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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.6.23 PB Agenda Packet 1 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT 131 W. MARGARET LANE, SUITE 201 HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 9;nngt Cory a r, AGENDA ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD WHITTED MEETING FACILITY 300 WEST TRYON STREET, SECOND FLOOR I-IILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 Wednesday, December 6, 2023 Regular Meeting — 7:00 pm No. Page(s) Agenda Item 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 4 -5 a. Planning Calendar for December and January 6 b. 2024 Planning Board Meeting Schedule c. Orange County Land Use Plan 2050 — Verbal Update on Expected Upcoming Engagement / Meetings APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3. 7 - 13 November 1, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes 14 November 1, 2023 Training Session 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 2 No. Page(s) Agenda Item .7 computers should please be turned off or set to silent/vibrate. Please be kind to everyone. 6. CHAIR COMMENTS 7. 15 - 20 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: Cy Stober, Planning Director 8. 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. Planning Board Member Potential Conflict of Interest It is the duty of every Board member to avoid both conflicts of interest and appearances of conflict. Board members having any conflicts of interest or appearances of conflict with respect to matters before the Board should identify the conflict or appearance of conflict and refrain from undue participation in the matter involved. As a reminder, NC General Statute § 160D-109 establishes the following standard: Members of appointed boards shall not vote on any advisory or legislative decision regarding a development regulation where the outcome of the matter being considered is reasonably likely to have a direct, substantial, and readily identifiable financial impact on the member. An appointed board member shall not vote on any zoning amendment if the landowner of the property subject to a rezoning 3 petition or the applicant for a text amendment is a person with whom the member has a close familial, business, or other associational relationship. If any Planning Board member has any concern about a possible conflict related to an agenda item, please notify Planning staff and get in touch directly with a member of the County Attorney's staff before the meeting time to determine whether a conflict exists— and if so, how best to handle the potential conflict. 4 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 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 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 BOCC Planning Board Business Meeting Meeting 7:00 pm* 7:00 pm Whitted Bldg. Whitted Bldg. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 BOCC Business Meeting 7:00 pm Southern Human Services Ctr. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 5 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 • Planning Board Meeting 7:00 pm* Whitted Bldg. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Board of Adjustment 7:00 pm Whitted Bldg. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 • BOCC BOCC Retreat Business 9:00 am— Meeting 4:00 pm 7:00 pm Southern Whitted Bldg. Human Services Ctr. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Assembly of Governments 7:00 pm Whitted Bldg. 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 6 Orange County Planning Board 2024 Meetings First Wednesday of Each Month 7:00 p.m. Whitted Meeting Facility, 300 West Tryon Street, 2nd floor, Hillsborough January 3 February 7 March 6 April 3 May 1 June 5 July 10 (2nd Wednesday due to holiday) August 7 September 4 October 2 November 6 December 4 7 1 MEETING MINUTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 3 NOVEMBER 1,2023 4 REGULAR MEETING 5 6 MEMBERS PRESENT:Adam Beeman (Chair), Cedar Grove Township Representative; Lamar Proctor(Vice-Chair), 7 Cheeks Township Representative; Steve Kaufmann, Bingham Township Representative; Statler Gilfillen, Eno 8 Township Representative; Charity Kirk,At-Large Representative; Beth Bronson,At-Large Representative; Chris 9 Johnston, Hillsborough Township Representative; Liz Kalies, Chapel Hill Township Representative; Marilyn 10 Carter, At-Large Representative. 11 12 MEMBERS ABSENT: Melissa Poole, Little River Township Representative; Whitney Watson, At-Large 13 Representative; Delores Bailey, At-Large Representative;. 14 15 STAFF PRESENT: Cy Stober, Planning & Inspections Director; Perdita Holtz, Deputy Director— Long Range 16 Planning&Administration; Tom Altieri, Senior Planner—Long Range Planning &Administration; Lauren Coffey, 17 Planning Technician. 18 19 OTHERS PRESENT: None. 20 21 22 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER 23 Chair Beeman called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM. 24 25 AGENDA ITEM 2: INFORMATION ITEMS 26 Chair Beeman discussed the meeting calendar for November and December. 27 28 AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES 29 30 August 2,2023 Regular Meeting Minutes 31 August 2,2023 Special Presentation Notes 32 August 2,2023 Training Session Notes 33 September 6, 2023 Training Session Notes 34 35 MOTION BY Lamar Proctor to approve the Meeting Minutes and Notes. Seconded by Beth Bronson. 36 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 37 38 AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS To AGENDA 39 No additions. 40 41 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE 42 Public Charge was not read. 43 44 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS 45 No comments. 46 47 AGENDA ITEM 7: UPDATE ON COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN(CLOP)—To receive a presentation on the on-going 48 CLUP process, including a recent public engagement event. 49 This update was presented by Tom Altieri, Senior Planner—Long Range Planning &Administration. 50 51 Tom Altieri presented an update on the Land Use Plan 2050 process. The update included discussion of consultant 52 deliverables,what has been completed thus far, current work, and what is coming next in the process,as well as a 53 high-level overview of the first public workshop that was held last Thursday night. Mr.Altieri informed the Planning Board 54 that the Board of County Commissioners has approved a contract amendment adding additional meetings between the 8 55 consultant and the Board of County Commissioners and have chosen the project name of Orange County Land Use Plan 56 2050,the tagline"Guiding Our Future,"and a logo. Mr.Altieri also described the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) 57 database which includes organizations, businesses and other groups and individual contacts that are representative of the 58 County's DEI communities to support promotions throughout the process and to help in our outreach efforts. The project 59 team will continue to work with Clarion on targeting notification and where future meetings will be held. 60 61 Lamar Proctor: Can you give me an example of groups and how you obtain information about which groups? 62 63 Tom Altieri: So, I certainly can. That database includes 244 organizations in it. Representing these various groups are 64 Black, Indigenous and People of Color,the DEI-focused organizations I mentioned,women and veteran-owned 65 businesses, as well as additional non-profit volunteer organizations. So, there are quite a few there, and the concept is 66 hopefully these organizations can help us get the word out. You know,they all maintain their own distribution lists and so 67 forth so that we can garner some good participation throughout the process, not just in person but our online engagement 68 as well. 69 70 Chris Johnson asked whether the member organizations know they are on the list. Mr.Altieri clarified that most do. 71 72 Tom Altieri continued to update the Planning Board on efforts by the consultant team including community engagement in 73 the Plan. This included presenting photographs from the workshop, how engagement is tracked, and further efforts to 74 improve engagement, specifically targeting members of identified marginalized communities. Mr.Altieri discussed the 75 workshop on October 261", including the format,type of activities held,turnout, and feedback. Mr.Altieri explained digital 76 engagement with the Plan and features on the Plan's website. The project team is planning future engagement,with a 77 focus on making use of community events. 78 79 Beth Bronson: So,this equity database is an Excel spreadsheet at the moment? 80 81 Tom Altieri: It is. 82 83 Beth Bronson: And are there plans to actually turn it into a database are part of the budget or part of the plan? 84 85 Tom Altieri: I think the spreadsheet is the product,and the plan is to continue to add organizations if we're able to 86 research, and instead of a generic email address, obtain a name of a person and a direct email address. And so we'll 87 continue to work on that with the consultant team. But it will be used to both target groups as well as to help us advertise. 88 89 Beth Bronson: Absolutely. It's an opportunity, I think. This would just, I guess, be a comment. We have an opportunity 90 to expand in a database of businesses, stakeholders, and community members and leaders who are involved in the DEI 91 process but also are looking for more exposure, either within the county or within the state, or looking for more inclusion. 92 So, in more of these types of conversations, it would be something to see if,turning this into an actually searchable 93 database either internally for the county or publicly for other departments to use for future efforts in the Chamber of 94 Commerce, Economic Development, Planning, Inspections, Board of Commissioners. I can see a lot of opportunities for 95 the Commissioners to be able to use that in other areas. It would just be a good note. 96 97 Cy Stober: So the Director of our Office of Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Shamika Fairbanks, has expressed a keen interest in 98 this database and speaking with Tate Consultants. So, any engagement with the Commissioners or the Boards will be 99 something she works with our contractor consultant on as a byproduct of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. It's kind of a 100 happy accident, I guess. I don't know if accident's the right word, but it was not necessarily the intention of the 101 Comprehensive Land Use Plan to get a robust database for equity and inclusion as a product to this level, but frankly,she 102 shared with Tom and myself that we don't have anything like this at our fingertips to date, so it would be an asset for her 9 103 office and department and for the county at large. So that's a continued conversation we'll be having with Dr. Fairbanks, 104 and I think TBD on what that exactly looks like. 105 Beth Bronson clarified the selection approach for the interviews. Tom Altieri clarified that they targeted hard to reach 106 communities. 107 108 Beth Bronson and Tom Altieri discussed the naming of the Land Use Plan and the history of planning processes in Orange 109 County. 110 111 Marilyn Carter:Thank you, Beth. So, I had the opportunity to attend the session at the Bonnie B.Davis facility last weekand 112 it was certainly fun. I will say that. And it was certainly informative. There was a lot of great information that was presented 113 to the participants. One of the things that I did observe was,and of course I'm very happy to hear that the asynchronous 114 online engagement is coming up, it's going to be a great opportunity to reach out through that DEI resource to identify 115 participants. And one of the questions that I had was as we look at bringing that engagement in, is some of the way that 116 we're going to be bringing people together going to be in the community in addition to being in some of these very 117 accessible places like the Bonnie B. Davis facility? Perhaps like the Social Services Building in Chapel Hill. Are there 118 going to be some activities planned,for example, in churches and in Latino communities? Perhaps some of the less easily 119 thought of areas where people feel comfortable engaging and being open because they're surrounded by people that look 120 like them,that are in their community that they live with? 121 122 Tom Altieri: I did mention the Agricultural Summit, and so that is one example that we have discussed with the consultant 123 team thus far. And we'll be discussing other opportunities with them on locations and we expect a mixed group to come to 124 us, or do we go to them. I can tell you what the contract includes. And so,there are three public workshops, each one 125 opening up an engagement window, and then approximately six meetings in addition to that that could be floating. So,we 126 could have more upfront,more at the end. But two of those six are the ones that we're looking at targeting for January. And 127 so those would be community meetings different from the meetings with the Planning Board, the Board of County 128 Commissioners, and then the public hearings. So that's what's in the contract. 129 130 Beth Bronson and Marilyn Carter discussed meeting timing,workshop format,and potential outreach efforts by the project 131 team and by the Planning Board with Tom Altieri. 132 133 Marilyn Carter: One follow-on question I'll be most interested in is to hear,once we have the DEI and we're exercising that 134 to reach out to the community, is the multimodal—how are we reaching them? Are we reaching folks through email? Are 135 we reaching folks,of course, on social media? Are we reaching folks through telephone calls? I'll be very interested in 136 hearing how that is going in that element of the plan. 137 138 Tom Altieri: I could give you a quick rundown of how we notified for the workshop. So,we have our list of advisory board 139 members. These would be the ones that were identified as really land use stakeholders, there's seven or eight of those. 140 So,their memberships were emailed. A little over 50 organizations that our consultant identified through the database 141 where we had existing contacts. So,they were sent emails as well. These would be with flyers included in English and in 142 Spanish. With the help of our Community Relations department, they pushed out in both English and Spanish notices on 143 Facebook, X, Instagram, and Nextdoor,which reaches,they say, 53,000 people. We had notices in the weekly Orange 144 County newsletter, I'm sure you probably received those,as well as our department monthly newsletter. There is a banner 145 with a link to additional information on the County's main home page. So,if you go to the home page,there's a link there on 146 where you can get more information. I think it's our nice new logo that's there. We have that project-specific website that 147 is linked from our department website. And then finally,throughout the various monitors and County buildings,there was a 148 newsflash there advertising for that meeting. So that's how we did it the first time around. Again, not targeted but,you 149 know,a pretty good blast out there. And so,as an initial meeting,we were pleased with the turnout. But we do need more 150 diversity. 10 151 Beth Bronson clarified that Tate Consulting is a sub-consultant for Clarion. 152 153 Chris Johnson asked if childcare was provided at the workshop meeting. Mr.Altieri stated that there was not. Mr.Johnson 154 explained that he felt this was successful when offered for a meeting for the Town of Hillsborough. 155 156 Chris Johnson asked if a translator was present at the workshop. Mr.Altieri confirmed that there was and the services were 157 not needed. 158 159 Chris Johnson: That kind of goes into my next question. So,we're having these workshops and this outreach and that sort 160 of thing. The methods of communication that you listed,the newsletter and so on and so forth feels a lot like the kind of 161 thing where the kind of people who are plugged into that are the people who are already plugged into that. And I guess my 162 question is:what happens if we get to the end of this process and the workshops continue to be of the makeup that they 163 are? Like,what does failure look like,and what do we do? Is there going to be an opportunity during the process where we 164 say, "hey,this isn't working and let's try something else,"or do we continue on and,you know, say, "hey,we did our best 165 and that's that?" 166 167 Tom Altieri: So our consultant did ask us, you know, is there another project that we can use as a benchmark to gauge 168 success and the Climate Action Plan,which is coming across the finish line here,was identified as a benchmark,as a goal 169 to exceed. And of course,you know, above and beyond is great, but that's how, at least for now,they're going to be 170 measuring success. And, if I may add,we're already having that conversation. We were already disappointed by, not 171 necessarily the number of people who turned out, I think it was a great turnout for our first event, but I suppose we were 172 disappointed that it was exactly who we expected to turn out. So we're already having an internal conversation. We'll be 173 speaking with both of our consultants about the need to make a concerted effort to meet with underrepresented 174 communities on their terms and in locations that they feel comfortable meeting in. So that's a work in progress, but we've 175 already had that conversation, and we'll be having that conversation to up our game for the next round of engagement. 176 177 Chris Johnson and Tom Altieri discussed the website for the Plan,including translation options. Board members discussed 178 the website and possible issues in navigation. Chris Johnson requested more readily apparent access to translation 179 options. Mr.Altieri encouraged Board members to email him with any comments on user-interface changes. 180 181 Lamar Proctor inquired about using news or print media to promote the Plan. Mr.Altieri discussed Community's Relations 182 approaches for promotion,including a press release that was not picked up by the media. Mr. Proctor proposed the idea of 183 a mailer to be sent to residents, potentially with the tax bill. 184 185 Charity Kirk: [On attending the workshop] I didn't feel like I actually provided much feedback. I put a lot of dots on things, 186 and I got told things. And if I was someone that was less involved, I don't think I would feel satisfied with that. Like, I don't 187 know why anyone else came to the meeting. Like,we had, I had no conversations with anyone else in these areas,which 188 people had to define what these areas were, like the kitchen and things, and then they had to explain it. But the people in 189 my group, I don't know why,what brought them there or why they came. And this is not the first time I've been to one of 190 these sessions where I feel like I'm being talked at and my feedback.There's not an open interview type of question of why 191 did you come,what was your interest in this. It's just,there's sort of a very open-ended aside. It feels like an aside. But this 192 is not the first time I've been there where it wasn't super satisfying with just the dots and just sort of the lists of things going 193 on and being told what's going on. Now,that's just my personal opinion. So I would suggest as you're moving forward with 194 these other groups—which I might have suggestions for your database, I'm not sure, I would have to see your database. 195 But how do you engage people in what they value without, like being told—I mean, it's an interesting balance, and I don't 196 think that any of the projects I've been involved with have gotten it. They are very much more"do you want A, B or C," 197 rather than, "why are you interested in this,why did you come here,what do you think you can provide?" And maybe I'm 198 thinking more of people than not,and maybe this isn't helpful to you, but that's the feeling that I've gotten from some of my 11 199 participation in these activities. So, I would suggest trying to do more open interview style questions or less structured. At 200 least have something where there's a conversation allowed that's less structured where a moderator is sort of listening,but 201 it's not too long because if it gets too long,then people can go off. It's just an interesting balance. 202 203 Tom Altieri: Okay. So that's good feedback, and we'll share that with our professional consulting team to help us plan for 204 the subsequent meetings. 205 206 Steve Kaufman provided the idea of having a large hall with diagrams and a floating style,which was used by the 207 Department of Transportation (DOT)for other projects. 208 209 Adam Beeman emphasized that there is a need to educate the public on legislative changes that have impacted Orange 210 County, specifically 160D. 211 212 The Planning Board discussed the difficulties of achieving public attendance for meetings in the evening. 213 214 Planning Board members discussed other engagement ideas for the Plan, including attending Hillsborough's Last Friday 215 and the Farmer's Market and potentially having the Planning Board table at some of these events. Beth Bronson discussed 216 having board members from other jurisdictions'advisory boards promote the event. 217 218 Tom Altieri: That is actually an ongoing organic conversation with Clarion actually, because they've done it a number of 219 different ways in engaging with municipalities. But it needs to be crystal clear to the public that we will not be looking at the 220 towns, the municipalities'zoning or land use practices,and really having minor commentary on that and partnerships with 221 them. But we won't be looking at their land use or their zoning as part of this effort other than where the overlap is. 222 223 Cy Stober: Well,and this is Tom's project, I do want to identify that he worked very closely with Clarion. We interviewed all 224 the planning directors of the municipalities, and we made sure that their mayors and their managers are aware of this, or 225 our manager has made sure that their managers are aware of our comprehensive planning efforts. So,there are things 226 that are less visible that are happening, but all those planning directors were interviewed as part of the stakeholder 227 interviews for our comp plan. 228 229 Chris Johnson: But that's a fair point. If this isn't in touching the incorporated areas,the Hillsboroughs and the Chapel Hills 230 or whatever, it may be confusing to the public if we set up shop in the municipalities and then are handing out information 231 that doesn't affect them in the slightest. 232 233 Cy Stober: Yes, and again,we've had long conversations with Clarion about this. Wake County, they had a very robust 234 engagement effort,and that was with all the municipalities in Wake County. Clarion did the work there. They had to make 235 that distinction very clear and just basically,you can never say it enough times. This is not for Cary. This is not for Raleigh. 236 This is,you know, not for Morrisville. This is for the County. 237 238 Statler Gilfillen proposed the idea of holding the meetings with simultaneous virtual participation. 239 240 Cy Stober: What we've heard both at the planning conference this past year and prior kind of professional discussions is 241 that no,the folks who are attending virtually are disadvantaged inherently because you have to have a very concerted effort 242 to make sure that they essentially have an advocate watching the screen who can intervene and disrupt the more organic 243 conversation happening with the in-person meeting and say"we have comments from online." It's not impossible, but it 244 takes a lot of effort to create a sense of fairness. 245 12 246 Charity Kirk asked if an online only meeting gets better involvement and it was discussed that while a virtual meeting can 247 be done, staff has been informed by the consultants of the difficulty. 248 249 Beth Bronson discussed having a presentation by the consultant team at a public meeting to allow residents to come hear 250 the presentation and offer public comment. 251 252 Adam Beeman suggested making a YouTube video of the presentation. Charity Kirk suggested using Facebook video 253 advertising. Mr. Beeman also suggested using a QR code at local store registers. 254 255 Online versus in person participation was discussed. Mr.Altieri stated that with the Climate Action Plan and the 256 Countywide Strategic Plan,there was more robust engagement with an online format. 257 258 Statler Gilfillen proposed the idea of having local students create a video to promote and inform the public of the 259 Comprehensive Plan. 260 261 Adam Beeman proposed to include information on the Plan in a school newsletter, using the example that he gets a 262 newsletter from Orange High School weekly. 263 264 Marilyn Carter stated the need to have more concentrated focus on encouraging public participation. 265 266 Chris Johnson acknowledged that the current Planning Board makeup does not exemplify diversity. 267 268 Beth Bronson: I would like to make a motion that we add a presentation,the same presentation that's given to the BOCC. 269 Is there any way we could duplicate that to the public, or to the Planning Department? Whatever they present to the 270 Planning Department or to the BOCC, they just do a repeat presentation to the Planning Board? 271 272 Cy Stober: You could recommend it,it would have to be a budget amendment and a scope amendment to our contract with 273 Clarion. So, it would probably cost about,somewhere in the neighborhood of$7,000 or more dollars to do that. 274 275 Beth Bronson retracted her motion and discussed attendance of Planning Board members to the BOCC work session. Ms. 276 Bronson stated that the Planning Board needs to think of a way to involve the public in a public hearing format to gain more 277 feedback. 278 279 Beth Bronson: We could add this to our agenda. Any time we meet,there could be an agenda item that addresses us 280 holding ourselves accountable for public outreach. 281 282 Charity Kirk: I think an agenda item would be beneficial if there's something that the public is coming to already, but we 283 don't have that much stuff going on right now. I don't I feel like a 20-minute report at the beginning of a meeting before 284 something else to just inform anybody who's here. 285 286 The Board and staff discussed having a brief debrief of the Plan at next meeting of the Planning Board that would have an 287 item likely to generate public turnout. 288 289 Beth Bronson: What about a regular agenda item to address any status change or updates to the Comp Plan that will be 290 going along with any upcoming agenda items that will go in that meeting. So, if we just left it at the item of: "Is there an 291 update?" "No." "Is there an update?" "Yes." 292 13 293 Charity Kirk: Well,your point is you don't want to use that time to update us. You want to use that time to educate the 294 audience. 295 296 Beth Bronson: By updating us,you are making it public record. So, it's just a thought. And I think that if it was to continue 297 and to be something that's consistent, one, it would be a way to garner involvement of the public on things that aren't so 298 contentious, and two, it would be a way for us to say, "here's a solution,"other than what you should do. 299 300 Charity Kirk: Can staff consider it and come back to us with a suggestion of its value towards the process of the land use 301 planning? 302 303 Cy Stober: I think it's worthwhile looking at what Clarion scheduled for presentation to the Commissioners already is to be 304 and coordinating with that as well as some of the other land use matters that are likely to come to the Planning Board over 305 the next 18 months. 306 307 The Planning Board discussed the budget amendment that has already occurred with the contract with Clarion. 308 309 The Planning Board had no further questions. 310 311 AGENDA ITEM 8: ADJOURNMENT 312 MOTION BY Lamar Proctor to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Chris Johnson. 313 MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 314 The meeting adjourned at 8:23 PM. 14 1 SUMMARY NOTES 2 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 3 NOVEMBER1,2023 4 TRAINING SESSION 5 6 NOTE: A quorum is not required for Planning Board Training Sessions. 7 8 MEMBERS PRESENT: Marilyn Carter, At-Large; Beth Bronson, At-Large; Statler Gilfillen, Eno Township; Chris 9 Johnston, Hillsborough Township 10 11 STAFF PRESENT: Perdita Holtz, Deputy Director— Long-Range Planning &Administration; Cy Stober, Planning & 12 Inspections Director; Lauren Coffey, Planning Technician 13 14 15 AGENDA ITEM 1: PLANNING BOARD TRAINING SESSION — Staff will lead training designed for recently appointed 16 Planning Board members on basic aspects of land use regulation in Orange County. 17 18 PRESENTER: Perdita Holtz, Deputy Director— Long-Range Planning &Administration 19 20 Perdita Holtz conducted a training session on plans and agreements that affect planning in Orange County, 15 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 6, 2023 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 19. 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. Orange County Land Use Plan 2050 2. UDO Amendments to streamline and clarify regulations and respond to recent court decisions 3. Climate Action Plan and potential for collaboration on implementation These topics are accented on pages 2 and 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. An example of these tasks is work related to the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO). RECOMMENDATION(S): The Planning Director recommends the Planning Board: 1. Review the attached document prior to the meeting. 16 2. Discuss members' ideas about any additional activities to be worked on in 2024 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 3, 2024 meeting in order to meet the January 19 due date. 17 NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Planning Board Report Period: 2023 calendar year for annual report; 2024 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, abeeman4784(cD-yahoo.corr (Note: the Planning Board elects a Chair and Vice-Chair every January; if the Chair changes in January 2024, the 2024 Chair would be the presenter) Primary County Staff Contact: Cy Stober, Planning Director; secondary contact: Perdita Holtz, Deputy Director— Long-Range Planning & Administration 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 2023, the Planning Board accomplished the following: • Reviewed and made a recommendation on the following applications: o Conditional District rezoning at the southwest corner of White Cross Road and Highway 54 West (Dollar General) 18 o Multi-part application for Mount Carmel Baptist Church for portion of a parcel annexed into Orange County from Chatham County o Conditional District rezoning for Edenview Subdivision on Dairyland Road, a 38-lot subdivision on 190 acres o Conditional District rezoning for an MPD-CD application on Lawrence Road • Held a work session on amendments to the Planning Board's Rules of Procedure and proposed amendments that were adopted by the BOCC. • Commencement of Orange County Land Use Plan 2050 • Completed five 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 2023, there was not direct collaboration with other advisory boards (e.g., joint meetings). Some Planning Board members serve on more than one advisory board. Identify any activities this board/commission expects to carry out in 2024 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 2024 BOCC retreat (not in priority order): 1. Orange County Land Use Plan 2050: Work on this plan commenced in the summer of 2023 and will continue for two years. 2. UDO Amendments: Planning staff's "UDO Task Force" reviewed the UDO in 2023 19 and compiled an extensive list of potential UDO amendments that would streamline and clarify the regulations and respond to recent court decisions. Planning staff anticipates commencing work on several topic areas in 2024. 3. Climate Action Plan: Invite the Sustainability Projects Manager to present the County's Climate Action Plan to the Planning Board with the objective of both information and identifying areas of potential collaboration. 4. Continue Training for Planning Board Members: Planning staff will continue to offer training to Planning Board members on an as-needed basis (including the 5- module training for newly appointed members). 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. 2024 BOCC Retreat: Any priorities that emerge at the January 2024 BOCC retreat, including direction on implementation of an adopted Countywide Strategic Plan. 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. 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. 3. 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. 4. Rural Enterprises: As part of the analysis for the Land Use Plan 2050, 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 existing Comprehensive Plan and the UDO to better enable retail services or other uses in identified RANs. 5. Transportation Issues: As part of the analysis for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2050, determine if rural "transit oriented development" could be hubs of transit located in the rural community nodes. Focus should be on transit dependent populations and their connection to other transit infrastructure, and account for implementation of the North-South Bus Rapid Transit line between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. 6. 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 20 for study (i.e., supportive infrastructure analysis) and potential discussion with public and non-profit utility providers as growth in Orange County continues. This could serve both economic development and affordable housing concerns.