HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-22-2009 Workshop MeetingMINUTES
Board of Commissioners Monthly Workshop
Monday, June 22, 2009 7:00 p.m.
Town Barn
PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Evelyn Lloyd, Frances Dancy, Brian Lowen,
L. Eric Hallman, and Mike Gering.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Ken Trivette, Zack
Vernon, Jessica Dockery, Holly Snyder, David McCullough, and Mark Bell.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Mark Rhoades.
STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Eric Peterson, Assistant Town Manager/Public Works
Director Nicole Ard, Town Clerk/Director of Administration and Human Resources Donna
Armbrister, Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Planner Stephanie Trueblood, Planning Intern
Aspen Price, Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, Finance Director Greg Siler, and Town Attorney
Bob Hornik.
1. Open the Workshop
Mayor Stevens called the workshop to order at 7:01 p.m.
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2. Agenda Changes Agenda Approval
7:01:50 PM Town Manager Eric Peterson added a Closed Session item to seek advice from
the Town Attorney regarding contract issues with Gold Park.
Commissioner Hallman and Commissioner Lowen added a discussion of the Cornelius Street
Plan before the discussion with the Historic District Commission.
7:03:18 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the
Board moved to approve the Agenda as amended by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared
passed.
3. Committee Updates and Reports
7:03:37 PM Commissioner Hallman said that regarding the TAC, they had survived another
test and they remained a containment area.
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Commissioner Lowen said he was serving on the Orange Community Housing and Land Trust
Board, and he had spoken to Robert Dowling about his new job which required evening work
and that he would no longer be able to serve on that Board. He said Mr. Dowling had asked if
someone from the Town Board would be willing to take over his position on the Land Trust
Board. Commissioner Lowen added that the Land Trust Board met on the third Wednesdays of
the month at 6 p.m.
Commissioner Hallman said he could possibly serve on that Board, and asked when
Commissioner Lowen would be stepping down. Commissioner Lowen responded unfortunately,
it would be immediately because of his job. Commissioner Hallman said he believed he was the
alternate to that Board. Commissioner Lowen agreed that he was.
Mayor Stevens said then for the rest of the current term Commissioner Hallman could fill that
spot, and then when regular yearly appointments were considered they could look at it again.
Mr. Peterson asked if the appointee had to be a Commissioner. Commissioner Lowen said he
would check on that.
Mayor Stevens asked Commissioner Hallman to let Mr. Peterson know if he would be unable to
attend a meeting so that someone could sit in for him. Mr. Peterson said he believed they had
appointed a citizen at one time, but she had stepped down.
Commissioner Lloyd stated the Fire Department Board had held its annual meeting and now had
two new members. She said there had been a turnover in the Board, with a new president who
was very capable and was a Durham firefighter, as well as other new officers.
7:07:54 PM Mr. Peterson said that Town Attorney Bob Hornik's son, Kevin, had been named
a High School All American in Lacrosse this week. The Board offered Mr. Hornik
congratulations on his son's achievement.
4. Public Hearing and Resolution Authorizing the Filing of an Application with the Local
Government Commission for Financing the Purchase of Property to be used as a Fleet
Maintenance Facility
7:08:38 PM Mayor Stevens opened the public hearing, and asked if anyone wished to speak on
the issue, but determined that there was no one present who wished to speak.
7:09:25 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the
Board moved to close the public hearing.
Mayor Stevens said for the record, the public hearing was for the purpose of considering the
purchase of real property to be used as a Fleet Maintenance facility, and the Town now had the
opportunity to purchase a property that would serve as well as a new facility and at less expense.
He said the Town had had that item on its agenda to accomplish for some time, and they could
now do so at much less cost to taxpayers.
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7:09:59 PM Mr. Siler said they had estimated that the savings by purchasing this property
compared to construction of a new facility would save the Town at least $425,000, and
realistically that figure was even higher. He pointed out that he had contacted a bank to
determine what the current rates were, and the quote was 5.1 and he hoped that estimate was
on the high side since just a few weeks ago they had been able to refinance the reservoir at
3.69 Mr. Siler said hopefully when they put the bid out they would receive a more attractive
rate, even though the rates appeared to be moving up and down at will.
The vote to close the public hearing was 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
7:11:29 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Gering, seconded by Commissioner Dancy, the
Board moved to approve the resolution authorizing the filing of an application with the LGC for
financing the purchase of property to be used as a Fleet Maintenance Facility by a vote of 5 -0.
The motion was declared passed.
5. Consider Approving End of the Year (FY 09) Budget Amendments and Encumbrances
for FY 10
7:11:59 PM Mr. Siler said that the year end amendments and encumbrances had been provided
to the Board, as well as the year end purchase order encumbrances. He noted that separate action
would be needed on each of the three items, and provided a brief explanation of each. Mr. Siler
stated that some of the expenditures would be closed out in the next few months, and an updated
list would be provided in October which should be significantly less, particularly for the
purchase orders.
Mayor Stevens said the list looked straightforward, and asked was there anything in the lists that
would materially alter the new budget as approved in any substantial fashion. Mr. Siler stated he
would not provide a yes or no to that, but would point out one item in each fund. He said #3 in
the General Fund was a list of items that were required to balance the budget in a couple of the
departments, and the majority of the dollars came from other departments or different divisions
within the same department. Mr. Siler said in the Water Fund, item #11, there were funds
transferred from Water Fund Contingency to balance that department's budget.
7:15:46 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Gering, the
Board moved to adopt the End of Year Budget Amendments by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was
declared passed.
Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved
to adopt the Encumbrances by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Hallman, the Board moved
to approve the Request to Encumber Purchase Orders by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared
passed.
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Added Item: Cornelius Street Mt. Zion AME Church Project, Reverend Norman Handy
7:17:15 PM Reverend Normal Handy stated Mt. Zion AME Church had a created a five -year
plan and were in the process of implementing that plan. He said they had a large contingency of
members who lived in the Fairview area, and their plan included developing an incubator.
Reverend Handy said some of the ideas and concepts would allow people to become
entrepreneurs and become assets to the community rather than liabilities. He said their desire
was to perhaps form a partnership between the Town and the Church to move forward in that
process.
Reverend Handy said as a part of that process, they wanted to create a resource /self -help center.
He said at the present time they were bringing in approximately 400 meals a month to the Town
to help feed homeless and destitute persons, and they wanted to develop within that incubator
process a resource center where they could provide clothing, a partnership with perhaps the
Community College to provide GED classes, to provide computers so that persons could be
trained on their use, and a number of other things.
Reverend Handy said the concept was to put together a center that would provide a self -help
process and allow persons to share good ideas about business, to share space, to share staff and
utilities, and other things. He said while they had set aside some seed money to do some of those
things, naturally they did not have all of the resources needed. Reverend Handy said they
wanted to look at ways to partner with the Town to identify any funds that might be available to
assist in the process, and to identify a facility that might be available in the area for a center. He
stated they were not coming forward with only their hands out, but wanted to get people to
become assets to the community and to be contributing taxpayers by developing small
businesses.
7:21:17 PM Mayor Stevens stated on one level it was terrible timing because of the tight
budget, but on the other hand there were a number of projects underway that might be of help,
and asked Commissioner Lowen to comment.
Commissioner Lowen stated they had recently met with representatives of UNC about a study
that would be conducted by Master's degree students regarding the Cornelius Street corridor. He
said he and Commissioner Gering had already provided information to Reverend Handy about
that, and they had also formed some visions for that corridor. Commissioner Lowen said he and
Commissioner Gering were supportive of the plans outlined by Reverend Handy, but they would
need to have further discussions on how they might move forward. He said that he,
Commissioner Gering and Commissioner Hallman had served on the Cornelius Street Corridor
Task Force, and they had wanted to afford the opportunity for Reverend Handy to speak to the
Board and outline their vision, and hoped that the Board would be supportive. He said the Town
may not have the funds to contribute to such a project, but they would work with staff to see
what other resources might be available.
7:22:50 PM Mayor Stevens stated he believed a part of that project would also involve
working with the County, and the County was working on getting funding for an incubator
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through Congressman Price. He said the Town could be a catalyst to bring in funding, and a part
of the process would be how to get the community and other stakeholders involved.
Commissioner Hallman stated that at the last Cornelius Street Corridor Task Force meeting
Commissioner Gering had pointed out that part of that Task Force's recommendation was a
community development corporation that could be the vehicle to make an incubator happen. He
said Chairman Foushee of the Orange County Board of Commissioners had said that the
incubator project was one of the priorities she had taken to Congressman Price.
7:23:46 PM Mr. Hornik stated that in the last year or so the Town of Carrboro had helped to
provide funding through a revolving loan program for a similar kind of project, where there was
space rented out and utilities shared in order to grow small businesses. He suggested that they
talk with James Harris in Community Development in Carrboro about that program, noting he
could possibly provide some useful information or the program could even be used as a model.
Mr. Hornik said the EDC had also recently released its first loan in their Micro -loan program.
Ms. Hauth said that based on what Reverend Handy had said, what sort of use category Mr.
Hornik would see something like that program falling in. She said there had been discussion
about whether the resource center would be a community center with a combination of uses or
whether or not sheltering got into the mix, and would it require that the Town look into its
definition of a homeless shelter which required sheltering. Ms. Hauth said since they were very
close to the deadline for a public hearing on text amendments, if there was something that
needed to be done quickly then the Board could authorize that tonight to be added to the public
hearing.
Mr. Hornik stated he did not believe sheltering would be a part of the incubator, noting that
aspect would be the most troublesome aspect from a zoning and land use standpoint. He said in
terms of an incubator that included different uses, he believed they could fit that into the existing
Zoning Ordinance. Ms. Hauth agreed, noting it could be classified as office or retail, and since
training and assistance would be provided it could also be classified as office /personal services
or a community center.
7:26:56 PM Commissioner Hallman said as an action item he would suggest recalling the
Cornelius Street Corridor Task Force back together and put that idea before them in order to
begin moving ahead.
Commissioner Lowen said he would like to see that happen.
Commissioner Gering said he would as well, if they included the entire effort that they were
coordinating with the County, noting that had been a joint task force with the County also. He
said the only caveat would be that as in their discussion with Barry Jacobs that the study they had
envisioned was broader than necessarily just an incubator or just the northern Fairview
community.
7:27:33 PM Commissioner Lowen agreed, noting they should involve the County as much as
possible in order to take advantage of County resources, which would be beneficial to them all.
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Mayor Stevens asked if a motion was necessary to reconvene the Task Force.
Commissioner Gering suggested putting that on the Town Board's July agenda as a Consent
Agenda item. There was no objection from the Board.
Commissioner Lloyd suggested in the meantime talking further with County Commissioner
Jacobs to see if he had any additional ideas.
Mayor Stevens agreed that was a good idea.
6. Joint Meeting with the Historic District Commission
7:28:37 PM Mayor Stevens thanked the members of the HDC for attending and invited them
to sit at the table with the Town Board members to facilitate easier discussion. Members of the
HDC were introduced to the Town Board as follows: Ken Trivette, Zack Vernon, Jessica
Dockery, Holly Snyder, David McCullough, and Mark Bell. The Town Board also introduced
themselves to the HDC members.
Mayor Stevens stated the Town Board had had the opportunity to look over the materials
provided for tonight's discussion, and invited HDC Chair Jessica Dockery to begin the
discussion.
Commissioner Gering said there had been a couple of times in the past where they had had
discussions regarding applications and other general issues that involved the HDC and the
difficulties it faced. He said it was a unique board irrespective of how it evaluated applications
and its quasi-judicial powers. Commissioner Gering said the HDC had been asked to provide
guidance to the Town Board concerning issues that were very difficult for them, such as massing
and scale and density, as well as to provide information on how the Town Board could improve
their tool set to make their jobs easier. He said the HDC had done that, and apologized that the
Town Board had not yet provided any feedback. Commissioner Gering said they were together
now, and thanked the HDC for the good work they had done and continued to do.
7:32:07 PM Ms. Dockery stated the major issues the HDC had faced over the last several
years were very large projects that their Design Guidelines were never designed to address,
because there were no examples of such large projects in the historic district. She said they had
in their Design Guidelines the capability of addressing commercial development, but only
traditional commercial buildings. Ms. Dockery said when something was brought in that was
very different from early twentieth century buildings they had to use the tools available and try to
adjust them to fit a more modern use, and the density and zoning involved with that was
something the HDC could not fit their Design Guidelines to deal with, making it difficult for
business owners to understanding where the HDC was coming from. She said they had run into
serious issues in the past trying to get across what the HDC thought would be compatible in the
district based on those Design Guidelines.
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Ms. Dockery said she believed what would be needed in the near future was not a rewrite of the
Design Guidelines but a way to deal with modern types of development by including something
in the Zoning Ordinance that alerted prospective business owners what would and would not be
allowed in the historic district.
7:34:22 PM Mayor Stevens asked would it be fair to say that such projects may involve more
than one building. Ms. Dockery responded yes, but there were few areas in the historic district
where you might fit more than one building although there were some. Mayor Stevens stated it
had appeared to him that you could say one building might fit but put next to another building it
would not, and the HDC had been put in the position of trying to do that. Ms. Dockery stated the
development off of King Street was a good example, in that one of those properties would have
been fine and some of the designs did get closer to what the Design Guidelines would accept, but
it would have had to be one building on that very large lot which would not have been financially
acceptable to the developer. She said so, they needed some tool so that those projects never
came to the HDC because the Zoning Ordinance made them unacceptable, or a tool had to be put
in place so that the HDC could evaluate them appropriately when they came before it.
Commissioner Gering said one of the suggestions was that multi family dwellings be restricted
from R -20 zoning districts, and asked how much of the problem would be solved if just that was
dealt with. Ms. Dockery stated right now with the Design Guidelines it would be very difficult
to do multi family buildings, although one building would be manageable. She noted that there
was only one 3 -story building in the historic district, which was the Gateway Center, but because
of that how would you now exclude 3 -story buildings in the district.
7:37:02 PM Commissioner Gering said if they found a solution with R -20, how many other
problems remained outside that R -20 district that had to do with the historic district. Ms.
Trueblood said they had never had a Design Guideline for a commercial storefront, so it helped
to guide the HDC with existing commercial area. She said the Guidelines indicated that they
should protect those storefronts that were historic and already in place and new development
should be compatible with the existing buildings downtown. Ms. Trueblood said the tool was
there for additional infill downtown, but once you expanded outside of that massing and scale
and therefore density it was much harder to determine because the historic district was so big and
so varied. She said what they did not have was very many multi family buildings on lots in the
district, noting that most of the district was single family homes on various sized lots. Ms.
Trueblood said when applications came to the HDC for something other than single- family
homes it became harder to apply the Guidelines in regards to massing and scale.
Commissioner Gering asked about the multi family in R -20. Ms. Trueblood said at present that
would have to accompany a rezoning request, because multi family was not allowed in R -20.
She said if that R -20 rezoning was not available to future developers in R -20, then the HDC
would never see an application for multi family in the historic district. Ms. Trueblood said as
long as that rezoning remained a possibility then developers looking for higher infill projects
would continue to come forward.
7:39:48 PM Ms. Hauth agreed, noting that there was nothing in the ordinance that prohibited
or allowed staff to not accept an application for a rezoning request, in that property owners had
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the right to file the request and there was not even a good policy statement that discouraged a
property owner from requesting a rezoning in the historic district. So, she said, if an application
was filed it had to go through the process, and if it was filed concurrently with a request before
the HDC, or if it got approved and the HDC had to deal with trying to find something
appropriate to go on that piece of property, it was a very real challenge.
Ms. Trueblood said from a staff prospective, she had thought that there were not that many lots
that would cause that issue, but now they were beginning to see pressure on their small houses,
such as their 1950's and 1970's ranch houses. She said there were developers who had figured
out that if they bought two or more of those properties together, they could tear down, combine
the lots, and rebuild. Ms. Trueblood said she believed they would see more and more of those
kinds of pressure as Hillsborough became more inviting.
7:41:50 PM Commissioner Gering noted that Elizabeth Read, Executive Director for the
Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, was in the audience and asked her to join the discussion. He
said he believed Ms. Read, who was also the Town's staff person to the Tourism Board, had
particular professional experience in historic preservation and similar issues. Commissioner
Gering said he believed Ms. Read would be a valuable resource in the discussion.
Mr. Bell observed that it was always awkward for the HDC to hear an application for something
that had not yet been rezoned, and believed the HDC was sometimes pressured to approve
something because it may be construed it would provide leverage to get the rezoning approved.
He said although that had never happened to his knowledge, it would be helpful if rezonings
were heard before applications came before the HDC.
Mayor Stevens said that could work in reverse as well, in that if something was rezoned before
going to the HDC it may be construed as being acceptable to the Town Board and the HDC may
feel pressure to approve the application for development. He agreed the process appeared to be
awkward for the HDC.
7:43:40 PM Commissioner Hallman said he appreciated the efforts to get some consistency.
He said they had the downtown commercial district, County buildings and other contributing
buildings, and it was challenging to consistently apply standards that made sense across a large
part of the Town. He said in order to build the reputation of the HDC as a Board that had a
consistent message and a consistent process, was there a possibility of redrafting those
boundaries so that the HDC would be addressing the specific boundaries that needed to be
protected. Ms. Dockery responded that the National Register nomination for the Town's historic
district was not based on contributing boundaries, so there was no real way to but
educe the boundary.
boundary of the downtown historic
Ms. Trueblood stated the boundary had been set in 1973, and at that time the line had been drawn
around the original street grid and had nothing to do with contributing or noncontributing houses.
Commissioner Hallman said his point was it seemed to undercut the power of the HDC when
people in different parts of Town kndid
Hallman a said yes, but they knew people stated
but they did have to bother. Commissioner
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always do so, but asked for forgiveness rather than permission. Ms. Dockery stated that
happened in the contributing areas just as much as in the noncontributing areas and did not
believe that was a valid point.
Commissioner Hallman said in order to give the HDC the tools to make that happen consistently
it appeared there was a conflict in enforcement. Ms. Dockery stated she believed you would
have to hire several people to make daily trips around Town because there were people who
could quietly go about their projects and would not come to the HDC unless the Town forced the
issue. She said she could not think of any way other than regular enforcement and fines to make
that work.
7:46:34 PM Ms. Read said one problem of reducing the boundaries of the local historic district
would be if you started losing things on the edges then the National Park Service could choose to
take away the significance of the National Register district. She said if that was taken away then
you lost the protection that Section 106 provided, which mean cell towers could go in, or DOT
could expand into the historic areas. Ms. Read said having that designation in place buffered you
from many of those kinds of things that would normally be outside of your control.
Ms. Trueblood said if you looked at a map of the contributing versus noncontributing houses,
there was definitely a heavy concentration moving from the southwest corner of the Bellevue
Mill area, through the downtown district, and up into the northeast corner. But, she said, there
were only two street blocks in the entire historic district that did not have a contributing house,
one on Cameron and one on Nash just before Latimer Street. So, she said, every other street in
Town had contributing houses, but the concentration was not as high as in the main corridor just
mentioned.
Ms. Dockery said if you began playing with the boundaries in particular areas she believed you
would have to re- evaluate the entire district.
7:48:07 PM Commissioner Hallman stated his point was more about consistency of
application. Ms. Dockery said they tried very hard to be consistent in how the Guidelines were
applied across the entire district, including the noncontributing areas that most people would not
consider historic, and so the problem was that people did not them to be consistent but wanted
their 1960's house to be treated very differently. She said she did not believe there was any way
to get rid of those intrusions without affecting the entire district.
Ms. Trueblood said they did have a Code Enforcement Officer now, and that she worked with
him to try to catch work that was happening without the appropriate permits. She said having a
full -time staff member focused on that had helped a great deal to identify that type of non
permitted work
7:49:16 PM Mayor Stevens said it appeared clear that the boundaries were where they should
be and was not something that should be considered for change. But, he said, he had a sense that
there was a distinction between the commercial and the residential, and that was a key
distinction. Ms. Dockery said in the downtown district, the commercial district was actually the
stronger of the two districts, and that would be the one they would never want anything bad to
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happen to because it would loose its character. Mayor Stevens said part of its joy was its
eclecticism. Ms. Dockery agreed.
Commissioner Hallman said then did they have the same massing and scaling issues with the
commercial. Ms. Dockery said because most of the downtown buildings were 2 -story it did not
have as much effect. But, she said, what they focused on in the commercial district was the
storefront, the first floor, and the detailing of cornices. Commissioner Hallman said then
hypothetically, if economic conditions sent a developer to the HDC to ask for a second story,
would that be a massing and scaling issue that the HDC would consider. Ms. Dockery stated that
would not be something she would want to have to deal with.
Ms. Trueblood said generally, the 2 -story buildings were built to the lot lines so you could not
get any more massing than that, which was the case with almost every existing contributing
building. So, she said, the case of infill in the downtown would be able to follow the Guidelines
for a commercial storefront and find a way to be compatible.
Ms. Dockery said but, building a second story would make the building noncontributing, and the
Secretary of Interior Standards would frown on that and no tax credits would be available to the
applicant. She said most people today would want those tax credits.
7:51:46 PM Commissioner Dancy said she appreciated the work the HDC had done, and by
reading the materials the two issues would be zoning and the R -20, which would be the most
helpful tool for the HDC. She said how to get to that point to make the HDC's job easier to be
consistent would be the question. Ms. Dockery said the easiest thing to do would be to say that
R -20 would be one house, one lot, with no multi family, but that would make a lot of people
unhappy.
Commissioner Lloyd said she agreed that saying one house, one lot, would address the primary
issue. She said she believed the HDC did good work and she appreciated what they did, and did
not envy their job. Commissioner Lloyd stated the HDC had to make hard decisions, and she did
not believe she could remain as calm as the HDC members appeared to be.
7:54:19 PM Mayor Stevens said it appeared that the R -20 zoning was really a huge key. Ms.
Dockery agreed, noting she was sure they would see even more problems as time went on.
Mayor Stevens asked if that was something that would be addressed during the rewrite of the
Zoning Ordinance. Ms. Hauth responded yes, although her question for Mr. Hornik would be
exactly how to set that up.
Mr. Hornik said as far as setting up the district, the Town could not legislate away its authority to
legislate the district. He said they could say that things were a matter of policy, but they were
not in a position at this point to entertain a zone change in the historic district.
Commissioner Gering asked could the Board craft a set of zoning criteria that would have the
same effect. Mr. Hornik said that was up to the Town Board, noting that regardless of what the
Zoning Ordinance said the Board had a right to say they were going to amend the Zoning
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Ordinance to allow or not allow particular things. He said they could set up criteria and make it
very difficult for someone to present that case without having to change the ordinance.
Ms. Read said she believed they were going to see in future the tearing down of multiple houses
for one large project, or even one house for a much larger project to go in its place. She said one
thing other communities in the State had been doing was extending their demolition delay
period. Ms. Read said Hillsborough's delay period was one year, and other communities were
extending that out to as much as four years.
7:56:45 PM Commissioner Gering said then the 365 -period in Hillsborough's ordinance was
not something that should stay. Mr. Hornik said he believed it was required.
Ms. Hauth said that State law required no less than a 365 -day notice, but an amendment had been
made to the enabling legislation that allowed a longer period.
Ms. Dockery stated what other communities were doing was that if someone did a tear -down
then a plan had to be in place and there was a delay of four years.
Commissioner Gering asked had special enabling legislation been required for that. Ms.
Dockery responded yes, that others had such legislation written just for them, noting that Chapel
Hill was considering an even long delay.
Commissioner Hallman said instead of R -20 zoning, perhaps there was another solution such as
through form -based design. Ms. Dockery said that was where they had run into the problem that
because the district was so different, there was no set standard that they could use, so things
would have to be reviewed on a case -by -case basis which put them right back to where they were
now. She said she did not believe the Design Guidelines could be written to be more specific,
and that they could say that something had to look like one thing in order to fit the Design
Guidelines and then say that would work everywhere in Town. Ms. Dockery said even along
Churton Street there was a lot of variation.
Ms. Trueblood said essentially the Design Guidelines were design -based now, because the HDC
did not deal at all with land use. She said if someone proposed a project that looked like a
single family house, for example with one front door and one driveway, as opposed to multi-
family where those elements were repeated, then it would likely be possible in terms of
compatibility. Ms. Trueblood said she did not believe the HDC had a concern, architecturally, of
having more than one family living in a house as long as the design looked like a single family
home. But, she said, what the HDC had seen was multiple applications for multi family
buildings that were much bigger with more roof massing and multiple front doors, so all of a
sudden they were breaking that pattern of design. She said it could be that the Design Guidelines
could speak to those kinds of elements to hinder certain types of multi family development in the
historic district.
8:00:16 PM Mayor Stevens said if they assumed that in the residential areas where they would
generally like to see single family homes, the perhaps a policy statement from the Town Board
to that effect would be sufficient to hinder other types of development. Ms. Hauth said there was
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an example where the Town Board had wanted to allow an increase in density in another part of
Town to be more efficient, but that had gotten transferred to the historic district and they realized
they did not want it there. Mayor Stevens suggested they could add to their Conditional Use
process language that said a project had to meet the Design Guidelines of the historic district.
Ms. Hauth said they could even made some of those tools available in the historic district, and
then use the Land Use Plan to talk more specifically about what development in the historic
district looked like and since rezonings now had to be consistent with that Plan it would become
more challenging for developers. Ms. Hauth said they could not take way their right to legislate,
but they could provide more definition in the Plan what the historic district looked like and what
development pattern was reasonable, making it more challenging to achieve a rezoning.
8:02:18 PM Ms. Dockery said if there were ways to adjust the Design Guidelines to somehow
control that use and size, such as having multi- family look like single family, then that would be
sufficient, but she was not sure how to write them to make them as strong as possible so that they
would hold up in court. She said she believed they would have to be written to be very specific.
Mr. Bell asked how often they updated the Design Guidelines. Ms. Trueblood said they had just
been updated last year. She said the last time a new Guideline was written was in 2001. Ms.
Trueblood said it would not be too difficult to do that especially if it were coupled with the
Zoning Ordinance rewrite so make sure there was consistency throughout.
8:03:48 PM Commissioner Gering said he had been intrigued by the suggestion that they
could get enabling legislation to increase the delay for demolition, and he would be in favor of
pursuing that.
Commissioner Lloyd stated she would be in favor of that as well.
Commissioner Hallman asked if that would apply across Town, such as in West Hillsborough.
Ms. Trueblood replied no, it would apply only in the recognized local historic district, noting
there was a possibility of future historic districts in the Town.
Ms. Hauth stated they could also look at conservation districts, which was what she believed the
Town Board had in mind for West Hillsborough. She said when they got to that point that was
certainly one of the aspects they would want to consider, because tear down was exactly what
they were worried about in West Hillsborough.
8:04:53 PM Mr. McCullough said one of the things he had been impressed with during his
time on the HDC was that the rules were followed closely. He said houses that were thought to
be very much on the fringe of the district or on the fringe of being considered historical had their
applications considered exactly the same of those homes that were very much inside the district
and were truly an historical building. Mr. McCullough said he believed there was a solid interest
in using the Design Guidelines as their tool without making exceptions.
Ms. Trueblood said the HDC had talked in the past about when they came up against situations
where it was quite obvious that people had done work to get around the HDC's standards, that
there should be some kind of fine put in place. She said now people were asked to file for a
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 13 of 32
Certificate of Appropriateness after the fact, but if that was not done or the case was not appealed
to the Board of Adjustment, then if it were to come to the Town Board then perhaps the $100 a
day fine could be used in such cases. Ms. Trueblood said an option could be a fine placed on
work that was performed without a permit.
8:07:05 PM Ms. Hauth said actually in July the fee schedule would change by making the
review fee greater if the Town discovered work performed without a permit. She said some of
the review fees were negligible, but they were trying to structure it so that the fees were
somewhat more hurtful for those who did not make the effort to get a permit. Ms. Hauth said she
believed many of the people moving into the historic district do so because they want to live in
such a district, and had a better understanding of what was required. She said but the adding of
higher penalties would help reinforce the idea that the standards had to be complied with.
Mr. Hornik said what Ms. Hauth was saying was that the forgiveness fee should be higher than
the permission fee.
Ms. Trueblood asked if that new fee schedule would apply to COA permits. Ms. Hauth said she
believed it was captured to apply to everything, noting the threshold would go from $10 to $100,
rather than $10 to $20 as once considered.
Mayor Stevens said then the fee was $10 if you applied, but if you did not and had to come back
after the fact the fee would be $100, but that was different than the $100 a day fine which was
likely unenforceable. Ms. Hauth agreed, but noted that the fees had to be at the punitive stage to
get people's attention. Mayor Stevens agreed.
8:10:27 PM Mayor Stevens said it appeared they had some action items and a relatively clear
idea of where they wanted to go from here.
Commissioner Gering said they needed more specific guidance of what needed to go for the
zoning rewrite, they needed some concrete proposal for policy that the Town Board could
consider for adoption to supplement what ever zoning changes they ended up making, and they
needed to consider the process for legislation to extend the demolition delay period.
Ms. Hauth said they need to make sure hat as they were going through the rewrite that they were
only allowing the processes in the historic distriet that they intended to. She said they could say
that certain processes were not available in the historic district overlay zone.
8:11:37 PM Mr. Hornik said right now their Section 2.3 or 2.5 in the Zoning Ordinance was
about one paragraph, which was the creation of the historic district. He said he would envision
in the rewrite that they would have much more detail in those sections that outlined the
limitations of uses and the massing of structures next to each other and other sorts of things. Mr.
Hornik said that would help to eliminate some of the vagueness and some of the problems they
were seeing now. Ms. Trueblood added most of the time applicants wanted to know what would
or would not pass, because they did not want to waste their time asking for rezoning if it would
not be acceptable. So, she said, that kind of guidance would be a real service for the HDC as
well as for people considering developing property in Hillsborough.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
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Page 14 of 32
8:13:36 PM Commissioner Gering said he would imagine that Hillsborough was recognized as
a model community for historic preservation. Ms. Read said she would say that both the 1973
National Register nomination as well as the fact that there were State Historic Preservation
Office employees who had chosen to live in Hillsborough because of its preservation standards
would support that idea. She said another indication of that was that several years ago
representatives from another community who was considering establishing an historic district
had visited Hillsborough to see how they did it.
Ms. Trueblood said she received requests every couple of months from other communities asking
for copies of the HDC's Design Guidelines, which was recognized as a top notch document. She
said she believed their Standards of Evaluation needed to be discarded and rewritten during the
Zoning Ordinance rewrite.
8:15:22 PM Mayor Stevens asked if there were other concerns that had not yet been addressed.
Commissioner Hallman said he believed there was a challenge on the horizon that he believed
they would be faced with. He said in order to preserve something they would perhaps have to
compromise some of their principals, and the question would be how to accomplish that
compromise. Ms. Trueblood stated one huge issue on the horizon was public art in the historic
district, noting that at present there was no policy in place.
Ms. Dockery agreed, noting they were unsure how to respond to requests such as that because
public art was not a building. Ms. Trueblood said that public art was a structure so at present the
Zoning Ordinance required that it come before the HDC. She said the HDC would soon be
seeing its first application for a large -scale public art piece in August.
8:17:51 PM Mayor Stevens said that may be something they may need to have a wider
discussion about, particularly whether or not they would even want to consider something like
that in the historic district. Ms. Hauth said that would be a fairly simple thing to exempt out.
Mayor Stevens said he had been impressed to hear Mayor Riley in Charleston talking about his
town and how important corners and intersections were, particularly key corners, and perhaps
that was something that should be addressed in the Design Guidelines. He said that was
certainly something that should be considered since corners were incredibly sensitive. Mayor
Stevens thanked the HDC for its work and for the good things they were doing for the
community in terms of preservation.
Commissioner Gering said the few times recently that he had attended HDC meetings he had
been thoroughly and totally impressed with its professionalism. He said he had served on the
HDC years ago, and it had been a very different process. Commissioner Gering said he admired
the work they were doing.
8:20:58 PM Mayor Stevens stated that the HDC was appreciated and each one of its members
was appreciated.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 15 of 32
Mayor Stevens closed the Joint Meeting.
7. Discussion of acquisition of easements and road maintenance /drainage along
Maplewood Drive
8:21:17 PM Commissioner Lloyd suggested separating the discussion of the cemetery out as a
separate issue from the Maplewood Drive discussion. She said she believed there was enough
difference in the issues to warrant a separate discussion.
Mayor Stevens said that was a good suggestion. Commissioner Lowen agreed, noting those
issues should be separate.
Maplewood Easements and Road Maintenance
8:22:11 PM Ms. Ard provided a brief overview of the issue, noting that the Price family
owned property on Maplewood adjoining the cemetery. She said the Town had been
maintaining Maplewood for its entire length between Corbin and Cedar, and at some point that
maintenance had stopped. Ms. Ard said that Ms. Price had appeared before the Town Board and
said that a previous Town Board had agreed to maintain that road. She said tonight she was
asking direction from the Board as to what maintenance should be provided.
Ms. Ard said after some research, they had discovered that the entrance to Maplewood to Corbin
was actually not public right -of -way but private property, so they had ceased accessing the
property from that area and the maintenance, and had alerted the family that actually owned that
property of that. Ms. Ard said they had repaired what Ms. Price had referred to as ruts in the
front of Ms. Price's property, and had talked with her in terms of acquiring an easement from
her. But, she said, that was before they had found out last week that the other family was not
necessarily interested in providing an easement because there might be some future activity on
that property and they believed the easement might interfere with that.
Ms. Ard said at present, Ms. Price had the same access she had always had, but if the other
family did limit the access from Corbin Ms. Price would still be able to access her property from
Cedar. But, she said, because the Town had talked with Ms. Price about a potential easement
and providing her with potential trash pick -up directly in front of her property, they had felt it
best to bring the matter to the Town Board for direction to see if that was something of interest.
Ms. Ard said at present they no longer needed that easement, noting they were simply pulling the
cans from the street to the end of Ms. Price's property line to assist her because she had limited
mobility.
Ms. Ard said the other issue was that since they now knew that the property they had thought
was public was private, that in order to be a good steward and address some of Ms. Price's
concerns the Town could continue to maintain that area. She said at some point they could do an
additional one -time maintenance to the ditch area next to the cemetery on that property in order
to leave it in as good a condition as possible one the Town's maintenance ceased. Ms. Ard said
that would also repair the damage that Ms. Price contends was done to the road because of Town
activities.
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Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 16 of 32
8:26:08 PM Mayor Stevens said to take the issues one at a time, he said they had identified a
road that they were not going to use and had no future use for a public purpose, and they had
been going beyond what was required in order to perform a public service. He said he believed
if they left the property in good order then they could be done with it and then have very clear
boundaries going forward. Mayor Stevens said they had thought it was public property but it
was not, so now they would make it clear that it was not public property but they would leave it
in good repair and provide no further maintenance.
Commissioner Dancy agreed, and asked about the sign that was posted. Ms. Ard said she was
not quite sure how the sign got there but would work with the families to get that addressed,
adding they would also work with DOT to make sure that they had Maplewood Lane listed as
entirely private.
8:27:23 PM Commissioner Lowen said prior to learning that the property was private, Ms.
Price did not have a desire to have an easement, correct? Ms. Ard responded that Ms. Price was
okay with that, but the other family was not interested. Commissioner Lowen said then she was
aware of the current circumstances in terms of the property being private and the Town was in no
position to continue maintenance. Ms. Ard said she understood that the two families would be
discussing that among themselves and handle that matter privately. Commissioner Lowen said if
she was okay with the trash cans being pulled from her property line to the street, then he did not
know if the Town needed to do anything other than doing some one -time repairs as the Mayor
had described.
Commissioner Lowen said since the agreement was now that they would continue to collect the
garbage, he asked did that need to be put in writing. He said as time went on and staff and Board
members changed, it might be necessary to have something in writing. Ms. Ard said having it in
the written record, the minutes of this meeting, would be sufficient to indicate the Board's
agreement.
Mr. Peterson said the Town was picking up her trash because of her limited mobility, but if Ms.
Price were to no longer live there and an able- bodied person were to come in, they would need to
take there trash to Cedar for pickup.
8:30:30 PM Mayor Stevens said then the minutes of this meeting should show that and they
should also write a letter to Ms. Price noting the Town's agreement to continue the service
because of her mobility limitations; however, it was a special consideration for her alone.
Cemetery/Tree
8:30:59 PM Ms. Ard said again this issue had apparently come before a previous Town Board
but they had no record of it. She said the primary issue was the tree that had been dead for some
time, of which many believed was a danger to Ms. Price's home. Ms. Ard said at present the
Town had been mowing and weeding the cemetery, but no other kind of upkeep. She said the
question was whose cemetery was it, and who was responsible for maintaining trees and did the
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 17 of 32
Town had the authorization to actually remove the tree. Ms. Ard said she had recently spoken to
former Commissioner Smith who remembered some discussion about that same tree.
Commissioner Lloyd said she had been on the Board for some time and did not remember the
issue every being discussed, but that the people buried there was among the founders of the
Dickerson Chapel. She said there were also members of many long- standing families of the
Town buried there. Commissioner Lloyd said most of those being buried there now were
members of that chapel, and because they were dying out she did not believe the chapel had the
funds to maintain the cemetery.
8:35:17 PM Mayor Stevens said then per Commissioner Lloyd's research it had been
considered a Town cemetery. Commissioner Lloyd said at least it was the place where members
of Dickerson Chapel had been buried, and noted some of the families buried there. Mayor
Stevens said it was obvious there was a lot of heritage in that particular spot.
Commissioner Lowen thanked Commissioner Lloyd for the research she had provided to the
Board, noting that while reading it his eyes had been opened to many things he had not
considered before. He said when the issue came up before it had not been resolved, and by
looking at the list of those buried in that cemetery he had realized that there were direct
descendents of his family buried there. Commissioner Lowen said he likely more than 95% of
those buried in that cemetery were of African- American descent because for many years they
were not allowed to be buried in the Town cemetery. He said he knew it was certainly more than
12 or 13 years ago that the Town had been taking care of that small piece of property, and it was
a small piece of land.
Commissioner Lowen said he did not believe the Town should discontinue maintaining the
cemetery. He asked had anyone ever confronted the Town about burial on that property or the
Town's ownership of it, or how someone would go about being buried there. Town Clerk Donna
Armbrister said about maintenance or ownership the answer was no, but for burials the answer
was yes. She said such inquiries had been referred to Jack Payne because he kept the records.
8:40:16 PM Commissioner Lowen said he did not believe anyone had been buried there for a
very long time except for one or two exceptions. But, he said, the Town had been maintaining it
for some time and believed they should continue to do so. Commissioner Lowen said a
significant amount of money had been spent to do research on the old slave cemetery, and it was
his opinion that the Town should take ownership for Maplewood Cemetery, even if it was done
through Eminent Domain, so that they could continue to maintain it including removing the dead
tree now in question. He said if the Town did not do that, it could end up looking like the
cemetery on the corner across from the Citgo which sometimes had grass four feet high.
Commissioner Lowen said he was not suggesting that the Town take ownership of that one, but
it was an eyesore.
Commissioner Lowen said the Maplewood cemetery had been maintained by the Town, and to
even consider giving up maintenance of it would create a huge problem and would send a very
bad message to a lot of people. He said if the Town was going to maintain it, then they should
take ownership of it. Commissioner Lowen said when funds allowed they should put a fence
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 18 of 32
around it, they establish rules and guidelines, and they should not allow anyone else to be buried
in it since there was no space. He said the records were very inaccurate and he was not
suggested that money be spent on researching those records, but it was certainly something to be
thought about for the future.
Commissioner Lowen said the tree in question had been dead for a very long time, and was right
on the line that appeared to be the property line of the cemetery, and the tree could very well fall
on Ms. Price's home under the right conditions. He said the Town should remove the tree.
Commissioner Lowen asked how much time did it take Town staff to weed and mow that
cemetery. Ms. Ard said it was done by a contractor and the price was about $1,600 a year for
once -a -week maintenance. Commissioner Lowen said he did not believe that would break the
bank, but did not know what taking ownership of the property would cost.
8:42:44 PM Mayor Stevens said he was concerned about setting a precedent by taking
ownership, but agreed wholeheartedly that the cemetery was a part of the Town's heritage.
Ms. Ard said she just needed some direction, noting they had installed steps at the other cemetery
and many had not agreed with that. But, she said, the way the tree was located they would have
to disturb some property to remove it and that needed to be clear.
Commissioner Gering said he would like to understand if the Town set a precedent how many
other cemeteries they would possibly have to make the same decision about in the future.
8:43:48 PM Commissioner Lowen said before that question was answered, he wanted to
mention that some of the other cemeteries, such as the Whitted cemetery, actually abutted his
property. He said he had a little of 3 acres, and that property used to be a part of that whole
section that used to be owned by the Whitted's at one time. Commissioner Lowen said it was his
understanding that at that time the Whiffed ancestors were not allowed to be buried in the Town
cemetery so the family had taken a section of land and began to bury their relatives there. But,
he said, it was no longer used for burials so it was overgrown. Commissioner Lowen said he did
not see how taking ownership of Maplewood Cemetery would set a precedent that would address
that small cemetery he had just described. He said it was a cemetery but it was not one the Town
had ever provided maintenance for, and if they did not begin doing that then there would be 110
precedent set. Commissioner Lowen said the Price family had three people buried on their
private property directly across from Ms. Price's driveway, but the Town had never maintained it
and had no responsibility of it, so again there had never been any precedent set.
8:45:25 PM Mayor Stevens said he shared Commissioner Gering's concern, and did not know
if there was some evidence that the Maplewood Cemetery belonged to the Town. Mr. Hornik
said that the last reported deed for that property was recorded on May 18, 1905, and listed
multiple trustees which included a Whitted, a Fairbault, and a Daye, and there was no
conveyance out of those trustees. He said perhaps individual plots in the cemetery were
conveyed out, but the deed for the cemetery property proper had been recorded 104 years ago.
Mr. Hornik said there was a statutory provision that allowed towns to basically assume control of
abandoned cemeteries if they so choose, but by reading the statute the circumstances must be that
Commissioner Lowen said he understood the point.
Commissioner Lowen said at some point the Town
question to the Attorney would be that if the Town
someone were to appear who had inherited a deed from
that their deed was no longer valid. Mr. Hornik stated
did not know who was buried where, and there could
deed of burial sites.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 19 of 32
the property was not under the control or in the possession of any church or religious
organization, that it had been set aside or used for cemetery purposes, and the trustees or owners
named in the deed or deeds for the property had died or were unknown, or the deeds of
conveyance have been lost or misplaced and no record of title thereto has been found, and the
property had been occupied and used for burial purposes, then the city could take control.
Mr. Hornik said they would have to do a survey and provided notices, but the process would
allow Hillsborough to take possession of that cemetery. He reiterated that the last conveyance of
that land on records was 104 years ago, and noting had come from those trustees since that time
and it was fair to say that none of those trustees were still living.
8:48:02 PM Commissioner Gering said he question remained how many cemeteries were there
in the Town that had similar circumstances, and that might be considered in the future to be
taken over by the Town. He said taking ownership of Maplewood Cemetery would be setting a
precedent. Ms. Armbrister said that the Town was also mowing another small cemetery.
Commissioner Lloyd agreed, noting it was the one on East Tryon Street, noting that those head
stones were not marked. Ms. Armbrister agreed, but added the Town did not know who owned
that cemetery, either.
Ms. Hauth said she could think of five that she had come across. Ms. Ard agreed, noting there
were other cemeteries around, such as the one on Nash and the one at Cornwallis Hills.
Commissioner Gering said then it appeared that there were cemeteries that the Town was not
maintaining that they should be maintaining.
Commissioner Gering said Maplewood was not just one problem that they should be
considering, they should be considering all of those.
8:49:15 PM Commissioner Hallman said that certainly did not have to be decided tonight.
Commissioner Lowen agreed, but said he would certainly want some discussion about it. He
said when you talked about abandoned cemeteries, who was to say that someone might not
decided to go and bury someone in the Maplewood Cemetery or one of the others without
anyone's knowledge. Commissioner Lowen said about six years ago someone had cut a path to
the Whitted cemetery to bury someone, and it had come as a surprise to those who knew about it
that someone would even consider doing that.
should be able to control that, and his
took over the Maplewood Cemetery, if
someone, could the Town tell that person
the practical problem was that the Town
potentially be people who were holding
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 20 of 32
8:50:54 PM Commissioner Dancy said what was needed to be decided tonight was what to do
about the tree. Ms. Ard agreed. Commissioner Dancy said she believed the Town should take
responsibility for removing the tree, and the other issues could be addressed later on.
Mayor Stevens agreed with that, and would have an interest in having a discussion about the
possibility of taking ownership of the cemetery. He said they needed to consider all the positive
and negative aspects of doing that.
Ms. Ard said when removing the tree they would be careful to disturb the least amount of area
possible, including what was under the tree.
Commissioner Lloyd said if they did not take possession of the cemetery she believed they
would all regret it because they would not be preserving their heritage, and it should be seriously
considered.
8:53:47 PM Commissioner Lowen said since the tree was very close to the property line and
Ms. Price was afraid of it falling on her house, the Town should remove it. He said he was also
concerned that because they did not know where all the burial sites were that taking heavy
equipment onto the cemetery grounds could potential disturb burial sites. Commissioner Lowen
said since the road and Ms. Price's driveway were graveled, perhaps she would allow a truck, if
necessary, to enter the property in that manner in order to cut down the tree to a stump as close
as possible to ground level so that they did not have to did it up and disturb the ground.
Mayor Stevens agreed that not disturbing any of the burial sites was certainly an issue, possibly
just as important as saving the house from damage. Ms. Ard said she could certainly ask Ms.
Price about that.
Mr. Peterson said just to clarify, they were not proposing stopping the maintenance that they had
been doing for a long time, but obviously the issues warranted bringing it to the Board's
attention in order to get some direction on it.
8. Discussion Regarding Noise and Parking Issues Generated from Motorcycles in
Downtown (Commissioner Hallman will share concerns from citizens on this matter)
8:55:51 PM Commissioner Hallman said he believed all would agree that part of the vibrancy
of the downtown was outdoor dining, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to dine outdoors
and enjoy the experience because on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights the downtown had
become a very attractive place for motorcyclists to visit. He said he did not want to discourage
those motorcycle tourists, but when you had 15 all backed into parking places with their exhausts
facing the diners, and every few minutes someone was cranking up a bike and you could not hear
yourself talk and you got hit with a blast of exhaust, then he believed they needed to try address
that before they lost that outdoor dining.
Commissioner Hallman said in thinking that, he thought perhaps the simplest solution was to
have car only parking on the west side of Churton Street in front of the outdoor dining, with
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 21 of 32
motorcycles free to park anywhere else. He said that would prevent diners from being assaulted
by noise and exhaust and would still encourage their biker friends to come into town and spend
money.
Commissioner Gering asked if anyone knew what the business owners wanted to do.
Commissioner Hallman said they wanted to have customers there. Commissioner Gering asked
had anyone asked them.
Mayor Stevens said he had, and they wanted to value the motorcycle community so they would
like to see a way to preserve the customers' enjoyment. He said he believed there was a concern
about outdoor dining, not only about the motorcycles but also about the traffic and vehicles and
pedestrians. Mayor Stevens said one business owner had wondered what would happen if they
were to remove the parking for those three or four spots, particularly at that intersection at South
King, and have no parking such as after five p.m., and that would allow the opportunity to widen
the passage area and expand the outdoor tthe businesse s as that
automafically address the the
issue of the motorcycles and would b enefi
Board look at that particular area as an area that could benefit from some streetscape design.
Mayor Stevens said they had discussed in a previous meeting about doing a parking study and
looking at how parking should be shuffled around, so if they could rearrange the parking in the
area where they had the outdoor dining that might solve a lot of issues.
Mayor Stevens said at least one business owner had indicated he would be willing to contribute
financially to make that change possible. He said partnerships with business owners were
something they could approach, but no parking for motorcycles in that area was something that
could be addressed immediately.
9:00:07 PM Commissioner Gering said he would like to determine what other business owners
thought about the current situation and the Mayor's other comments. He said it seemed to him
that the situation needed to have a creative solution.
Commissioner Hallman said perhaps they should ask the Tourism Board to weigh in with their
thoughts, as well. Commissioner Gering agreed.
9:00:42 PM Commissioner Lowen said as he had mentioned earlier, he had a part-time job in
Raleigh which involved parking control and worked with a person who drove a motorcycle to
work. He said when that person had driven in to the parking garage he had mentioned how loud
his bike was. Commissioner Lowen said as they had talked he learned that the person had
considered buying a house in Hillsborough, and that his motorcycle club which could easily
number 2,000 people would begin meeting next month at Occoneechee Steakhouse. He said he
had immediately considered calling the Police Chief, but had asked the person where they
considering bringing a large number of bikes into Town. Commissioner Lowen said there was
not even enough parking for 2,000 bikes on Occoneechee's property, so he had gotten the
person's contact information so they could follow up with that. He said the person had asked
him to consider how much business his club would bring to Town, and he was not disputing that
but believed that if they were thinking of bringing that many motorcycles into Town once a
month then others needed to be aware of that, including the Chief and the Town Manager.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 22 of 32
Commissioner Lowen said Myrtle Beach had faced similar problems and had changed its
ordinances to address that. He said he wanted the Town to explore what the possible
implications might be of having that club meeting in Town, if the owners at Occoneechee
Steakhouse understood the possible number of motorcycles it would need to provide parking for,
and any other issues that might need to be addressed.
9:03:53 PM Commissioner Hallman said he understood that bikers said the reason their bikes
were so loud was for safety reasons, but there was no evidence to support that. He said the two
major bike entities, the American Motorcycle Association and one other whose name escaped
him, had put out to their membership guidelines that said they had to be respectful of towns
because they did not want to see legislative action that restricted them.
Commissioner Lowen said he believed it was certainly something that needed to be on their
radar so they could be prepared should problems arise. He said they did not want to say they did
not want them and don't come, but how did you handle a large number of bikes coming into the
Town, noting the meets were on Sunday for brunch. Commissioner Lowen said the person had
said to him that during the summer months, attendance could well attract over 1,000 bikers
coming from all other the area.
9:05:38 PM Chief Birkhead said since March they had had at least three groups of
motorcyclists coming into Town with one event held at the Big Barn, and from a safety
standpoint there had been no issues. He said he had reached out to four jurisdictions of similar
size to Hillsborough, and none of them prohibited motorcycle parking on the street, and those
jurisdictions said they would have up to a dozen bikers traveling together, and had suggested it
was better if you could get two or three bikes in the same parking space. Chief Birkhead said
regarding the noise, there was a provision in Chapter 20 that addressed vehicles in general, not
specifically motorcycles, and there was a question about baffled pipes as opposed to unbaffled
pipes. He said that Chapter 20 did not specifically address that, but did address exhaust
emissions and noise. Chief Birkhead said there was likely more teeth in the Noise Ordinance
than there was in Chapter 20.
Chief Birkhead said if they went after loud pipes on motorcycles, then they would have to go
after loud pipes on cars, which they did not currently do. He said they did have regular
motorcycle events in Town, usually on the south side or the north side, and the downtown likely
saw a number around 8 to 10 on a weekend night. Chief Birkhead said he was a biker, and
bikers wanted to go to a place and have a spirit or two with other bikers and talk about each
others' bikes parked out front, so moving the bikes might in effect drive that business away from
the downtown.
Chief Birkhead said that business may not be significant to some, but he agreed with
Commissioner Gering that they should survey the downtown businesses to get their thoughts,
then go from there.
9:09:23 PM Mayor Stevens asked was there anything mentioned by the other jurisdictions
regarding the proximity to outdoor diners. Chief Birkhead said yes, that they did have outdoor
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 23 of 32
dining and occasionally there were issues. He said he had talked with Carrboro, Clayton,
Mooresville and Zebulon, and bikers did pull up on front of restaurants and do basically what
they were doing here in close proximity to the outdoor diners.
Chief Birkhead asked for clarification regarding the suggestion to prohibit parking in a certain
area after 5 p.m., and how that would be addressed.
Commissioner Hallman said he was simply making a suggestion in reaction to the issue, adding
he did not believe they had enough teeth in their Noise Ordinance because the low rumble
emitted from a bike would likely not attain the sound pressure levels that were written into the
ordinance. Chief Birkhead said that also would not be a violation of Chapter 20, and the reason
he had said they had more teeth in the Noise Ordinance was because measuring was not
addressed in Chapter 20 but it was addressed in the Noise Ordinance.
Commissioner Hallman said he did not believe there would be enough power in that low rumble
for the meter to register, even though it may sound deafening to some.
9:11:19 PM Mayor Stevens said he believed they were all in agreement that they would want
to solicit comments from the merchants.
Commissioner Gering agreed, noting there might be a solution that improved the environment
for everyone.
Commissioner Hallman said it was not just the merchants but their customers as well.
Commissioner Gering said he believed their interests would be similar.
Mayor Stevens asked did the Board want to solicit comments from the Tourism Board.
Commissioner Hallman said he was dissatisfied that the Board would not take any action tonight,
noting he believed there was enough evidence that there could be a potential disturbance and
people were complaining. He said he would like to explore that rather than just waiting until the
problem became more critical.
Commissioner Gering said he could bring it up to the Tourism Board, and did not know what
their reaction might be. He said they did not have a lot of opportunity outside the grant cycle to
do a lot of other kinds of work, and they were currently dealing with Wayfinding signage, the
Website subcommittees, the mission rewrite, and a number of other work items still in process.
9:13:34 PM Mayor Stevens said he would at least alert them to what was going on, and he
would be happy to work with Commissioner Gering to relay any necessary information to them.
Commissioner Dancy suggested asking the Chamber of Commerce to contact the merchants and
asked for their comments, complaints or suggestions.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 24 of 32
Mayor Stevens said he believed the outdoor diners were the primary complainants and it was the
merchants who would suffer should those diners go away, so they should have a say in what was
done to address it. He said they certainly should raise the question.
Commissioner Hallman said they served not only the merchants in Town but the citizens as well,
and there were citizens complaining. He said in that sense the citizens had just as much at stake
in that as the merchants did.
9:14:37 PM Commissioner Gering said to that point he would say they would just be driving
the motorcycles to go someplace else and bother the citizens in that place.
Commissioner Hallman said he was only saying that a few were not an issue, but a lot of them
were, and he did not believe the diners rights over road the bikers right to go outside and look at
the bikes.
Commissioner Gering said he did not understand Commissioner Hallman's argument, noting that
the people who would be impacted would be the outside diners, and that the people inside the
restaurants would not be impacted. He said they needed to agree on the scope of the problem
and then a solution. Commissioner Gering said it was the merchants who had the most vested
interests in finding an acceptable solution, not everyone in Hillsborough.
Commissioner Hallman said it was his experience that those operating downtown businesses
were that they were so strapped and running so fast that they did not hear half of what the Town
Board heard. He asked was Commissioner Gering opposed to having a broader discussion.
Commissioner Gering said no, that was just what he wanted. But, he did not agree that the
broader impact was on the citizens.
Mr. Peterson said an incremental approach might be to say that they would have a dialogue with
the businesses owners in that small area that were being impacted, and let them decide if the
problem was ultimately great enough that it would affect and was affecting their business. He
said he believed getting that feedback and then bringing that perspective to the Town Board
would be a good way to determine what the next step might be.
9:17:56 PM Mayor Stevens stated since the issue had been brought to the Town Board's
attention, then they could bring it to the merchants' attention so that they could help the Town
craft a solution. Mr. Peterson said they could survey the entire block, and if they agreed that the
noise was, for example, chasing people away from the book store, then they would be being
negatively affected as well as the restaurants. He said it would be easy enough to put together a
survey and surveying those merchants in that block on that side of Churton Street.
Commissioner Gering said there may be an issue with King Street, with Cup a Joe and others.
Commissioner Lloyd commented it was not an issue at her pharmacy, because the bikers who
parked there parked like vehicles would park and did not back in.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 25 of 32
9:18:52 PM Mayor Stevens said he would be happy to talk with the four restaurant owners to
begin with, just to raise awareness that it was an issue that the Town wanted to find a solution to.
He said he wanted the merchants to know that the Town was sensitive to the complaints from
their customers.
Commissioner Gering said that Mr. Peterson might want to come to the next Tourism Board
meeting to talk with them since this was a Town Board issue. He said their next meeting was a
5:30 on July 6 Mr. Peterson said one complaint that he received was from a citizen who had
said they were being disturbed at home and didn't like it, and had mentioned that the bikers were
at the Wooden Nickel and were right next to the Police Station but the Police were not enforcing
the law. He said he and the Chief had talked about it, and understood the complaints about
trying to eat and having exhaust pointed at you, but that was a different context than saying bikes
were loud and they didn't like it and it was bothering them at their house.
9:21:11 PM Mayor Stevens said then they would start with the merchants and go from there.
Chief Birkhead asked was he hearing that there was no action to be taken by staff.
Mayor Stevens said not at this point.
Added Item: Closed Session
A. Closed Session as authorized by North Carolina General Statute 143 regarding
Attorney /Client Privilege to discuss contracts issues surrounding Gold Park.
9:21:45 PM Upon a motion by Commissioner Dancy, seconded by Commissioner Lowen, the
Board moved to go into Closed Session to seek advice from the Town Attorney regarding
contract issues with Gold Park by a vote of 5 -0. The motion was declared passed.
9. Adjourn
Upon returning to Open Session and upon a motion by Commissioner Lowen, seconded by
Commissioner Lloyd, the Board moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 PM. The motion was
declared passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna F. Ms. Armbrister, MMC
Town Clerk
TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH
RESOLUTION OPPOSING
HB 524 WITH REFERENDUM PROVISION
WHEREAS, the House Judiciary II Committee recommended a committee substitute for
HB 524, a compromise that was developed to address the legitimate concerns of citizens
while maintaining authority for annexation to manage rapid growth and pay for essential
services; and
WHEREAS, the committee substitute version of 524 includes a significant number of
annexation reforms and as a result, property owners will receive more protections, there
will be substantially more stringent annexation standards, procedures and water and
sewer extension requirements; and
W HEREAS, municipal officials are committed to reasonable reform of annexation laws
to address legi nnate concerns; and
WHEREAS, statewide business groups such as the NC. Homebuilders Association and
the North Carolina Chamber both are on record in support of reasonable and fair
annexation authority and opposed to a referendum requirement ad other drastic changes;
and
WHEREAS, a referendum will become a vote on municipal taxes and will turn into
allowing
veto, thereby ignoring the broader good; and health of the entire community and
nearby residents to avoid municipal taxes forever, even though they benefit from city
services
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Hillsborough Board of
Commissioners supports reasonable and fair annexation authority reform, but strongly
will oppose House Bill 524 so long as any referendum provision remains a part of the
bill.
Adopted this the 13 day of July, 2009.
kE504w/to'm o7 3— 3.
Tom Stevens, Mayor
Town of Hillsborough
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 26 of 32
TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH
RESOLUTION OPPOSING
ABOLITION OF THE PRIVILEGE LICENSE TAX
WHEREAS, there is continuing disagreement between the House and Senate over how to
raise approximately $1 billion in new revenue; and
WHEREAS, published reports indicate that the conferees do not expect to reach an
agreement on the state budget before the continuing resolution now funding state
government expires in mid. July; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Hillsborough Board of
Commissioners has significant concern regarding the apparent agreement to eliminate the
Privilege License Tax, which raises approximately $50 million for municipalities
statewide, unless a substitute revenue source is provided.
.Adopted this the 13 day of July, 2009.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 27 of 32
C4 to) 074 7 /3 3.8
Tom Stevens, Mayor
Town of Hillsborough
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 28 of 32
ORDINANCE 20090713 -7.0
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 4 OF 'THE TOWN CODE
OF THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE TOWN OF Bur d SBOROUGH ORDAINS:
Section 1. Chapter 4— Personnel, of the Hillsborough Code ishereby amended as folio
Section 4.22 Annual Leave
(a) Annual leave may be used for rest and relaxation, for medical and legal appointments when
sink leave is exhausted, and for absences due to adverse weather conditions.
(b) Annual leave shall be earned by fulltime employees in accordance with the table in this
subsection: Regular, part time employees shall earn annual leave in prorated amount according
to the table in this subsection:
Years of Aggregate Service
Less than 2 yrs
2 yrs but less Bum 5 yrs
5 yrs but less than 10 yrs
10 yrs but less tban 15 yrs
yrs but less 1
20 yrs or more
Hours Earned
Bi- Weekly
3.70 hrs.
4.
5.46 Ins.
6.39 hrs
731 hrs.
8.23 hrs.
Hours Earned
in a Year
96.20 hr
118.04 hrs.
14L.96 hrs.
166.14 hrs.
190.06 hrs.
213
(c) In addition to the leave earned in accordance with the foregoing table, exempt employees
with ten years or more of service to the town shall accrue an additional two hours of vacation
time per month in lieu ofoverttme compensation.
(d) Annual leave may accumulate to a maximum of 240 hours. On December 31, any leave in
excess of 240 hours, up to 96 hours, shall be converted to sick leave.
(e) Annual leave may be taken as earned by the employee or in any amount as desired y the
employee, subject to the approval of the supervisor, with the exception that all departm t h s
and other employes so designated by the Board must take at least five workdays o
accrued annual leave per calendar year.
(f) The town manager may, with the approval of the Board, advance annual leave in an amount
not to exceed the amount an employee can earn during the succeeding 12-month period.
(g) Annual leave credit accumulated by each employee as ofthe effective date of the ors
from which this chapter is derived will be retained.
(h) Upon submission of his resignation, an employee shall be paid for annual l
accumulated to the date of separation, not to exceed the maximum of 30 days. An employee
who is involuntarily separated for nondisciplittary reasons shall be paid for annual leave
accumulated to the date of separation. Employees involuntarily separated for disciplinary
reasons will ordinarily be paid except in cases of extreme provocation the town manager may,
in his discretion, decide to withhold payment. At the time of an employee's separation, any
annual leave owed the town will be deducted from the employee's final compensation.
(i) The estate of employee who dies while working for the town shall be entitled to payment
for all of accumulated leave credited to the employee's account, not to exceed 240 hours.
Section 2. All provisions of any Town Ordinance in conflict with this Ordinance
Repealed.
Section 3, This ordinance srpll become effective upon adoption.
The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vote, received the following vote and was duly
adopted this 13" day of,July, 20112.
Ayes: 5
Noes :0
Absent or Excused: 0
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 29 of 32
Donna E. Armbrister, Town Clerk
ORDINANCE 20090713 -7.0
ORDINANCE #20090713 -8.G
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 6, MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
APPENDIX A, SECTIONS 6A-6 and 6-Al2 OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TOWN
CODE
The Board of Commissioners of the Town of Hillsborough opining
SECTION 1. All section references below refer to the Town of Hillsborough Code, Chap
Appendix A. Section 6A -14.
SECTION 2. Section 6A-6 Four Wav Storrs Three Wav Stows
In accordance with Section 6-A6, three way stop signs shall be erected at the intersection
blow:
Boundary Street and Terrell Road (North and Southbound)
Alma Avenue and Terrell Road (North and Southbound)
SECTION 3. Section 6A-12 Sneed Limits.
In accordance with Subsection 6 -20(b) the following speed limits are establish
streets indicated:
Speed Limit
(MPH) On Street From
20 Alma Avenue Nash Street
20 Boundary Street Terrell Road
20 East Drive Boundary Street.
20 Freeland Drive Terrell Road
20 Daphne Drive Alma Avenue
20 Daphne Court Daphne Drive
20 Forest Street Lakeshore Drive
20 Sherwood Lane Forest Street
20 Central Avenue Cornelius Street
20 Terrell Road Cornelius Street,
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 30 of 32
East Drive
End
Forest Street
End
Terrell Road
End
End
End
Freeland Drive
Dapbne Dtiv
The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vote, receiving
was duly adopted this 13 day of July 2009.
Ayes: 5
Noes: Q
Absent or Excused: Q
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 31 of 32
following vote
SECTION 4. All Provisions of any To Ordinance in conflict with this Ordinance are
SECTION 6. This ordinance shall become effective upon adoption.
Donna F. Atmbrister
Town Clerk
SUPPORTING A MUNICIPAL AGREEMENT WITH 1HE NCDOT FOR THE
NASH STREET SIDWALK PROJECT
WHEREAS, The Town of Hillsborough values high quality of life, community safety,
neighborhood connectivity, and transportation alternatives; and
WHEREAS, the Nash Street Sidewalk Project will provide safe pass»ge,
and students of several neighborhoods; and,
WHEREAS, the NCDOT and DCHC MPO have allocated STPDA and ARRA
funding to the Town for the Nash Street Sidewalk Project; and,
WHEREAS, the:FY10 Budget and FY2009 -10 to FY2015 -16 Capital Improvement
Program includes this project and reflects these funding sources, as well as a Town
Match; and,
WHEREAS, the Town is working to meet the requirements of the State and Federal
governments including meeting deadlines for the NCDOT and related State and Federal
agencies;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Hillsborough Board of
Commissioners does hereby approve the Town Manager, on behalf of the Town Board,
entering into an agreement with the NCDOT to accept S`1'1'DA and ARRA funding in a
manner consistent with State-and Federal regulations, based on the draft Munieipal
Agreement presented.
This the 13 day of July 2009.
June 22, 2009 Monthly Workshop
Approved: September 14, 2009
Page 32 of 32
or residents
RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION #20090713 -8.H
TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Tom
Town o