a roster of the persons in attendance
at the meeting; and a summary of issues discussed at the meeting.
Neighborhood Information Meetings for
T 7 telecommunication facilities shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Section
5.10.8 (B) (2).
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SECTION • •
2.9.1 Conditional Districts
(D) Neighborhood Information Meeting
(1) Before a Public Hearing may be held on an accepted application for a
Conditional District, the applicant is required to schedule, with the assistance of
the Planning Department a minimum of one neighborhood information meeting
Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM). The purpose of this meeting is to
obtain surrounding property owner input and comments on the proposed
development project.
(2) Theo nliGant shall obtain n erfii o ailing address information from the
Qrange CGS Rty Planning Department and shall mail nGtiGes of the meeting date
and time via first Glass mail to each property owner within one thousand feet of
the property for which a Conditional District has been requested. The applicant
shall send notice of the meeting via first class mail to each property owner within
one thousand feet of the property for which a Conditional District has been
requested. The applicant shall use Orange County Land Records data to
determine which parcels are within the one thousand foot notification boundary
and the mailing address of the property owners.
(3) The notices shall be mailed a minimum of 14 days prior to the date of the
proposed Neighborhood Information Meeting.
(4) The applicant shall post a sign on the property advertising the date, place, and
time of the meeting a minimum of--1-8 14 days prior to the date of the meeting.
(5) The applicant shall submit a recording along with a written report of the
Neighborhood Information Meeting to the Planning Department at least 14
days before a Public Hearing Gan he sGhedt edis held.
(a) The written report of the meeting shall include a list of those persons and
organizations contacted about the meeting and the manner and date of
contact; a roster of the persons in attendance at the meeting; a summary
of issues discussed at the meeting; and a description of any changes to
the application made by the applicant as a result of the meeting.
{�)(6) The meeting shall be held a minimum of 14 days prior to the date of the Planning
Board meeting where the application is scheduled for review.
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SECTION - • - SUBDIVISIONS
2.14.4 Concept Plan
(B) Neighborhood Information Meeting for Minor Subdivisions utilizing the Flexible
Development Option
(1) A minor subdivision application using the Flexible Development Option shall
require a Neighborhood Information Meeting NIM if it proposes more than five
lots, excluding open space.
(2) Upen aGGeptanGeAs a component of a Concept Plan application, the PlaRning
DireGtGr applicant shall schedule a Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM4 and
shall obtain property owner mailing address information from Orange County
Land Records data and mail notices of the meeting to each owner of property
within one thousand feet of the property proposed to be subdivided.
(3) Notices of the NIM shall be mailed by first class mail at least ten 14 days prior to
the date of the meeting.
(4) The RIaRRin^ DiYe^+^r applicant shall place a sign on the affected property
indicating the total number of lots proposed, the date, time, and location of the
NIM; and the Planning Department telephone number. The sign shall be posted
on the affected property at least seven 14 days prior to the NIM. The NIM shall
be held a prior to Final Plat Application submittal.
(5) The purpose of theAt the NIM is for the,t#e applicant to present the proposed
Concept Plan to persons in attendance, shall be avail to answer questions
about the proposed subdivision, and to receive comments from neighboring
property owners for the purpose of improving the proposed subdivision design.
(6) The Planning DireGtor shall explain the subdivision approval proGess and
neighboring property owners may speak with regard to c nifie conGerns
andlor issues-.The applicant shall submit a recording along with a written
report of the Neighborhood Information Meeting to the Planning
Department at least 14 days before submitting a Final Plat application for
the subdivision.
(a) The written report of the meeting shall include a list of those persons and
organizations contacted about the meeting and the manner and date of
contact; the time, date, and location of the meeting; a roster of the
persons in attendance at the meeting; a summary of issues discussed at
the meeting; and a description of any changes to the application made
by the applicant as a result of the meeting.
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SECTION • - SUBDIVISIONS
2.15.2 Concept Plan
(D) Neighborhood Information Meeting
(1) Upon acceptance As a component of a Concept Plan application, the Planning
D+resteF-applicant shall schedule a Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM) and
shall obtain property owner mailing address information from Orange County
Land Records data and mail notices of the meeting to each owner of property
within one thousand feet of the property proposed to be subdivided.
(2) Notices of the NIM shall be mailed by first class mail at least 14ten days prior to
the date of the meeting.
(3) The applicantPlann'n^ Dir^^+^r shall place a sign on the affected property
indicating the total number of lots proposed, the date, time, and location of the
NIM; and the Planning Department telephone number. The sign shall be posted
on the affected property at least 14seven days prior to the NIM. The NIM shall
be held a minimum of 14 days prior to the Planning Board meeting at which the
concept plan is scheduled to be reviewed.
(4) At theThe purpose of the NIM, is for;the applicant to present the Concept Plan to
persons in attendance,^"all be avail ahlo to answer questions about the proposed
subdivision, and to receive comments from neighboring property owners for the
purpose of improving the proposed subdivision design.
(5) The Planning DireGtGF shall explain the subdiyisinn a al PFOGess and shall
identify meeting dates of the Rannin.. Beard and Beard Of CGMMissinn^rs a+
a„dwe.r yes The applicant shall submit a recording along with a written report
of the Neighborhood Information Meeting to the Planning Department at least 14
days before submitting the Preliminary Plat.
(a) The written report of the meeting shall include a list of those persons and
organizations contacted about the meeting and the manner and date of
contact; the time, date, and location of the meeting; a roster of the
persons in attendance at the meeting; a summary of issues discussed at
the meeting; and a description of any changes to the application made
by the applicant as a result of the meeting.
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SECTION - GOVERNMENTALUSES
2.24.1 Applicability
The following applies to those land uses permitted within the Governmental Uses land
use category as detailed within Section 5.2.
2.24.2 Neighborhood Information Meeting
(A) If a proposed project has not been a part of a previous planning effort that included the
opportunity for public comment and input, a noighhnrheed information moo+in
Neighborhood Information Meeting (NIM)shall be held prior to the submittal of a site plan
application. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain surrounding property owner input
and comments on the proposed development.
(1) Examples of planning efforts that generally include the opportunity for public
input are: park master plans, small area plans, solid waste management master
plans, library master plans, etc.
(B) The Planning Department shall assist the applicant with the scheduling of the
notghborhood inform +inn meeting.
(C)(B) The applicant shall obtain property owner mailing address information from the PIaRRiRg
Department, who shall „+irzo Orange County Land Records data,and shall mail notices
of the meeting date, place, and time via first class mail to each property owner within one
thousand feet of the subject property.
kMLQL_The notices shall be mailed a minimum of 14 days prior to the date of the meeting.
PLPJ_The applicant shall post a sign on the property advertising the date, place, and time of the
meeting a minimum of 140 days prior to the date of the meeting.
{F) ELThe applicant shall submit written certification that the notices were mailed in compliance
with the requirements of this subsection. The written certification shall denote the date of
the mailing as well as a synopsis of comments from the meeting as part of the site plan
application. The applicant shall also provide a written response on what steps, if any,
were taken to address said comments.
(F) The applicant shall submit a recording along with a written report of the Neighborhood
Information Meeting to the Planning Department.
(1) The written report of the meeting shall include a list of those persons and
organizations contacted about the meeting and the manner and date of contact;
the time, date, and location of the meeting; a roster of the persons in attendance
at the meeting; a summary of issues discussed at the meeting; and a description
of any changes to the application made by the applicant as a result of the
meeting.
(G) A neighborhood information mooting Neighborhood Information Meeting shall not be
required in cases where an applicant is proposing to expand facilities less than 50% of
existing floor area.
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DRAFT
1 MEETING MINUTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 OCTOBER 5,2022
4 REGULAR MEETING
5
6 MEMBERS PRESENT: Adam Beeman (Chair), Cedar Grove Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair),
7 Cheeks Township Representative;Whitney Watson,At-Large Representative; David Blankfard, Hillsborough Township
8 Representative; Beth Bronson,At-Large Representative; Randy Marshall,At-Large Representative; Charity Kirk,At-
9 Large Representative; Delores Bailey,At-Large Representative; Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative;
10 Susan Hunter, Chapel Hill Township Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township Representative;
11
12 MEMBERS ABSENT: Melissa Poole, Little River Township Representative;
13
14 STAFF PRESENT: Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director; Perdita Holtz, Special Projects&GIS Supervisor; Pat
15 Mallet, Interim Current Planning Supervisor/Erosion Control, Stormwater&Engineering Supervisor;Tom Altieri,
16 Comprehensive Planning Supervisor; Brian Collie, Planner II; Tyler Sliger, Planner II; Carlos Sanchez, Planning
17 Technician; Tina Love,Administrative Support
18
19 OTHERS PRESENT: Briant Robey, Doug Barr, Beth Myers, Leah Cook, John Mark Thomas, Mimi Locathetis, Celia Rice
20
21
22 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
23 Chair Adam Beeman called the meeting to order
24
25
26 AGENDA ITEM 7: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE(UDO)TEXT AMENDMENT—NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETINGS
27 -To make a recommendation to the BOCC on proposed amendments to the LIDO pertaining to
28 Neighborhood Information Meetings. This item was introduced at the August 3, 2022 ORC meeting
29 and is scheduled for a BOCC Public Hearing in November.
30 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
31
32 Tyler Sliger reviewed the proposed UDO text amendment.
33
34 Lamar Proctor: So this amendment is proposing taking Planning completely out of the NIM process?
35
36 Tyler Sliger: Yes. Like other jurisdictions,this puts the responsibility on the applicant. I couldn't find another jurisdiction
37 where they have a planner do this.
38
39 Lamar Proctor: Personally, it scares me because it seems like you are putting the fox in charge of the hen house. You
40 are going to leave the applicant who has a monetary interest in a land use change completely in charge of providing
41 information, posting, noticing. You are putting the applicant who has the monetary incentive for this thing to pass,they
42 are going to make a lot of money,they are unilaterally informing and noticing those neighbors who are most directly
43 affected without any oversight or even availability of planning to answer questions to the general public. That seems
44 hugely irresponsible to me.
45
46 Tyler Sliger: That is what the report is for. If they do not meet the requirements, they are not following procedure. They
47 would have to have the Neighborhood Information Meeting.
48
49 Lamar Proctor: Then they can just report whatever they want to report there is no independent witness to verify the
50 authenticity or credibility of what the developer who has a huge interest in making sure it passes,that it's verified and
51 true in the report. It says on page 15 sub 5 that the applicant shall submit a written report of the NIM to the Planning
52 Department before a public hearing is held and the written report shall include those things. So, before a public hearing
53 is held.
54
55 Tyler Sliger: Correct, before they get to this point they have to have a Neighborhood Information Meeting.
39
DRAFT
56
57 Beth Bronson: They could literally have given you the report on that this morning.
58
59 Delores Bailey: Don't you schedule the Public Hearing? So,they would have to have everything in before you would
60 schedule it.
61
62 Tyler Sliger: That is part of the application so they get it one day before this meeting and they don't have the necessary
63 documentation to go to the Planning Board or BOCC because you don't get this packet the day before.
64
65 Overlapping conversations
66
67 Tyler Sliger: Before the packet is sent out everything you are sent has to be submitted a week before so if they don't
68 send this report in a week before your packet is go out then it's not on the agenda.
69
70 Beth Bronson: Then why is it changed from being scheduled to be held? I think that should be written into the text
71 amendment that would be my recommendation. That should be in the text amendment that the report is available 14
72 days prior to the Planning Board.
73
74 Adam Beeman: Look at the last sentence on page 15,the meeting shall be held a minimum of 14 days prior to the date
75 of the Planning Board meeting where the application is scheduled for review. So they have to have it 2 weeks ahead of
76 time that means they've got 14 days to get it sent in.
77
78 Beth Bronson:Then have 13 days to get out the report.
79
80 Overlapping conversations
81
82 Beth Bronson: I know it sounds nitpicky.
83
84 Delores Bailey: But they control whether it goes on the agenda so if they don't get the packet in enough time it won't be
85 on our agenda.
86
87 Beth Bronson: Well they say until the meeting then they can schedule the Public Hearing.
88
89 Delores Bailey: It doesn't matter.
90
91 Adam Beeman: If they don't pass their paperwork in then their meeting would just get kicked and they wouldn't be in
92 front of us.
93
94 Cy Stober: Question of direction from the Planning Board,would it be more satisfactory to have that trigger rather than
95 be scheduling a public hearing, be scheduling a Planning Board meeting? Rather than the language reading scheduling
96 a public hearing it would be to schedule the Planning Board meeting.
97
98 Beth Bronson: Yes.
99
100 Cy Stober: Ok.
101
102 Adam Beeman: That way they have to have the written paperwork in before you can even schedule a meeting with us.
103 The public hearing is this in front of the Planning Board the NIM is just the name of the information meeting. That's what
104 1 think you are getting flip flopped. The public hearing would have been they have to have the paperwork in before they
105 can get this meeting scheduled.
106
107 Cy Stober: The public hearing is the meeting before the Board of County Commissioners. This is a public meeting, it's
108 not a public hearing. So if we change the language from public hearing to the Planning Board meeting.
109
40
DRAFT
110 Lamar Proctor: The way this is written would it have allowed them to submit the NIM report after we heard about it?
111 After we considered it?
112
113 Cy Stober: No,the application would be considered incomplete without the written report but to address the concerns
114 that have been stated today this would provide additional time prior to even scheduling the Planning Board meeting. We
115 would have to have the written report in hand before we could even schedule it.
116
117 Lamar Proctor: Right, cause the way this reads you don't have to have the report in hand before you schedule it. They
118 can just turn the report in like Beth said.
119
120 Cy Stober: That's the concern I'm hearing so if we provided that textual change.
121
122 Lamar Proctor: That's one concern but I still have the overarching concern of now you've taken any government
123 presence out of the NIM meeting and so allowing the developers or the applicant to unilaterally convey information
124 however they see fit whether correct or not correct,whether they are misstating the UDO and the Comprehensive Land
125 Use Plan. Whether they are misstating the process,there is no representative from government that can correct any
126 misstatement by applicants whether intentional or not at the Neighborhood Information Meeting. Then what is reported
127 by the applicant in the NIM report,who knows, its accuracy. We have no idea.
128
129 Charity Kirk: How do other governmental bodies do this similar thing,validate that things were done as deemed?
130
131 Tyler Sliger: I reached out to Chapel Hill about how they do theirs because I could not find it in their ordinance and 1
132 have not heard back from them. Carrboro just states that they have to have one there is no requirement like we do in
133 having ours. It just says people in a 500 ft. radius have to be notified and that's it. It doesn't tell when they have to have
134 it or anything like that. Basically, Chatham County is a lot like this where they put the responsibility on the applicant to
135 do this process and they check what they do.
136
137 Charity Kirk: So how do you plan on checking what they do?
138
139 Tyler Sliger: Basically, confirming their report. If no one comes to a Neighborhood Information Meeting,that is a little bit
140 skeptical and if it is in a 1,000 ft. radius they are going to get a Planning Board notification letter. If they come and we
141 have a report of someone not getting or they weren't notified about a NIM then we would say that they didn't follow
142 procedure. They have to have it somewhere. If they don't go to,for instance,the Library or they say they are going to
143 have it that's a red flag.
144
145 Lamar Proctor: I love the system we have. I think it is a boon to our citizens. I think it keeps people very well informed
146 about the changes that are going on. Frankly, I think 1,000 ft. in the County is too short of a distance. I think it should be
147 2,500 ft. I think when you are talking about large projects that occur in the County that sometimes encapsulates 10,
148 scores, 100s of acres, involves millions of sq.ft.of impervious surface, 1,000 ft. is kind of way too small because those
149 sorts of projects are going to have effects for miles around. I think 1,000 ft. is ridiculously short for County projects
150 especially ones that are larger and involve larger acreage and sq.ft. I love the fact that Planning is there. I know it's a
151 lot of work for Planning but I feel like it assures me that applicants and developers aren't taking advantage of the
152 process.
153
154 David Blankfard: Can we just have a member of staff be required to go to the NIM?
155
156 Charity Kirk: Yea..
157
158 Cy Stober: We can do that. I would be more comfortable coming back to you with language rather than coming up with
159 a clause on the fly. We will consult with the Attorney's Office on a simple clause. Hopefully, 10 words or less.
160
161 Charity Kirk:Another thing is that rather than a written report, you could ask for a recording of the meeting. If the concern
162 is a lack of validation of a developer,you can validate what happened.
163
41
DRAFT
164 Cy Stober: My only concern is I would like to have leeway to have a recording or to have staff go to observe. The
165 concern from Planning staff and the reason that Planning staff often don't present at NIMs is that our opportunity to
166 provide findings of fact is this meeting. When we present at a Neighborhood Information Meeting, it gives the
167 appearance that we are representing the project which is not our role. Our role is to find the facts, disclose them to the
168 appointed and elected officials and the public at open meetings. Neighborhood Information Meetings are a courtesy
169 extended through our ordinance and through many ordinances, including most of our neighbors and most of our
170 municipalities, but not all of them, and the responsibility for leading that discussion is appropriately the applicant or the
171 developer. Having Planning staff also has the effect of chilling the opportunity for a robust and productive discussion
172 between the applicant and concerned neighbors to find solutions to their concerns. If we are always there saying no, no,
173 no,you can't do that it stifles some creativity that may result from a discussion between the applicant and those who are
174 most affected by what they are proposing to do. Those are the concerns that we have,the Planning staff. I hear your
175 concern about verifying the proceeding of the NIM. I think that we can come up with some basic very simple language to
176 address that.
177
178 Randy Marshall: I completely agree with the notion that the applicant needs to defend his own project and the Planning
179 staff doesn't need to be there defending the applicant's project because I think that puts the focus,as you've said, on the
180 Planning staff and not on the applicant where it needs to be.That being said, I concur that there needs to be some
181 verification as to what happened at those Neighborhood Meetings either recording and/or a staff person present who
182 could answer questions if need be is just wise. If we could reword that to include it in this text amendment, I think that
183 would be preferable.
184
185 Cy Stober: If there are other concerns, I am happy to address them otherwise I would request a vote to continue that to
186 the next meeting to address those concerns stated tonight.
187
188 Beth Bronson:And prior to the Planning Board meeting being held.
189
190 Cy Stober: We'll address that text change as well.
191
192 MOTION BY Beth Bronson to continue this text amendment. Seconded by Statler Gilfillen.
193 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
42
43
ORANGE COUNTY
PLANNING BOARD
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 7, 2022
Action Agenda
Item No. 9
SUBJECT: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment— Final Subdivision Plat School
District Signature Block
DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
1. Background Information regarding SAPFO Tyler Sliger, Planner II (919) 245-2586
2. Statement of Consistency Cy Stober, Director (919) 245-2592
3. UDO Text Amendment
4. Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) Meeting Notes
5. Letter of Support from Orange County Schools
PURPOSE: To review and make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners
(BOCC) on County-initiated text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to
remove the requirement in Section 7.13.3 (F)(3)(g), the school district signature block on final
subdivision plats.
BACKGROUND: Attachment 1 contains information on the Schools Adequate Public Facilities
Ordinance (SAPFO), an ordinance the Planning Board is not directly involved in administering.
Planning staff will present an overview of the SAPFO and CAPS (Certificate of Adequate Public
Schools) program at the Planning Board meeting so that Planning Board members may have a
better understanding of the SAPFO. The issuance of CAPS prior to development approval is one
aspect of the overall SAPFO and the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that accompany the
SAPFO, which are prescriptive regarding most aspects of SAPFO administration. None of these
documents require school district signatures on plats and none of the other MOUs/SAPFO parties
(i.e., the municipalities) require such plat signatures. The MOU/SAPFO requirement is only for
issuance of the CAPS certificate (if capacity is determined to be available) by the relevant school
district, and this requirement is not proposed for modification as part of this proposed text
amendment.
Subdivisions that follow the traditional or major subdivision review process have to receive several
signatures before recording the final plat. Orange County currently requires signature by the
relevant school system, per the language found in Section 7.13.3 (F)(3)(g) of the UDO. Research
into the plat certificate requirement has shown that the requirement was added to Orange County's
former Subdivision Regulations as a small portion of a multi-part amendment to the Subdivision
Regulations in the year after SAPFO amendments were added to the former Zoning Ordinance.
Agenda materials and minutes from that time do not speak directly to the addition of the plat
signature block, other than a statement found in minutes made by previous staff that the signature
block addition was "needed for SAPFO." None of the municipal signatories amended their
regulations to require this plat and signature, and, as evidenced in Attachment 5, this requirement
44
is not supported by Orange County Schools.
Both school districts require CAPS issuance as part of the subdivision review and approval
process, in compliance with the adopted 2003 SAPFO and its accompanying MOUs independent
of the plat signature. The school districts staff (OCS and CHCCS) keep their respective elected
boards apprised of CAPS issuance through regular staff reports; this will remain unchanged.
Planning staff is recommending that the signature block be removed as a subdivision plat
recordation requirement to remove an unnecessary and time-intensive step from subdivision plat
approval. The approved CAPS will remain part of the subdivision application package and a
criterion for Planning staff approval of the plat for recordation, and will be maintained by Planning
staff with the subdivision request file. The recommended amendment does not have any impacts
on the school districts' reporting of enrollment figures and will remove an unnecessary step from
plat approvals in the unincorporated areas of Orange County.
The Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) reviewed the UDO amendments at the October 5,
2022 ORC meeting (see meeting notes in Attachment 4).
Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the:
• Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the text amendments are reasonable and
in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 2.
• The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments, as contained in Attachment
3.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There are no costs associated with this project other than the
use of staff time and the required legal advertisement for this amendment's public
hearing. County staff has and will continue to accomplish the necessary tasks
associated with amending the UDO and the legal advertisement will be paid from
budgeted funds for this purpose.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Board.
1. Review the proposed UDO text amendments and deliberate as desired,
2. Consider the Planning Director's recommendation, and
3. Make a recommendation to the BOCC on the Statement of Approval and
Consistency (Attachment 2) and the proposed UDO text amendments
(Attachment 3) in time for the January 17, 2023 BOCC meeting.
45
A. SCHOOLS ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES ORDINANCE INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION
1. Background
■ The Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) and two
Memorandums of Understanding were adopted in 2003 between Orange
County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
(CHCCS) and Orange County, Hillsborough, and Orange County Schools
(OCS).
■ The purpose of SAPFO is to ensure that new residential growth within the
county occurs at a pace that allows the County and school districts to provide
adequate school facilities to serve students from the new developments. The
ordinance identifies the school districts as being responsible for planning and
constructing new school facilities, Orange County being responsible for
funding the new school facilities, and the local government being responsible
for monitoring development impacts and timing.
■ The ordinance provides guidelines for determining a projected student growth
rate methodology and student generation rate and collecting annual student
membership and building capacity reports.
■ Additionally, the ordinance outlines criteria for maintaining a two part system
including:
1) Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) linked to the needs identified by
student projections and available capacity and
2) Issuing Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) for new
residential developments.
2. Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
■ The ordinance calls for the development and maintenance of a Capital
Improvement Plan for school construction based on historical growth patterns
including school membership and building capacity (which could change
based on building additions, revaluation of core capacity, revisions to the
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction student class size and/or
modifications to the Board of Education certified capacities).
■ SAPFOTAC Report
1) The ordinance also established a Schools Adequate Facility Ordinance
Technical Advisory Committee (SAPFOTAC) which produces an Annual
Report documenting, among other things, projected future student
membership and school capacity needs over a 10-year period. This
process also includes review, comment, and acknowledgement by the
local governments.
2) SAPFOTAC report also monitors and reports on changes in class size
averages at the state level, charter school enrollment and impacts, future
school construction projects, and major residential development projects.
November Orange County requests student membership and capacity numbers
December BOCC accepts membership and capacity numbers
December - March Student membership and projections are utilized during the budget process
January SAPFOTAC meets to review draft report and 10-year student projections
March Draft report distributed to SAPFO partners for comment
April Draft report and 10-year student projections presented to elected officials
May Final report is certified by the BOCC
46
3. Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS)
■ SAPFO outlines a process for issuing a Certificates of Adequacy of Public
Schools (CAPS) on all new residential units proposed in Orange County
based on student generation numbers and school capacity.
■ A test of new development impacts using Student Generation Rates (SGR's)
against available capacity
1) CAPS Issued if capacity exists or
2) CAPS deferred until Part 1 CIP needs and associated funding for more
capacity is achieved
■ SAPFO established maximum capacity expectations at each school level. If a
school level exceeds these maximum when a new development is reviewed,
issuance CAPS is supposed to be suspended and the project delayed until
capacity is available (e.g., new school is constructed). To date, issuance of
CAPS has not been suspended because new school facilities have been
constructed as they have become necessary. Maximum capacity levels are:
1) 105% at Elementary School level
2) 107% at Middle School level
3) 110% at High School level
■ Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) computer program which
tracks existing membership and capacity
1) Test for and log new development impacts (multi-year as appropriate)
against capacity levels
2) Local governments approve feasibility
3) BOE staff confirms adequate capacity
4) CAPS certificate given to local government from BOE for final
development approval
■ Historically, the identification of future CIP capacity has been far enough in
advance to foresee and construct new capacity without CAPS deferral
■ CAPS system was previously suspended in 2005 until new capacity was
constructed
47
B. SCHOOL ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES ORDINANCE (SAPFO) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1. Adopted Level of Service (LOS)
■ Level of service means the number (level) of students that can be
accommodated (serviced) at a certain school system grade group [i.e.,
Elementary Level (K-5), Middle Level (6-8), High School Level (9-12)].
■ The adopted levels of services were originally developed based on information
provided from the school districts, regarding existing school facilities and their
functional ability to handle overcapacity situations, and discussions among the
Schools and Land Use Council. The Schools and Land Use Council included
members from School Boards, the BOCC, and Orange County staff. Level of
service is illustrated as a percentage of a hybrid formula agreed to by the school
districts and BOCC and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) rated capacity
of schools of a certain level added together.
■ One of the reasons level of service standards above 100% were chosen as
benchmarks is that membership may rise near the 100% mark and yet not create
a long-term need. For example, if a couple of years have larger than normal
grade level class sizes the need for more capacity may exist for only a limited
time.
■ The service levels were adopted in the two Memorandums of Understanding in
2003 between Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro
City Schools (CHCCS) and Orange County, Hillsborough, and Orange County
Schools (OCS) after three years of negotiation.
■ The level of service is the standard that is monitored and evaluated in school
level projections to identify the CIP needs for future school construction. If the
level of service is met during the CAPS `test' in a given year, then housing
approvals must be delayed or deferred until the new school is scheduled to be
built. In over thirteen years of implementation, the CIP phase has identified in
advance the need for a school and additional capacity. As a result, the CAPS
`test' related to proposed development has not created a construction delay.
■ Level of service is calculated at the grade group level since membership may
vary between schools in a grade group from under capacity to overcapacity. To
be fiscally prudent, it is not necessary to build another school district-wide if
rebalancing can be done by redistricting.
• The level of service standard can be revised if all original parties are able to
agree on new service levels. A level of standard revised upward is usually easier
than the opposite because a reduction could potentially create a home building
moratorium or create an immediate financial burden on the County.
2. Residential Development in the City of Mebane
■ The City of Mebane lies partially within Orange County and students within the
Orange County portion of Mebane attend Orange County schools. However, the
City of Mebane is not a party to the SAPFO agreement and therefore does not
require that CAPS (Certificate of Adequate Public Schools) be issued prior to
development approvals. The first part of SAPFO, Certificate of Adequate Public
Schools (CAPS), is the testing and gauging of the student generation rate (SGR)
from development projects against available capacity within a school.
■ Though the City of Mebane does not request CAPS from OCS as part of their
process, students from new residential development are accounted for and
included in the second part of SAPFO (i.e. CIP needs phase; where actual new
enrollment from new development and existing housing is counted) where the
48
student projections are made and the capacity needs assessment is analyzed.
This part of SAPFO is the tracking of historical enrollment and the projection of
future student enrollment against existing capacity at a certain grade group level.
This is not directly related to a development project, but a current year outcome
of how many children actually `show up' in a school year. This includes non-new
project related students from existing housing stock.
■ The 10-year student projections developed for the SAPFO Annual Report
forecast future school needs based on current student membership numbers and
historic growth rates derived by the five projection models. Once students begin
to `show up' in a school year through annual reporting of student membership
numbers, 10-year student projections can be updated to display future capacity
needs in time to efficiently plan for future school construction requests.
■ The process accounting for students once they are actually enrolled in the school
system emphasizes a delay that exists from the time a residential development is
approved and developed to when students begin to enter the system. For
example, the significant proposed residential growth that has occurred in the
recent past within Mebane's jurisdiction (and Hillsborough as well) has yet to be
seen with OCS student membership numbers and fully realized into the
historically based projection methods due to the recession, charter schools, and
possibly new family dynamics affecting family size. Orange County staff will
continue to work with the SAPFO Technical Advisory Committee and our
planning partners to monitor future residential development throughout Orange
County.
3. Charter Schools
■ Charter Schools' membership and capacity numbers are not included in the
SAPFOTAC Annual Report. However, the SAPFO Technical Advisory Committee
does monitor charter schools and their effect on student enrollment at both
school districts. When issuing CAPS for new residential development, it is
assumed that students generated from the new development will all feed into the
public school system. As a result, the process does not account for possible
charter school enrollment resulting from new residential development. Including
charter school membership and capacity in the SAPFO process may be a difficult
element to implement since charter school students are not required to live in
Orange County. So students attending charter schools in Orange County may
not be Orange County residents. Forecasting for these unknown variables may
not provide feasible results when analyzing current and future student
memberships and capacities.
■ Two Charter Schools are currently operating in the Orange County School
district. Concerns were raised regarding the effects the closing of a charter
school may have on OCS and CHCCS capacity levels. Pace Academy High
School closed before the 2015-16 school year with no substantial effects on OCS
and CHCCS. Both school districts experienced a decrease in student
membership at the high school level. Some students from Pace Academy were
absorbed into the OCS and CHCCS systems, but others may have absorbed into
other public school districts or charter schools located outside of Orange County.
If a charter school does close and a spike is realized in school enrollment, the
student projections will likely accelerate the need in future years, still within an
appropriate time for CIP planning.
49
■ Although charter school students are not accounted for through the SAPFO
process, they are monitored by the Department of Public Institution (DPI) which
provides pupil information to the County for funding purposes.
■ Charter school enrollment is informally reported in the SAPFO Report's executive
summary.
4. Portable Classrooms
■ SAPFO projection numbers relating to capacity do not include portable
classrooms. If student membership temporarily exceeds 100% capacity, portable
classrooms may be used to alleviate the overcapacity. If projections show that
student membership is expected to exceed the adopted levels of service (105%
at elementary school level, 107% at middle school level, and 110% at high
school level) for an extended period of time, a new school servicing the affected
level(s) would need to be added to the CIP (Capital Improvement Program) in
order to be constructed in time to alleviate the projected overcapacity.
■ The SAPFO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) excludes mobile classrooms
as permanent, but they may be used to house temporary individual school
overcapacity situations. The SAPFOTAC Annual Report and projections includes
student membership numbers from portable classrooms, but not capacity
numbers of the portable classrooms. Therefore, SAPFO projections may show a
need for permanent classrooms earlier and the need for new schools is not
`masked' by the use of portable classrooms. If portable classroom capacities
were reported and included in the SAPFO projections, service levels may
decrease and push the need for permanent classrooms out further in the future.
The MOUs specifically state that only permanent buildings can be used to
calculate capacity and specifically exclude using mobile or temporary classroom
spaces as counting toward building capacity.
5. Pre-K Students
■ Although not included in SAPFO school capacity or membership numbers, Pre-K
programs continue to impact operations at District elementary schools where
Pre-K programs exist.
■ Both school districts struggle with locating and providing adequate space for Pre-
K programs. Newer schools are designed and constructed with Pre-K
classrooms; however, older schools are not forcing the school districts to absorb
Pre-K students into existing elementary schools. This decreases overall available
capacity for elementary school students. In some cases, portable classrooms
have been set up to accommodate Pre-K students at schools that do not have
the capacity in the existing school facility.
■ Pre-K students are informally reported in the SAPFO Report's executive
summary.
6. School Renovation and Redevelopment (Capacity Changes)
■ The SAPFO system can identify new `whole' school needs, but can also
accommodate partial capacity addition as in new school wings or planned
capacity expansions such as the prototype high school designs with a core for
1,500 students, but an interim capacity of 1,000 students.
■ As renovations occur that may add capacity, this information will be added to the
SAPFO program both in CAPS and CIP needs/student projections.
50
Attachment 2
STATEMENT OF APPROVAL AND CONSISTENCY OF
A PROPOSED UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT WITH
ADOPTED ORANGE COUNTY PLANS
Orange County has initiated an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to
revise its requirements for a plat signature block regarding adequate public facilities that requires
school system signature.
The Planning Board hereby recommends approval of the proposed text amendment and
issues this Statement of Consistency pursuant to NC GS § 160D-604 (d)Planning board review
and comments—Plan consistency. The Planning Board finds:
1. The requirements of UDO Section 2.8 Zoning Atlas and Unified Development
Ordinance Amendments have been met;
2. The amendment is consistent with the adopted 2030 Orange County Comprehensive Plan,
as prescribed by UDO Section 1.1.5 Statement of Intent—Amendments and Section 1.1.7
Conformance with Adopted Plans;
3. The amendment is consistent with the applicable plan because it supports the following:
a. Comprehensive Plan Land Use Goal 6: A land use planning process that is
transparent, fair, open, efficient, and responsive.
4. The amendment is reasonable and in the public interest because it removes an
unnecessary and time-intensive step from subdivision plat approval without
compromising the requirements or purpose of the Schools Adequate Public Facilities
Ordinance and the supporting Memoranda of Understanding.
The Planning Board hereby adopts this Statement of Approval and Consistency and the
findings expressed herein.
Adam Beeman, Chair Date
Attachment 3 51
SECTION • • ' PLAT DRAWINGS
7.13.3 Final Plat Specifications
(f) Where a property is recombining property that includes a vacant lot or an
existing dwelling the following statement shall be shown on the plat:
"The recombination of existing lots has been reviewed by the Orange
County Health Department, Environmental Health Division. Based on
available information, this proposal does not appear to adversely affect
the suitability of the lots for the issuance of an improvement permit, nor
the installation, maintenance, or repair of an existing wastewater system.
This certification is not an Improvement Permit or an approval for septic
system on any of the lots. Subsequent changes to the lots may affect
the ability to obtain Improvement Permits and/or Construction
Authorizations."
/n\ Where Info have been approved for recordation by either the Orange
\9! County School System or the Chapel HiII/Carrhnro Qrhnnl System the
following statement and endorsements shall appear on the final plat-
the
certify that the Into shown on this plot have been approved by
the vcnr'el SycSt8M fGFTccorivaiiGR
i date] in orrlonr.e�.�i+h +he RphAr,Io Adequate P u
pr or+o [insert hlir
Gor.ir+ies nrrainonGe
ChAorDate
Secretary Attest to
dt�
(h) All certificates and endorsement signatures on the Final Plat, except
those of the County Manager, Planning Board Chair, Planning Director
and Environmental Health Officer shall be notarized by the statement of
a Notary Public entered on the Final Plat. The Notary Public statement
shall be shown in substantially the following form:
"North Carolina County
I, a Notary Public of the County and State aforesaid, certify that
personally appeared before me this day and
acknowledged the execution of the foregoing certificate. Witness my
hand and seal this day of , 20_
"Seal or Stamp Notary Public
My Commission expires
(4) Certificate of Improvements
(a) If the required improvements are completed prior to the submission of
the Final Plat, then one of the following certificates shall be shown on the
plat and followed by the County Manager's signature:
"The County Manager hereby certifies that all improvements required by
the Orange County Subdivision Regulations have been installed as
specified by the approved Preliminary Plat for
Subdivision and that said improvements comply with Orange County
specifications."
County Manager: Date:
DRAFT 52
1 SUMMARY NOTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 OCTOBER 5,2022
4 TRAINING SESSION AND ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE
5
6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions and Ordinance Review Committee
7 meetings.
8
9 MEMBERS PRESENT: Whitney Watson, At-Large Representative; Beth Bronson, At-Large Representative;
10 Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair), Cheeks Township
11 Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township Representative;
12
13 STAFF PRESENT: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor; Tyler Sliger, Planner II; Pat Mallett,
14 Interim Current Planning Supervisor and Erosion Control, Stormwater& Engineering Supervisor; Carlos
15 Sanchez, Planning Technician: Tina Love, Administrative Support;
16
17 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER
18
19 AGENDA ITEM 3: ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE — UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT
20 AMENDMENTS — FINAL SUBDIVISION PLAT SIGNATURE BLOCKS — To review proposed
21 amendments to the LIDO that would remove the school district signature block on final
22 subdivision plats.
23 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
24
25 Tyler Sliger presented the proposed text amendments to the UDO regarding the removal of a school district
26 signature block on subdivision plats.
27
28 Lamar Proctor expressed serious reservations on removing the school district from being required to sign
29 all subdivision plats.
1
Attachment 5 53
Orange ENGAGE. CHALLENGE, INSPIRE.
County
Schools
NpRTk�c Rp!_!n!.r.
Orange County Schools
200 E. King Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
October 24, 2022
Orange County Planning Board
300 W. Tryon Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
To whom it may concern:
The Orange County Schools (OCS) supports the removal of signature lines for the Chair of the
Board of Education from subdivision plats. The text proposed for removal is not required by either
SAPFO or the MOUs. OCS staff support the proposed amendment as presented and request a
recommendation of approval from the Orange County Planning Board and approval by the Board
of County Commissioners. OCS further submits that its sole role in the lot approval process is the
issuance of a Certificate of Adequate Public Schools (CAPS) for any given development project.
OCS does not "approve" lots "for recordation,"and the requested certification is therefore never
applicable in any event.
Sincerely,
Patrick Abele
Deputy Superintendent
200 E.King Street -Hillsborough,North Carolina 27278 -919.732.8126 W W W.0 R A N G E C 0 U N T Y F I R S T.C 0 M
54
55
ORANGE COUNTY
PLANNING BOARD
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 7, 2022
Action Agenda
Item No. 10
SUBJECT: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment — Efficiency Apartment
DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
1. Statement of Consistency Tyler Sliger, Planner II (919) 245-2586
2. UDO Text Amendments Cy Stober, Director (919) 245-2592
3. Excerpt of Meeting Notes — October 5, 2022
ORC Meeting
4. Letter of Support — Orange County Aging
Department
5. Letter of Support — Orange County Housing
Department
PURPOSE: To review and make recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners
(BOCC) on County-initiated text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
regarding proposed revisions to the current standards for "efficiency apartments".
BACKGROUND: An "efficiency apartment" is an accessory dwelling to the primary single-
family dwelling on an individual property. The salient current use standards for efficiency
apartments in Section 5.5.3 of the UDO are:
• Maximum gross square footage of 1,000 ft. ( maximum of 800 sq. ft. can be
heated/cooled),
• Cannot be a mobile home, and
• The efficiency unit shall remain in the same ownership as the primary residence.
An efficiency apartment can give a property owner the ability to enhance their property use for
additional family members or to rent to a tenant. The current size limitation of 1,000 sq. ft. for
an efficiency unit can result in some property owners having to subdivide their property in
order to construct a larger unit, affecting the affordability of such homes and lots due to the
professional service costs and review fees in creating a new lot. The increased flexibility of the
proposed amendments will also allow for greater aging-in-place and multigenerational living
opportunities, as well as serving equity needs by better enabling less-resourced property
owners the abilities to realize viable secondary residences for rent or use by relations without
requiring subdivision of property.
In September 2021, the BOCC received information from a multi-department staff group
regarding expansion of affordable housing incentives and opportunities. The agenda materials
can be viewed at: Housing Affordability Study. Expanded use of accessory dwelling units was
56
included as a strategy to increase affordable housing options within Orange County,
Orange County is proposing to amend the UDO to:
1. increase the allowable size of an accessory dwelling unit to 50% of the primary
dwelling, or 1,500 sq. ft., whichever is greater;
2. allow mobile homes to be efficiencies; and
3. modern the language from "efficiency apartment" to "accessory dwelling unit" (ADU).
The proposed UDO text amendment help serve the goals and objectives of Orange County's
2022 Master Aging Plan and affordable housing strategy, as evidenced by the respective
letters of support from the Orange County Department on Aging and Department of Housing
(Attachments 4 & 5).
The Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) reviewed the UDO amendments at the October 5,
2022 ORC meeting (see meeting notes in Attachment 3).
Joint Planning Area (JPA) Review: In accordance with the Joint Planning Agreement with the
Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the amendment package was sent to the Town planning
staffs on September 16, 2022. To date, Orange County staff has not received any comments
from the Towns.
Planning Director's Recommendation: The Planning Director recommends approval of the:
1. Statement of Approval and Consistency indicating the text amendments are reasonable
and in the public interest, as contained in Attachment 1.
2. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) text amendments, as contained in Attachment 2.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There are no costs associated with this project other than the use of
staff time and the required legal advertisement for the text amendment's public hearing.
County staff has and will continue to accomplish the necessary tasks associated with
amending the UDO and the legal advertisement will be paid from budgeted funds for this
purpose.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Board:
1. Review the proposed UDO text amendments and deliberate as desired,
2. Consider the Planning Director's recommendation, and
3. Make a recommendation to the BOCC on the Statement of Approval and
Consistency (Attachment 1) and the proposed UDO text amendments (Attachment
in time for the January 17, 2023 BOCC meeting.
57
Attachment 1
STATEMENT OF APPROVAL AND CONSISTENCY OF
A PROPOSED UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT WITH
ADOPTED ORANGE COUNTY PLANS
Orange County has initiated an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to
revise its requirements for Efficiency Apartments.
The Planning Board hereby recommends approval of the proposed text amendment and
issues this Statement of Consistency pursuant to NC GS § 160D-604 (d)Planning board review
and comments—Plan consistency. The Planning Board finds:
1. The requirements of UDO Section 2.8 Zoning Atlas and Unified Development
Ordinance Amendments have been met;
2. The amendment is consistent with the adopted 2030 Orange County Comprehensive Plan,
as prescribed by UDO Section 1.1.5 Statement of Intent—Amendments and Section 1.1.7
Conformance with Adopted Plans;
3. The amendment is consistent with the applicable plan because it supports the following
goals and objectives stated in the plan:
a. Housing Element Goal 1: A wide range of types and densities of quality housing
affordable to all in all parts of the County.
b. Housing Element Objective H-1.6: Promote innovative approaches to housing
that are responsive to the needs of Orange County, maintain quality and human
scale, increase energy efficiency, and reduce construction and maintenance costs.
c. Housing Element Goal 4: Development ordinances and incentives that promote
inclusionary practices and housing options for all income levels.
d. Housing Element Objective H-4.1: Continue to permit HUD code-compliant
manufactured housing as a form of affordable housing in the County.
e. Housing Element Objective LU-4.1: Support the use of individual manufactured
housing units as a useful housing resource in the County by increasing the
opportunities where these units can locate by-right.
f. Housing Element Objective H-4.2: Expand assistance for elderly households
that have difficulty affording their home property tax.
g. Housing Element Objective LU-4.4: Encourage the provision of a range of
affordable and suitable low and moderate income housing by means of
58
development incentives in order to provide a balanced housing stock for the
residents of Orange County.
4. The amendment is reasonable and in the public interest because it creates more diverse
and affordable housing options in Orange County through the by-right use of residential
properties.
The Planning Board hereby adopts this Statement of Approval and Consistency and the
findings expressed herein.
Adam Beeman, Chair Date
59
Attachment 2
DIMENSIONALRATIO STANDARDS
Tract size, min./max. 5/100
(acres)
Tract Front Setback 40
from ROW, min. (feet)
-- Tract Side Setback, 20
min. (feet)
The purpose of the Home Park Conditional District (HP-CD)is to Tract Rear Setback,
provide for the development of properly located and planned 20
facilities for mobile home and temporary housing unit parks. min. (feet)
Adequate housing is fundamental to the welfare of county residents; Individual Mobile Home
however, conventional housing is not consistently affordable to, nor Space Size, min. 5,000
desired by,all members of the general public. There is also an (square feet)
identified need to provide some level of flexibility for transient
residents who need to reside within the area on a temporary basis.
Temporary Residential
Where properly regulated and located, Home Parks address the Unit Space Size, min. 2,000
public need for alternative housing and achieve a satisfactory (square feet)
relationship to adjoining and nearby property.
APPLICABILITY Individual Space Width, 50
min. (feet)
The district shall be located in such a manner as to be compatible Height, max. (feet) 25 [1]
with the character of existing development of surrounding properties,
thus ensuring the continued conservation of building values and Consistent with
encouraging the most appropriate use of land in the county. Tract Floor Area Ratio, residential uses in
Therefore,when evaluating an application for this district, emphasis max adjacent zoning districts
shall be given to the location of the proposed mobile home district,
the relationship of the site and site development plan to adjoining Consistent with
and the development itself. Required Open Space
property, p residential uses in
Ratio, min. adjacent zoning districts
Required Livability Consistent with
Space Ratio, min. residential uses in
DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS NOTES: adjacent zoning districts
[1]Two feet of additional height shall be allowed for one foot
increase of the required front and side setbacks. Required Recreation Consistent with
Space Ratio, min. residential uses in
adjacent zoning districts
HP-CD DISTRICT SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
1. Uses shall be restricted to those indicated for the HP-CD District in Section 5.2. Additionally, non-residential uses are
restricted based on the Watershed Protection Overlay District in which the property is located. Refer to Section 4.2.3 for
land use restrictions.
2. Development within the zoning district shall be subject to all applicable use standards detailed in Article 5 and all
applicable development standards detailed in Article 6 of this Ordinance.
60
3. The residential density permitted on a given parcel is based on the Watershed Protection Overlay District in which the
property is located. Refer to Section 4.2.4 for a breakdown of the allowable density(i.e.,the number of individual
dwellings that can be located on a parcel of property).
4. Allowable impervious surface area is based on the Watershed Protection Overlay District in which the property is
located. Refer to Sections 4.2.5 and 4.2.6 for a breakdown of the allowable impervious surface area.
5. See Section 5.5.4 for standards pertaining to Home Parks.
6. When a new home park is proposed to be located adjacent to an existing home park, the Standards in Section 5.5.4
shall be met.
7. Each home space shall contain only one designated temporary or permanent residential unit.Accessory Dwelling
UnitsE#iGi8RGY I lain are prohibited within HP-CD districts.
8. A Temporary Residential Unit shall be allowed within a given park for a maximum of 180 days.
9. All permanent residential units within a HP-CD shall be designed and built to the appropriate State and Housing and
Urban Development HUD standards and shall be served by permanent utility connections.
SECTION 5.5 STANDARDS
5.5.1 Accessory Structures and Uses
(A) Standards of Evaluation
(1) Accessory structures and uses, including recreational uses and amenities, shall
not be located in any required front open space and shall conform to the principal
setbacks of the district where located unless otherwise provided in this Section.
(2) An attached private garage, or carport, not exceeding 12 feet in height, may
occupy a portion of the required side open space, provided that this does not
result in a required side open space of less than 7% of the lot width, nor a total,
when combined with the required side open space of the lot immediately
adjacent, of less than eight feet.
(3) Mobile homes as accessory structures to residential uses are prohibiter)
5.5.3 Accessory Dwelling Unit(AD )Efficiency Apartment
(A) Standards of Evaluation
(1) Effi^ien^„apartment Accessory dwelling unit(ADU) shall be allowed only as an
accessory use to a single-family residence.
(2) There shall be no more than one
U4*ADU, whether detached or attached, on any lot.
(3) The gross square footage of the ,;tADU shall contain no more than
50% of the primary dwelling or 1,5004,009 square feet of gross floor area,
whichever is greater with a maximum limit of 800 square feet of heater!/cooler)
habitable living snore
(4) The residential lot shall meet all dimensional requirements of the zoning district in
which it is located.
(5) The eff'^'en^„ „pitnDU shall comply with the N.C. Residential Building Code and
HUD standards including minimum light/ventilation and room sizes.
(6) The ADU shall be served by an approved water
supply and sanitary facilities.
(7) The ADU shall remain in the same ownership
as the primary residence.
61
(8) An accessory `dwellinq unit will need to be a completo inde onrJont liiinry
r�r-r-a ccc��v cca�v-vim. complete,
fac'!'tv equipped with a kitchen and with prov'smon&for sanotatoop-and
5.5.5 Home Park
(2) Home Park Space Requirements
(a) A Home Park shall be divided into individual Home Park Spaces, each Home
Park Space having an area and width consistent with Section 3.8. The Orange
County Health Department may increase the minimum area requirements for the
park and/or individual Home Park Spaces where necessary to be consistent with
groundwater resources and/or the limitations of providing sewage disposal
systems for the proposed home park.
(b) Only one mobile home or Temporary Residential Unit and its customary
accessory buildings may be located within any Home Park Space at one time.
Additional AGGessery n,.,ol g , sADUsEffi^ior,^„ l�or Temporary
Residential Units shall not be permitted within an occupied Home Park Space.
(c) The location of each Home Park Space must be at an elevation, distance and
angle in relation to the adjacent access drive or street such that placement and
removal of the mobile home or Temporary Residential Unit is practical by means
of customary moving equipment.
(d) The surface of each Home Park Space and the area around it shall be graded
where necessary to provide proper drainage and prevent the accumulation of
water.
SECTION •AD ; CIRCULATION
6.9.7 Off-Street Parking Requirements
OFFICE
Offices and Financial Services,without a One space per 200 square feet of gross floor area
drive-thru facility
Offices and Financial Services,with a One space per 200 square feet of gross floor area; plus five
drive-thru facility stacking
spaces per drive-thru window
RECREATIONAL USES
Amusement Areas One space per 50 square feet
Athletic Field Ten spaces per field
Basketball Court Five spaces per court
Billiard or Pool Hall Two spaces per table
Botanical Gardens&Arboretums Two spaces per acre
Bowling Establishment Three spaces per lane
Camp/Retreat Center Five spaces for first two acres of recreation space and one space
for each additional acre thereafter
Golf Courses Two spaces per tee
One space per guest room, plus one space per employee.
Guest Ranch Additional parking may be required based on facilities and uses
ro osed.
Health Exercise Facility One space per 50 square feet
Pitch and Putt Courses Two spaces per tee
62
Shooting Ranges One space per target area
Skating Rink One space per 200 square feet
Subdivisions- Private Recreational
Facilities Five off-street parking spaces for first two acres of each
Dedicated Recreational Land recreational site plus one space for each additional acre thereafter
Swimming Pool One space for every five patrons, based on maximum design
capacity
Soccer Fields, Ball Fields Eight spaces per acre
Tennis, Handball, Racquet Ball Courts Two spaces per court
Basketball Courts Five spaces per court
Picnic Shelter Area One space for every ten patrons, based on maximum design
capacity
Swimming Pool One space per 140 square feet
Tennis,squash, Handball or Racquet Ball Two spaces for every court
Court
RESIDENTIAL
Dormitory, Fraternity, and Sorority One space per lodging resident member
Dwelling, Multi-family:
Accessory Dwelling Unit Ef One space per dwelling unit
One bedroom One and one-half space per dwelling unit
Two bedroom Twos aces per dwelling unit
Dwelling, Single Family One space per dwelling unit
Dwelling,Two Family One space per dwelling unit
Family Care Facilities One space per three residents;
One space per employee on the shift of maximum employment
Group Care Facilities One space per two beds;
Ones ace per employee on shift of the maximum employment
Health and Personal Care Facility One space per two beds;
One space per staff member
SECTION1DEFINITIONS
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)
dwellingAn aceesseFy unit that „ alleF than the igFoneeigal so dent„'' .dwelling The accessory dwelling
unit is situated on the same lot as the principal residence and may be '^,.ated y4tha^attached to the
principal residence or+ebe a separate building with a separate access.An accessory dwelling unit w+lE
facility e,d ,.,nth a l4trhen ;;Ad ..,nth n fe.-
sanitation an4 s'^^nin^must fulfill the qualifying characteristics of a dwelling unit, as defined in this
ordinance The aeceSS9F,.dwell*n.. u..4- i.. .^..+.�„+e,d+e 1,500 SEj Ua.e feet of heated living snaee
Dwelling Unit
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including
permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
63
Efficiency Apartment
outimne J wothon thmo Ordonance
DRAFT 64
1 SUMMARY NOTES
2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD
3 OCTOBER 5,2022
4 TRAINING SESSION AND ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE
5
6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions and Ordinance Review Committee
7 meetings.
8
9 MEMBERS PRESENT: Whitney Watson, At-Large Representative; Beth Bronson, At-Large Representative;
10 Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair), Cheeks Township
11 Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township Representative;
12
13 STAFF PRESENT: Perdita Holtz, Special Projects & GIS Supervisor; Tyler Sliger, Planner II; Pat Mallett,
14 Interim Current Planning Supervisor and Erosion Control, Stormwater& Engineering Supervisor; Carlos
15 Sanchez, Planning Technician: Tina Love, Administrative Support;
16
17 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER
18
19 AGENDA ITEM 4: ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE — UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT
20 AMENDMENTS — EFFICIENCY UNITS — To review proposed amendments to the LIDO
21 pertaining to efficiency apartments (also known as "accessory dwelling units" or
22 ADUs).
23 PRESENTER: Tyler Sliger, Planner II
24
25 Tyler Sliger presented the proposed text amendments to the UDO regarding efficiency units or ADUs.
26
27 Adam Beeman expressed objections to allowing mobile homes and disagrees that it is any more affordable
28 than a stick built residence but depreciates faster, has worse building design and is not a good addition to a
29 property or neighborhoods.
30
31 Delores Bailey stated that she is doesn't like ADUs but doesn't think it is fair to be prejudiced against
32 mobile homes.
33
34 Adam Beeman thinks ADUs should be allowed.
35
36 Lamar Proctor agreed that mobile homes are not desirable.
37
38 Beth Bronson requested the item come back to ORC prior to going to the regular meeting.
1
65
1
Orange County
Department on Aging
/endless possibilities Robert& Pearl Seymour Center 12551 Homestead Rd. I Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Jerry M.Passmore Center 1 103 Meadowlands Dr., PO Box 8181 I Hillsborough, NC 27278
November 18, 2022
The Honorable Renee Price
Orange County Board of Commissioners
P.O. Box 8181
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Dear Chair Price,
As you know Orange County has a growing aging population. In 2020, 21% of the
population was 60+ and by 2040 it will be 26%.This represents a 47.8% change in just 20
years; whereas, children aged 0-17 years are 17% of the population in 2020 and in 2040
will decline to 15% of the population which represents a 4.5% change. From 2010-2018
Orange County grew by 12,325 residents,while its 65+ age group grew by 7,575 residents.
This means 61.S% of Orange County's growth was from the population 65+.Among peer
counties, Orange County is second only to Chatham County in the share of county growth
driven by its 65+ age group (64.5%). The share of growth in this age group is substantially
higher than the state (53.7%).
As stated in the accepted Orange County 2022-27 Master Aging Plan, steps to improve
choice, quality,affordability, and stability of housing for older adults needs to be taken.
Housing is an important part of safe and comfortable aging in communities. Housing in age-
friendly communities should:
- Be affordable;
- Be close to services, or have transportation options;
- Have accessible design or offer modifications and maintenance;
- Provide a wide range of living options;
- Be integrated into the community at large, especially long-term care facilities; and
- Be safe and comfortable.
The proposed staff-initiated amendments to the Orange County Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO) will address several of these needs, as well as the adopted MAP Housing
Objectives 3.1 and 3.3 to "Expand the development of a wide array of housing models that
advance racial equity,livable design, and social connections for older adults;" and to
"Increase the number and types of affordable housing options, for rent or ownership,
suitable for older adults." The proposed amendments will allow for a wider range of living
Visit us online @ www.orangecountync.gov/departments/aging
Like us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/OrangeCountyDepartmentOnAging
66
options and more practical accommodations for independent and semi-independent living
than the current regulatory threshold of 800 square feet of heated space.The proposed
new heated space regulations for both attached and detached accessory dwellings better
serve the "livable design and social connections" needs established by Objective 3.1 and
will allow for property owners to explore various designs and sizes of housing options for
rent or ownership suitable for older adults identified by Objective 3.3.
At the November 8th meeting of the Advisory Board on Aging this proposed amendment
was discussed. We concur with the Planning staff that these amendments will better serve
adopted Orange County goals and objectives and allow for a more livable community for
Orange County residents of all ages. We hope that you will support the adoption of the
proposed amendments as presented.
Sincerely,
Janice Tyler, Secretary
Orange County Advisory Board on Aging
cc. Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager
Adam Beeman, Chair, Planning Board
67
w
ORANGE COUNTY HOUSING DEPARTMENT
NORTH CAROLINA
November 28, 2022
Orange County Planning Board
300 West Tyron Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
RE: Orange County Housing Department support for ADU amendment
Dear Chair Beeman and Planning Board Members,
Thank you for your consideration of the amendments to the Orange County Unified
Development Ordinance (UDO). The Housing Department enthusiastically supports these staff-
initiated amendments.
As a prosperous county with a higher median household income than the North Carolina
average, Orange County faces challenges in providing housing options at prices below a fair
market rate. "Affordable housing" is housing that is affordable to households with low incomes,
meaning that these households pay no more than 30% of their income for housing costs like
rent, mortgage, and utilities. In 2021, an Orange County renter earning the mean wage ($13.93)
would need to work 63 hours per week (1.6 full time jobs) to afford the Fair Market Rent for a
standard two-bedroom apartment ($1,134). For the fiscal year from July 2021—June 2022,
Orange County approved 291 new single-family residential homes with an average value of
$429,469.50 (note: this is the value of the home construction cost, not the home's sales price);
and 150 new residential additions with an average value of$87,057. As established in the chart
below, these home prices are generally beyond the abilities of the mean wage earners in
Orange County to purchase or rent.
Orange County North Carolina (statewide)
Fair Market Rent ("FMR") $1,134 $960
for a 2-bedroom apartment
Income Needed to afford a 2- $45,360 $38,400
j
bedroom apartment at FMR ($21.81 per hour) ($18.46 per hour)
Mean Wage earned by renters $16.37 per hour $13.93 per hour
Mailing Address Hillsborough Office Chapel Hill Office
P.O.Box 8181 300 W.Tryon Street 2501 Homestead Road
Hillsborough,NC 27278 Hillsborough,NC 27278 Chapel Hill,NC 27516
Telephone(919)245-2490 • Fax(919)944-8496
68
Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2022, htt,ps://reports.nlihc.or /oor/north-
carolina
The proposed staff-initiated amendments to the Orange County Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO) will address these concerns by offering a wider range of living options and
more practical accommodations for rental or ownership than the current regulatory framework
that limits "efficiencies" to 800 square feet of heated space. The proposed new heated space
regulations for both attached and detached accessory dwellings will better serve the needs of
median wage earners in Orange County, as well as property owners in offering such options
through increased investment in existing single-family lots throughout the county.
We concur with the Planning staff that these amendments will better serve adopted Orange
County goals and objectives and allow for a more livable community for Orange County
residents of all ages and incomes. We hope that you will support the adoption of the proposed
amendments, as presented.
Sincerely,
Corey Root
Housing Director