HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-12-2024; 7 - Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment – Appointment Discussion 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 12, 2024
Action Agenda
Item No. 7
SUBJECT: Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment — Appointment Discussion
DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Member and Applicant Summary Sheet Clerk's Office, 919-245-2125
Application of Applicant
Membership Roster
Applicant Interest List
PURPOSE: To discuss an appointment to the Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment.
BACKGROUND: The Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment is authorized to hear variance cases
regarding the provisions of the Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance and appeal cases
regarding decisions made by Town staff.
The Board of County Commissioners appoints one (1) resident representing the Chapel Hill
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, one (1) resident representing the Chapel Hill Extraterritorial
Jurisdiction or the Joint Planning Area, and one (1) alternate representing the Chapel Hill
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction or the Joint Planning Area.
The following position is presented for Board consideration:
NAME POSITION TYPE OF EXPIRATION
DESCRIPTION APPOINTMENT DATE
TERM
BOCC Chapel Hill Partial Term 06/30/2025
Appointee ETJ
If the position listed above is filled, the following vacancy remains:
POSITION EXPIRATION VACANCY INFORMATION
DESIGNATION DATE
Chapel Hill ETJ 06/30/2026 Vacant since 06/30/2023
or JPA
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item.
2
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goal is applicable to
this item:
• GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and
volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal
impact associated with this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss an appointment to
the Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment.
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Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment Members and Applicants
Name Member or Applicant? Gender Identity Race/Ethnic Background Age Range Township Also Serves on
Daniel Hatley Member Male White Chapel Hill
VACANT
VACANT
Benjamin(BJ)Warshaw Applicant Male White 35-59 Chapel Hill
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Page 1 of 5 Benjamin (BJ) Warshaw
Volunteer Application
Orange County Advisory Boards and Commissions
Name: Benjamin (BJ) Warshaw
Name Called:
Home Address: 1439 Smith Level Rd.
Chapel Hill NC 27516
Phone: 917-620-4969
Email: benjarwar@gmail.com
Year of OC Residence: 2015
Township of Residence: Chapel Hill
Zone of Residence: Chapel Hill ETJ
Gender Identity: Male
Ethnic Background: White
Age Range: 35-59
Community Activities/Organizational Memberships:
- LEVEL retreat (co-owner/founder, grassroots artist residency)
- Southern Entryway Alliance (founding member, neighborhood group focused on issues
around development in and around the Southern ETJ of Chapel Hill)
- Orange County Arts Commission (panelist, 2023-2024 Visual Artist Grants)
- Cosmic Rays (sponsor, local experimental film festival)
- Orange County Dems (member, former GoTV volunteer, web consultant)
- COVID Tracking Project (volunteer web development, data visualization)
Past Service on Orange County Advisory Boards:
N/A
Boards/Commissions applied for:
Chapel Hill Planning Commission
Please explain how your background, education and experience is relevant to this board
My wife and I moved to Chapel Hill in 2015 in pursuit of a better life. We had been living in New
Jersey, and before that metropolises (I in Brooklyn, she in Chicago). We had tired of big city life,
and longed for a community where we could put down roots and start a rural artist retreat and
farm. We're proud to say LEVEL retreat, our artist residency and goat farm, is now entering its
eighth year. We love our new home, and plan to live out our days on Smith Level Road (where,
perhaps, you have driven by and seen our goats lounging or playing on a giant trampoline).
I consider myself a cultural polyglot, a lover of knowledge and learning. During my
undergraduate studies at Tufts University, I opted for a major in English (BA, 1998) mostly
because it had the fewest number of requirements, which allowed me to pursue various interests
in addition to literature: sociology, film, music, computer science, feminism, and post-structural
critical theory.
After graduation, I moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where I became active in the
independent/DIY art and music scene. For over a decade, I toured in a rock band I co-founded
called Parts & Labor. This experience took me to every corner of the United States (I have
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Page 2 of 5 Benjamin (BJ)
visited 49 out of 50 states, and most major cities)as well as Canada, Europe, and Japan. These
travels exposed me to a wide variety of scenes and people, constantly pushing me out of my
comfort zones and past my cultural biases.
While living in Brooklyn from the late 90s through the late aughts, I bore witness to massive
development changes. I lived in a quasi-legal, converted warehouse along the East River. At that
time, it sat nestled between a recycling plant, a concrete plant, and a carpet factory. Now it is
surrounded by luxury condominiums and skyscrapers. That wave of development, while bringing
a ton of profit and prosperity to blighted and abandoned industrial neighborhoods, also had a
well-documented gentrifying effect. Seeing this process unfold firsthand (indeed being part of it
as a rider upon an early wave of artists moving to the neighborhood in search of affordable living
space)taught me an incredible amount about the complexities of urban development. Nothing in
this world comes without trade offs.
Before moving to North Carolina, my wife and I worked with a few others on a project to convert
the Strathmore Mill, an abandoned paper mill in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, into artist studio
spaces. While the project was ultimately unsuccessful, it was a crash course in complications
around redevelopment, zoning, town ordinances, environmental regulation, and financial
challenges. I have applied this knowledge consistently ever since, from our search for a property
to call home, through our many continued improvements restoring our circa 1957 house, as well
as in sculpting our property back towards agrarian pursuits.
Professionally, I work as a software engineering manager for Adobe. I've been doing web and
tech work to pay the bills since the first dot com boom in the late 90s. This kind of work requires
an incredible amount of focus, planning, collaboration, and foresight. I have learned to assume
nothing, and to plan for worst case scenarios. My technical skills (reasoning, data analysis,
software architecture, and distributed systems)are applicable to all manner of situations
requiring a "systems thinking"[approach, such as town planning. I am no stranger to intricacy,
process, and asynchronicity, having previously worked on projects spanning the globe from LA
to Bombay, with multiple parties in multiple time zones in between.
Overall, I believe I can bring a nuanced and passionate voice to the Chapel Hill Planning Board. I
will lead with facts and data-driven analysis while listening well to the hopes and fears of my
neighbors and communities. I will pull from my lived experience and wide array of skills to best
adjudicate upon and improve our collective planning goals.
Please explain your reasons for wanting to serve on this board
Since moving to Chapel Hill, I have been paying close attention to the changes around Town.
I've seen small independent businesses, like The Bookshop on Franklin Street, close due to
market forces and increasing expenses. My neighbors and friends include several former city
officials, and I've been soaking up their stories and learning from their decades of experience.
As a founding member of the Southern Entryway Alliance, I've been especially paying close
attention to issues involving the southern Chapel Hill ETJ, an area that lacks representation as
we cannot vote for Mayor or Town Council. I want to represent my neighbors and the interests of
our ETJs, especially as the seemingly inevitable pressure to build continues to grow.
My hope for Chapel Hill is that we can achieve our development goals (especially increased
housing)without unintentionally destroying the aspects of this community that make it such an
incredible place to live. Chapel Hill has a storied art and music scene, known internationally for
its vibrance. But I am seeing friends opt for other neighboring communities (or leaving the area
altogether) due to lack of affordability.
Similarly, I've been watching our green spaces (old forests, undeveloped lands, and farms)
wither against the onslaught of seemingly insatiable growth. These forces threaten to
permanently eliminate cultural and natural resources that we will never get back. I have been
learning about our stormwater management policies, state-level as well as local regulations, our
watersheds and the need to protect them, the continuing climate crisis and the inevitability of
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Page 3 of 5 Benjamin (BJ)
increasingly devastating weather events.
I strongly believe that there's adequate room for compromise. That we can build denser but
smarter, economically vibrant but environmentally secure. That Chapel Hill can remain an oasis
for artists and creatives. That, with intentionality, we can increase our cultural and class diversity.
If appointed to the Chapel Hill Planning Commission, I will be open-minded, thorough, data-
driven, empathetic, and egalitarian in my duties. I will seek opinions, particularly those in contrast
to my preconceived notions, and aim for solutions that acknowledge trade offs while benefiting
the greatest possible good for our Town.
How would your particpation on this board contribute to the diversity of viewpoints?
Let me be up front: as a white, cisgendered male, with a middle class background, I have
inherited an outsized amount of privilege in our society. I do not take it for granted. As mentioned
above, I have intentionally sought out diverse viewpoints and challenged myself with the
broadest possible spectrum of cultures, philosophy, arts, and people.
That said, my family is Jewish. While I am non-practicing, and I identify as white due to the
privilege bestowed upon me by my skin color, I am not a complete stranger to discrimination. I
am only two generations removed from family members who fled Europe to America to escape
persecution. Because of that history, I seek to pay close attention to cultures, races, and
communities that bear the brunt of prejudice and disenfranchisement.
In my professional life, being a manager has taught me to actively listen and seek out the
thoughts and opinions of the quietest team members. I have often learned the most from those
who are most afraid to speak. If appointed, I will make it my solemn responsibility to hear as
many viewpoints as possible, and approach my decisions with equity foremost in mind.
Do you have any personal or business interest(s)that could create a conflict of interest
(either real or perceived) if you are appointed to this board?
Since 2018, 1 ve been active and public with my concerns around various proposals by the
Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro to develop in the Southern ETJ of Chapel Hill. With
the Southern Entryway Alliance, I have been publicly advocating for a more transparent and
inclusive process around proposals, such as amending WASMPBA. My statements to Town
Councils and Board of County Commissioners are on the public record. I have a vested interest
in the shape of development in my community; this is precisely why I am applying for this
position. However, if appointed, I will strive to serve with an open mind, free from personal bias,
and recuse myself whenever necessary.
Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment
Please explain how your background, education and experience is relevant to this board
My wife and I moved to Chapel Hill in 2015 in pursuit of a better life. We had been living in New
Jersey, and before that metropolises (I in Brooklyn, she in Chicago). We had tired of big city life,
and longed for a community where we could put down roots and start a rural artist retreat and
farm. We're proud to say LEVEL retreat, our artist residency and goat farm, is now entering its
eighth year. We love our new home, and plan to live out our days on Smith Level Road (where,
perhaps, you have driven by and seen our goats lounging or playing on a giant trampoline).
I consider myself a cultural polyglot, a lover of knowledge and learning. During my
undergraduate studies at Tufts University, I opted for a major in English (BA, 1998) mostly
because it had the fewest number of requirements, which allowed me to pursue various interests
in addition to literature: sociology, film, music, computer science, feminism, and post-structural
critical theory.
After graduation, I moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where I became active in the
independent/DIY art and music scene. For over a decade, I toured in a rock band I co-founded
called Parts & Labor. This experience took me to every corner of the United States (I have
7
Page 4 of 5 Benjamin (BJ)
visited 49 out of 50 states, and most major cities)as well as Canada, Europe, and Japan. These
travels exposed me to a wide variety of scenes and people, constantly pushing me out of my
comfort zones and past my cultural biases.
While living in Brooklyn from the late 90s through the late aughts, I bore witness to massive
development changes. I lived in a quasi-legal, converted warehouse along the East River. At that
time, it sat nestled between a recycling plant, a concrete plant, and a carpet factory. Now it is
surrounded by luxury condominiums and skyscrapers. That wave of development, while bringing
a ton of profit and prosperity to blighted and abandoned industrial neighborhoods, also had a
well-documented gentrifying effect. Seeing this process unfold firsthand (indeed being part of it
as a rider upon an early wave of artists moving to the neighborhood in search of affordable living
space)taught me an incredible amount about the complexities of urban development. Nothing in
this world comes without trade offs.
Before moving to North Carolina, my wife and I worked with a few others on a project to convert
the Strathmore Mill, an abandoned paper mill in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, into artist studio
spaces. While the project was ultimately unsuccessful, it was a crash course in complications
around redevelopment, zoning, town ordinances, environmental regulation, and financial
challenges. I have applied this knowledge consistently ever since, from our search for a property
to call home, through our many continued improvements restoring our circa 1957 house, as well
as in sculpting our property back towards agrarian pursuits.
Professionally, I work as a software engineering manager for Adobe. I've been doing web and
tech work to pay the bills since the first dot com boom in the late 90s. This kind of work requires
an incredible amount of focus, planning, collaboration, and foresight. I have learned to assume
nothing, and to plan for worst case scenarios. My technical skills (reasoning, data analysis,
software architecture, and distributed systems)are applicable to all manner of situations
requiring a "systems thinking"[approach, such as town planning. I am no stranger to intricacy,
process, and asynchronicity, having previously worked on projects spanning the globe from LA
to Bombay, with multiple parties in multiple time zones in between.
Overall, as with the Planning Commission, I believe I can bring a nuanced and passionate voice
to the Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment. I pride myself in being able to analyze complex problems
and apply outside-the-box thinking. Regulations are made for legitimate and pragmatic reasons.
But, in my experience, the saying holds true: Rules are made to be broken. I believe sound
government attempts to apply fairness, equity, and foresight in its building codes and planning
charters, but that there will always be exceptions that provide tangible and widespread benefit.
If appointed to the Board of Adjustment, I will use my extensive problem solving skills,
community activism experience, and collaborative capabilities to equitably settle matters of
dispute and variance with the Land Use Management Ordinance.
Please explain your reasons for wanting to serve on this board
As I stated in my application for the Planning Commission, since moving to Chapel Hill, I have
been paying close attention to the changes around Town. I know that Chapel Hill has a
reputation of being overly deliberative when it comes to development, as well as amendment of
our Land Use Management Ordinance.
I have learned that certain policies have led to undesirable outcomes, such as the application of
form-based code that has led to massively dense development in the Blue Hill District. But I have
also seen developments, like Aura, take prolonged periods of review and adjudication before
being granted approval. From what I can tell, the Town has ambitious goals around increasing
housing in ways that are not yet formalized in the LUMO. This means the Board of Adjustments
serves an important role in ensuring that beneficial but explicitly forbidden projects can come to
fruition, and in reasonable time frames.
In any zoning or regulatory ordinance, there must be room for outlier cases and special use
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Page 5 of 5 Benjamin (BJ)
permitting. The Board of Adjustment sits in a unique position to decide on these matters, offering
an avenue for property owners, homeowners, renters, residents, and developers to appeal
administrative decisions. It would be an honor to help decide these appeals, ensuring fairness
for both the appealing applicants as well as any neighbors that might be negatively impacted by
variances from our building codes. I would give weight to all possible variables (equity, mobility,
environmental concerns, aesthetics, infrastructure, et al) in my decision making.
Living in the ETJ, specifically in the down-zoned R-LDS, gives me a heightened perspective of
our land use guidelines. I've been involved in and paying close attention to arguments around
rezoning in the ETJ, and of the town's desire to expand and diversify housing. As those changes
take time, I long to put my skills to work in driving better outcomes when various parties
development goals come into conflict with the existing law or each other. I would like to serve on
the Board not only to help property owners achieve their goals when they run counter to outdated
or unfair regulations, but also to protect residents from allowing variances that are not in the best
interests of our community.
How would your particpation on this board contribute to the diversity of viewpoints?
Let me be up front: as a white, cisgendered male, with a middle class background, I have
inherited an outsized amount of privilege in our society. I do not take it for granted. As mentioned
above, I have intentionally sought out diverse viewpoints and challenged myself with the
broadest possible spectrum of cultures, philosophy, arts, and people.
That said, my family is Jewish. While I am non-practicing, and I identify as white due to the
privilege bestowed upon me by my skin color, I am not a complete stranger to discrimination. I
am only two generations removed from family members who fled Europe to America to escape
persecution. Because of that history, I seek to pay close attention to cultures, races, and
communities that bear the brunt of prejudice and disenfranchisement.
In my professional life, as a manager in both small and large organizations, I have been in a
position of solving disputes. I have dealt with extremely difficult personal issues between
employees and my direct reports, complex projects spanning multiple departments, and
challenges organizing consensus across teams, time zones, continents, and corporations.
Through all of this, I have learned to listen first and to listen actively, to ask questions, to
challenge my biases, and to privilege the voices of disenfranchised groups. If appointed, I will
make it my solemn responsibility to hear as many viewpoints as possible, and approach my
decisions with equity foremost in mind.
Do you have any personal or business interest(s)that could create a conflict of interest
(either real or perceived) if you are appointed to this board?
See above.
Boards/Commissions appointments:
Other Comments:
This application was current on: 3/3/2024 6:47:19 PM Date Printed: 3/4/2024
9
Board and Commission Members
And Vacant Positions
Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment
Meeting Times: 7:30 pm First Wednesday of each month Contact Person:Brenton Hodge
Meeting Place: Chapel Hill Town Hall Contact Phone: 919-969-5055
Positions: 3 Length:3 years Terms: 2
Description: The Board of Commissioners appoints citizens to fill three County positions on this board. This board hears and decides
appeals from any decision or determination by the Town Manager,Council,or the Planning Board in granting or denying site
plan approval,or of the Appearance Commission in granting or denying sign plan approval or of the Historic District
Commission or Appearance Commission in granting or denying a Certificate of Appropriateness.The Chair is elected in
August for a one-year term.
VACANT
1 First Appointed:
Gender Identity: Township: Current Appointment:
Ethnic Background: Residency Req: ETJ-Chapel Hill Expiration: 06/30/2025
Age Range: Special Repr: B.O.C.C.Appointee Number of Terms:
Daniel Hatley
2 First Appointed: 05/23/2018
Gender Identity: Male Township: Chapel Hill Current Appointment: 05/04/2021
Ethnic Background: White Residency Req: ETJ or JPA Expiration: 06/30/2024
Age Range: Special Repr: B.O.C.C.Appointee Number of Terms: 2
VACANT
3 First Appointed:
Gender Identity: Township: Current Appointment:
Ethnic Background: Residency Req: ETJ or JPA Expiration: 06/30/2026
Age Range: Special Repr: B.O.C.0 Alternate Number of Terms:
Monday,March 4,2024 Page 1
10
Applicant Interest Listing by Board Name and by Applicant Name
Contact Person: Brenton Hodge
Chapel Hill Board of Adjustment Contact Phone: 919-969-5055
Benjamin(BJ)Warshaw
Gender Identity: Male Date Applied: 03/03/2024
Ethnic Background: White Township: Chapel Hill
Age Range: 35-59 Zone of Residence: Chapel Hill ETJ
Also Serves On:
Monday,March 4,2024 Page 1 of 1