HomeMy Public PortalAbout01-19-2017 Minutes BOC PB JPHPlanning Board Minutes
January 19, 2017
Page 1 of 10
Approved: March 13, 2017
MINUTES
PLANNING BOARD
Thursday, January 19, 2017
7:00 PM, Town Barn
Present: Mayor Tom Stevens, Commissioners Kathleen Ferguson, Evelyn Lloyd, Mark Bell, Planning
Board Vice-chair Toby Vandemark, Rick Brewer, James Czar, Lisa Frazier, Carolyn Helfrich,
Janie Morris, Doug Peterson, Jenn Sykes, Chris Wehrman
Staff: Eric Peterson, Stephanie Trueblood, Bob Hornik, Margaret Hauth
ITEM #1: Consideration of additions or changes to the agenda
Mayor Stevens opened the meeting at 7 p.m. He welcomed visitors and explained the processes
including the location of printed agendas in the room, how to sign up to speak and how to find the
agenda packet online. He explained that no decisions are made at the public hearing. Mayor
Stevens also explained the difference between legislative items such as the connectivity plan and
amendments to the town ordinance and quasi-judicial items such as Master Plan items, which have
more of a court-like procedure and for which evidence can only be presented at the public hearing.
There were no changes to the agenda. Mayor Stevens noted that it would stand as presented.
ITEM #2: Open the public hearing
Mayor Stevens turned over the meeting to Planning Board Vice Chair Toby Vandemark, who
opened the public hearing.
ITEM #3: Community Connectivity Plan updates.
Ms. Hauth explained that the plan is updated every couple of years to note new things built and to
keep the plan in line with changed priorities. Ms. Hauth highlighted parts of the summaries of the
changes to the plan (found in the agenda packets).
Stephanie Trueblood, Public Space Manager, said this plan was developed over 8 months and is
over 100 pages long. She’s happy to answer questions. This update was focusing on being realistic
on what we can do in town as well as noting updates such as Riverwalk being completed.
MOTION: Mr. Brewer moved to close the public hearing on this item. Commissioner Lloyd seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #4: Master Plan amendment and Special Use Permit for a portion of Collins Ridge proposing 326
apartments, 152 townhomes, and 196 single family detached lots on 100 acres located behind
Daniel Boone Village and accessed from Orange Grove Street (part of OC PIN 9874-10-
9993). The request includes changes to conditions approved in the master plan.
Ms. Hauth reviewed the highlights of the changes being proposed since the master plan was
approved last year. The project covers 125 acres bounded by the railroad, Orange Grove, I-85 and
Churton Street. The original intent was to start at Orange Grove Road. Now the applicants plan to
start where the overhead powerline goes through this property. Access will still initially be from
Orange Grove Road. There has been discussion of it connecting to Daniel Boone. It’s not part of
the application at this time.
The town conducted the fiscal analysis with only detached houses being on town roads. The
developer is requesting that the roads with attached housing also be considered for town roads. The
Town Board has been made aware of the difference fiscally of making more of the roads town
roads (town would then provide trash service).
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One of the other master plan conditions was prior to issuance of the first permit, the developer
needed to acquire a second legal access point, and they’ve provided contract to acquire the Daniel
Boone shopping center. Whether that qualifies as irrefutable (word choice) is up for discussion.
The applicant is requesting the following waivers:
Perimeter Buffers – RR and interstate require 100 foot buffer. The developer hasn’t fully designed
the site but is asking for a waiver in limited areas where they need to do some clearing for storm
water and to allow buffer encroachment on the Daniel Boone side (not the full 40 feet).
The ordinance has a provision that says there should be a mixture of lot sizes in single family
development. Ms. Hauth said this was put in the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in 2011
and it hasn’t come up before now. Their lot sizes are very consistent rather than a mixture.
The third waiver has to do with parking. They are meeting the community design guidelines in the
masterplan not in the ordinance. They are counting some on-street parking. It is consistent with the
masterplan but not with the ordinance.
The fourth waiver is regarding grading. The town has a provision not to grade more than 10 acres
at a time and not to change slopes by more than 25 percent. They are asking waivers to
accommodate creating the street grid network.
The developers are asking for more intersections but they are proposing to use alleys to access
many of their lots. It puts more intersections closer together.
The site has been commercially timbered so the growth is new except around the perimeters. They
didn’t provide as much information about preservation of tree canopy because there are so few
canopy trees.
The last waiver is to transfer open space and recreation between spaces (pods), which is something
we generally allow. If Pod A has a few more recreation points and Pod B is a few under, it’s
understood that everyone living in every Pod B can access all the recreation. That’s something
generally allowed.
Ms. Hauth noted the traffic engineer is present to answer questions. The state-funded Orange
Grove Road extension project is one of the reasons for choosing a different starting place. The state
will build an Orange Grove Road extension to connect to US 70A. It’s funded but not yet designed.
It will change the access points for this development.
Ms. Hauth swore that the testimony she just gave was the truth. She reminded others to swear in
before speaking.
Randy Sexton, land acquisition director with Caruso Homes, was sworn in. Mr. Sexton introduced
the Caruso Homes team. He reminded the joint boards that this team first came two years ago. He
reviewed the studies that have been completed and the past public meetings and public hearings
that have been held. He reviewed approval of the master plan and that the land has been annexed
into the Town of Hillsborough.
Mr. Sexton noted the starting location has changed since the master plan approval. He reminded the
joint boards that Caruso Homes is donating land to CASA for affordable housing units and veteran
housing units. The development is limited to 450 dwellings until a second access is built. If
townhomes are selling better, Caruso Homes has the ability to build more of those without coming
back to ask. He said his team has worked diligently and received praise from the town’s Parks and
Recreation Board for going above and beyond and received unanimous recommendation for
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approval of the Parks and Recreation plan for the property. They are providing 1.5 times what’s
required.
Commissioner Ferguson said in previous discussions, town boards expressed desire for
inclusionary affordable homes. She is concerned about the proposed eradication of mixed lot sizes
and separation of affordable housing away from the rest of the community. Also the board
imparted the desire not to have the affordable housing under the powerlines. She feels this was not
taken into consideration.
Mr. Sexton said the CASA property is not under the powerlines and not in the powerline easement.
In the master plan approval process, that’s where we were approved to place it. Also, CASA
wanted to be located there for access to the train station, Food Lion and the town park.
Commissioner Ferguson said the town doesn’t want cookie cutter lots and doesn’t want it to be
obvious who has how much money. Mr. Sexton answered Caruso Homes is bringing two CASA
products, two apartment products, two townhome products and two types of single-family
products, so there will be diversity in housing types. Commissioner Ferguson said these are not
products these are homes for people. Will it be impossible to tell the socioeconomic status of who
lives where? When she looks at the plan, it’s very split into pods. Mr. Sexton answered we have
seven different products intermingled on the property. We’ve designed a community where we
have every socioeconomic bracket living here.
Commissioner Ferguson said she is asking for side-by-side rather than separate enclaves. When
you drive down the street, if you’ve not planned inclusionary upfront, deliberately, it’s easy to have
the pockets. Commissioner Ferguson said she’d hoped when the plan came back with more detail,
it would be more inclusionary. Mr. Sexton encouraged Commissioner Ferguson to go back to what
was approved in the master plan, which was very specific in that approval process. Commissioner
Ferguson said we are revisiting that at this time.
Mayor Stevens said I’m hearing two issues – whether CASA would be by itself and we discussed
and approved it. Mr. Sexton reviewed that the pods were approved for specific types of housing on
March 14, 2016. Mr. Sexton said we have seven different price points. This is what the town
envisioned in the 2030 plan.
Mr. Sexton reviewed there’s a big community center, pools for apartments (as is typical), sidewalks
on both sides of the street and three transit stops.
Commissioner Lloyd said she has some of the same concerns as Commissioner Ferguson. She
asked what the seven price points would be. What would be the ballpark prices? Mr. Sexton
answered we don’t know yet. We’re 12 months away from building. Commissioner Lloyd pressed
him for an answer. Mr. Sexton answered around $200,000. These lots are much narrower than
some other new developments in Hillsborough.
Mr. Peterson asked, regarding negotiating the second entrance, what does it mean to have a
contract with the Daniel Boone company? Jeff Caruso, CEO Caruso Homes, was sworn in.
Mr. Caruso said we have a contract to buy the property. It would be in 2018, if pursued. Also,
there’s an easement we can buy to put in the road and we’re discussing that separately. That would
be with or without buying the property. Mr. Peterson asked what the Daniel Boone property
encompasses. Mr. Caruso answered the Daniel Boone property is 57 acres.
Mr. Czar asked what the relationship with CASA is. Is there more interaction than giving them the
land? Mr. Sexton answered when we close on the property, we will deed that parcel to them. We
will grade it and bring water and sewer to it. CASA has building plans for the property.
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The board then moved on to questions on the Waivers:
Waiver on buffer – Commissioner Bell asked why Caruso Homes is asking for a reduction from 40
to 20 feet alongside Daniel Boone. Mr. Sexton answered we plan to develop the two properties
together and that buffer will go away. It exists now because we have residential bumping up
against commercial. When we’ve purchased both, we can grade both out together. The walking
trail will go in this area. Town planner Stephanie Trueblood suggested using the Riverwalk crew,
he said. Mr. Wehrman said even if you own both properties, you have to adhere to the buffer. Mr.
Sexton said you’re right; I mean we would be able to work on both properties simultaneously.
Brian Purdy, with McAdams Engineering, was sworn in. Mr. Purdy said some waivers are tied to
topography in an effort to minimize the amount of retaining walls and take care of the drainage.
They will replant.
Mr. Purdy said the first waiver is because of topography.
Regarding Waiver 2 on lot size diversity, Mr. Purdy said there will be diversity in the housing
styles such as dormers on the houses.
Waiver 3 – Mr. Purdy said we saw an opportunity to utilize on-street parking on the surrounding
two public roads from a visitor’s standpoint.
Waiver 4 – mass grading, obvious related to topographic change upward of 130 feet in some
places, he said.
Waiver 7 is regarding the western buffer reduction (adjacent to Daniel Boone).
Finally, preference that we have ability to transfer recreation space and recreation points. We are
well over the open space requirements (referring to Waiver 8).
Fred Boone, with McAdams, was sworn in. He said as everyone knows, the site has a lot of
topography on it. Mr. Hornik asked how large of an area would you mass-grade at any one time.
Mr. Boone answered all of phase 1, approximately 100 acres. We would remove the areas that are
high and put them in areas that are low. Mr. Sexton answered the apartment area needs to be flat.
The townhomes and single-family homes can step up. There’s no way to economically develop
such a large development 10 acres at a time. Mr. Hornik asked if the developers anticipate other
areas will need this. Mr. Sexton said not to this extent. Mr. Boone shared an area with a change of
120 feet. Ms. Morris asked if Caruso Homes had previous experience with the type of topography
found in Collins Ridge that required so much grading. Mr. Sexton replied, yes all the easy real
estate properties have already been developed.
Commissioner Bell asked if they are aware of two old roads that run through there. Mr. Sexton said
yes and they were a part of the architectural and historical studies. Commissioner Bell asked if they
are willing to photograph those places if the remnants have to be disturbed. He believes that there
are remnants in the northwest portion.
Mr. Wehrman said you are asking to temporarily impede on the buffer – not to reduce the 100-foot
wide perimeter buffer. Mr. Sexton said some of it is for the walking trails. Mr. Wehrman asked that
they would replant where they need to disturb for utilities. Mr. Purdy answered to the extent they
are allowed to replant in a utility easement.
Mayor Stevens said help us understand how difficult it would be to build with the lots different
sizes across the front. Mr. Purdy answered to the extent that within those blocks, there can be
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shifting. It’s pretty standard that you split the distance. Typically corner lots are wider. Mayor
Stevens said I think we’d still like to see some opportunities. I hate to see the ordinance ignored.
We’re grading, so we have the opportunity to build that in. Mr. Sexton said front setbacks from
some homes are 10 feet. Not all the homes will sit perfectly aligned. Some will be closer to the
street than others. There is variety when you drive through this community.
Mayor Stevens said related to that, our planning department has raised issues about the number of
intersections. Ms. Hauth said we haven’t talked about that. When you introduce alleys, there are a
lot more intersections. Mr. Wehrman asked if the ordinance is aimed for a larger development. Ms.
Hauth said it’s more aimed for commercial developments to make sure there aren’t slight offsets
that then cause turning issues. Upon questioning by Commissioner Lloyd, Ms. Hauth clarified that
some new construction in Hillsborough does have alleyways behind houses and the town garbage
trucks and county recycling trucks are picking up in those alleys. Mr. Sexton said there are two
different townhome styles (two and three stories), 40-foot and 50-foot wide lots and various house
types.
Commissioner Ferguson asked if the houses have universal design for aging in place. Mr. Caruso
answered a lot of people don’t like how some of the universal designs look. But we are planning to
create a lower cost community. We may offer some of those features. If we get more older people
buying, we’ll see more of this. We want to be careful about a broad brush forcing that on
everybody. Commissioner Ferguson said I encourage us to look ahead. Mr. Caruso said a lot of
times in a community like this, you’re looking at who is coming and what they’re interested in and
you curtail your product.
Mr. Czar said describe to us what the functions are for the alleyways. Mr. Sexton answered we
have alleyways for the singles as well. Mr. Purdy explained the design of garages off alleyways so
that vehicles are behind the houses. The streets are designed for on-street parking, which is also
traffic calming. HOAs monitor no parking in the alleyways.
Ms. Sykes noted that the alley becomes a through street. Mr. Purdy said that’s part of the reason of
designing them so narrowly. Also, the fact that people are pulling out of their driveways. Ms.
Sykes asked for confirmation that the alleys are all internal. They are.
Mr. Sexton said the developer is fine with either public or private streets but taxes generally
include trash pick-up except not with a private street. Mr. Sexton said we’ve offered to offset some
of the cost. Commissioner Ferguson asked if they are offering to pay for an extra garbage truck.
Mr. Sexton answered part of it. They are asking the town to come up with a percentage like the
town did for the capital contributions. Commissioner Ferguson said it sounds like we would have
to foot the bill for 80 percent. Is that right? Ms. Hauth said a truck is $275k and can serve 3,000
houses a week. You have to ask whether the town is serving the townhomes or not. Then come up
with a proportion. Ms. Hauth said the analysis we did came up with all the changes including street
maintenance. We had assumed we would be serving 100 single family units. That number has
changed. You have to subtract out the 100 houses we’ve already calculated.
Town Manager Eric Peterson was sworn in. Staff has had questions internally, he said. Past
townhome projects would not have been approved by the boards if they had required us to pick up
the trash and maintain the roads. If we make an exception here, then we start raising the issue about
the other townhome communities that have come in – why aren’t you doing the same for us. Then
the only option is to raise taxes to cover the expense. The developer is offering to contribute 11
percent for the truck and personnel. That’s nice in the short term but trash pickup goes on in
perpetuity. My immediate preference is to keep them as private streets and they’re responsible for
their trash pickup like our other townhome communities. Mr. Sexton said that’s why we said we
can go either way but we are wondering how do we explain this to our homeowners. Mayor
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Stevens said I think we understand the issues. Mr. Sexton said we’ve designed it with private
streets. We are happy to go forward with it. Ms. Sykes asked how it’s handled as an HOA (there’s
an overall HOA and then smaller ones).
Ms. Vandemark asked are we getting complaints from other townhome owners. Ms. Hauth
answered we are just now getting our first residents in the town limits. Mr. Brewer said he’d err on
the side of consistency.
Earl Lewellyn, Traffic Engineer with Kimley Horn was sworn in. He reminded everyone that
Volkert did the initial traffic study. He noted there’s a slight reduction in overall units. Phase 1 and
full buildout will have less impact because of that reduction. The second access, opposite Mayo
Street on Churton Street, has to be built to go beyond 450 houses. To serve the second access we
need an additional lane on westbound James J. Freeland Memorial Drive. There is a lot of ongoing
discussion with DOT about signal timing (typical discussion). Also a northbound turn lane on
Churton Street into project at the second access. The construction of southbound right turn lane
into I-85 is required in the first phase.
Mr. Sexton said, in discussion with Mr. Lewellyn and Chuck Edwards with NCDOT, we’ve agreed
with those improvements. They were in the first DOT-reviewed analysis. Regarding the specific
timetables, the first was for no later than the end of 2018 but that was over a year ago when we
were expecting to begin construction right away. We are now expecting to construct homes in 2019
or 2020. We’re asking DOT to take that into consideration.
Mr. Czar asked for more information on the I-85 southbound access to site. Is there any danger if
you have a free flow lane and you have people coming from I-40 also trying to access the site. Is it
still in consideration? Mr. Lewellyn answered we need dual left turns aligned with Mayo Street so
you need the lanes to receive that.
Ms. Sykes said there’s talk to have extra lane face eastbound or westbound, has anyone thought
about changing it based on time of day? Mr. Sexton said it will be a right turn lane going north
where the convenience store is now.
Patrick Abele, chief operations officer for Orange County Schools, was sworn in. He said although
the Board of Education hasn’t taken formal action at this time, they support that Collins Ridge will
be listed as unassigned and anticipate assignment work to be completed before it’s built.
Rollin Russell was sworn in. He spoke in support of economic diversity and universal design. He
said residents of the Tuscarora area have a strong interest of where that connector road is going to
be. It’s important that it not negatively impact their homes. He asked to be involved as design work
happens on the Orange Grove Road project. Mayor Stevens said this board and all our boards are
very committed to getting out information. We know it’s an important issue.
Craig Benedict, Orange County planning and inspections director, was sworn in. He said regarding
traffic on Churton Street – as time continues, traffic increases. There are five state transportation
improvement projects in the area including the I-85 interchange, train station, Orange Grove Road
extension and two projects that didn’t make it for this round of state funding, which are the
Churton Street widening (resubmitted for 2020-2029 timeframe) and Mayo Street/Eno Mountain
realignment. We need to reevaluate the traffic impact analysis. In the original study by Volkert, it
analyzed conditions in 2015. The original report and new report says existing conditions are within
reasonable levels of service. Originally Volkert said the level of service with eight improvements
would be level service D, E or F. This reanalysis had a reasonably high level of service still. DOT
still has some questions. The county would like to be part of the discussion and to lobby our
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Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) concurrently to try to move these other projects up in
the future. Mr. Sexton said we would welcome Mr. Benedict’s input.
Jim Boericke was sworn in. He thanked Commissioner Lloyd for raising concern about the cost of
making private roads public roads and thanked Eric Peterson for the numbers he provided. He
remembers when all building in Waterstone stopped due to the recession. He suggests before the
first house is built, the second access be provided. In the event that something like the economic
downturn happens, he wants to make sure the town isn’t caught. He proposes two alternatives.
First, since it’s a single access, he suggests those initial houses be provided with a sprinkler system.
Or an alternative would be that the developer put up a bond to provide the second access point.
Mr. Sexton said we have a secondary access approved by the town’s fire marshal. It’s a 20-foot
wide easement south of Orange Grove Road and we have a signed agreement with Duke (power
lines). Ms. Morris clarified that the second access is for fire trucks (not residents). That was
confirmed.
Sherry Appel was sworn in. She worked in environmental services in Prince George’s County,
Maryland. She is a new resident here. From the perspective of an outsider, this addition of 1,000
residences is the addition of a small city inside Hillsborough. Developments with only one access
have a lot of problems. I think it’s important to think about the staging. Developments like this
generate an increase in litter and crime. This area is low in crime. But when you have high-density,
that issue is something to think about. She thinks it would be helpful to think about low-impact
development. Keep the stormwater in place instead of running it off in ponds. It’s a little bit safer
so that you don’t have these stormwater ponds fenced off. Also, on the grading, it bothers her. It’s
called Collins Ridge but I think there won’t be a lot of ridges left. Also, she is a proponent of
mixing affordable housing. She knows Caruso is familiar with Montgomery County’s inclusionary
housing. Hillsborough doesn’t want cookie cutter. Hillsborough is called that for its extreme
topograhy. Wake Street is a good example. Obviously grading everything is cheaper for the
developer. The staging issue of what sells first and what sells most. It’s important to commit to a
certain number of single homes and townhomes. Overall, she is a little concerned with the density.
She was surprised that they said they don’t have price points yet because usually developers know
what their profit will be.
Jack Bernhardt was sworn in. His question was about accessibility. He is supportive of the age-in-
place design.
Stephanie Trueblood, public space manager for the Hillsborough planning department, was sworn
in. Regarding public/private streets, she understands there are cost concerns, but streets are for
more than means of mobility. It’s a critical public space. Streets are the most communal places. In
2012, Churton Street won an award from the American Planning Association for its charm. Most
streets in town are public. The deterioration of private roads often leads to residents asking the
municipality to take it over even decades later, often costing much more because the road hasn’t
been properly maintained. Keep in mind that residents of Collins Ridge will be taxpayers equal to
those of us who live here now. She believes all streets added to the town should be public.
Tom Magnuson was sworn in. He asked the developer how much shovel testing was done for the
archaeology report. Mr. Sexton answered a lot, including bands and screens. Mr. Magnuson said
the state office of archaeology is a branch manager of the National Park Service. Our local
archaeology is very important to us. The road between Collins Ridge and Daniel Boone is not
gone. The east side hasn’t been worked that hard. Everywhere in town, you go down 6 inches and
you find pottery and shards. I hope we can find some way to make our own specifications on what
we need to do. For instance, that bottom road down in the flat has nothing to do about much of
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anything except Occoneechee Farm. Nobody in Raleigh or Washington, DC, cares about that but
we should care about it.
Lewis Munnier was sworn in. He said he was with the New York City fire department for 34 years.
He thinks this development is a terrible idea. What’s your ETA for your fire trucks and ambulances
with 2,000 more cars, he asked?
MOTION: Mr. Brewer moved to close the public hearing on this item. Commissioner Ferguson seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #5: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments to Section 5.2.9 to change some
requirements for accessory dwelling units and allow them in more locations.
Ms. Hauth reviewed this would make it much easier for people to develop accessory dwelling units
like a garage apartment, granny flat or efficiency apartment inside the house. We asked
departments for comments. The fire department had some concerns about making sure they can
access the entire property with a hose line. Lots in town are pretty small, so she doesn’t think that’s
a big problem.
Ms. Hauth said she’s been asked to estimate the potential impact. Under current provisions, you
have to hold the zoning density constant (so if in R20, your lot would have to be 40,000 SF to have
two units). We’re proposing to take that requirement away. We’re proposing if you can fit two
structures on your parcel and meet setback requirements, you’re welcome to have an accessory
unit. If we have between 2,500 and 3,000 parcels in Hillsborough in a regular zoning districts,
roughly 300 are large enough to allow for the second unit and some are already developed that
way. This would change that number to more like 1,800. We don’t have a database of how many
already exist. She would guess there are about two dozen. I don’t think we would see the impact
quickly. Chapel Hill did a similar proposal last year and didn’t see a significant increase. We’re
creating the possibility for more people to pursue an alternative. It helps diversify our housing
stock. There are many reasons why folks might want to live in one or build one. She didn’t receive
any phone calls about this agenda item.
Commissioner Lloyd suggested advertising it again for the next public hearing. Commissioner
Ferguson thanked Ms. Hauth for putting this together. This is the type of thing the Partnership to
End Homelessness is looking for across Orange County.
Ms. Sykes wondered if there is anything to restrict that these not be for Airbnb units. Ms. Hauth
said it would be allowed because the tourist home designation starts with three rooms for rent. It’s
treated as a home occupation but there isn’t enforcement. Mr. Wehrman said the idea of Airbnb
may make it more enticing to someone to build who fears they may not get a full-time renter.
Mayor Stevens said the opportunity to increase diversity of housing stock is good. He can think of
two consequences. One could be worry about whole neighborhoods getting bought up for no other
purpose. The other concern is having to do with density bonuses. Are there some ways that
someone might use this as a whole group of structures?
Ms. Morris said the neighbors might get upset. Ms. Hauth said for a detached unit, it has to meet
the standard setbacks which are more like 15 feet whereas a shed can just be 5 feet from the
property line.
Commissioner Bell said he is supportive of more diversity housing stock and he’s concerned about
the unintended consequences. He wondered if there’s a maximum unit size. The answer was yes,
50 percent of the main house’s size. He is interested in hearing from the Historic District
Commission (HDC) how this affects massing and scale and proximity to main structures. Ms.
Hauth said the HDC saw it earlier this month. Nothing that we are doing removes any of their
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approval and review authority. Commissioner Bell said the HDC would need to update the
Guidelines. He sees more opportunity for dialogue and discussion of someone coming in saying the
town approves this but the HDC saying it’s not in keeping with the character of the district.
Commissioner Ferguson said we’d need to cover the additional cars and traffic. I think we can
handle it but take it into consideration. Commissioner Ferguson said if every dwelling built one,
how would we serve water and sewer. Ms. Hauth answered we couldn’t. We don’t have that much
capacity left.
Ms. Hauth asked for more direction and noted that not many people had come to the public hearing
to speak on this item. Until a neighbor is putting flags in the backyard, you aren’t likely to get more
feedback.
Mr. Brewer wondered about asking people from other jurisdictions for lessons learned perhaps
with some photos. He noted Mayor Stevens mentioned Asheville. Ms. Sykes mentioned
Williamsburg has them. Mayor Stevens said we could table it to the next public hearing. Or if we
think it’s reasonably good, let the Planning Board discuss it and send recommendation to the Town
Board.
Ms. Trueblood said when you get density in a new development, you have to keep in mind the
expense of new services and roads. But this is a successful way to increase the density and give
new residents walkability downtown and help those who are going through a change of life status
with existing streets and services. The HDC has Guidelines for accessory units and outbuildings.
Where we don’t have much guidance is in West Hillsborough. We have an opportunity to set up a
very general framework of a conservation district so that accessory buildings don’t get built in the
front of a property or facing a neighbor.
Vice Chair Vandemark said you don’t get a lot of people coming out to talk about the amendments,
as Ms. Hauth said. Commissioner Ferguson said if you said tiny houses people would come. Ms.
Hauth said we’re not talking about tiny houses which are not approved. Commissioner Ferguson
said we’d need to make that clear.
Kaye Crawford said she is here because she wanted to consider being able to house a caregiver on
her property. She thinks spreading the word is important. Some neighbors would be fine with it and
some would raise Cain.
Mr. Brewer advised keeping the item open for additional PR and education/outreach. Vice Chair
Vandemark suggested an email blast. Mayor Stevens suggested an online survey, even unscientific
posing a question like, “Would you be OK with your neighbor putting a small accessory unit in the
backyard?”
MOTION: Commissioner Ferguson moved to continue the public hearing until April. Ms. Sykes seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #6: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments to Section 6.18.15 to allow projecting
signs lower that the eight foot clearance limit when over a public sidewalk and with
limitations
Ms. Hauth reviewed that there was some talk about ADA compliance and that it would have to be
able to be cane detected. Bringing it down to 27 inches would help someone find it with their cane
and then not bump into it. We talked about requiring some sort of obstruction underneath the sign
but she thinks that’s problematic. This wouldn’t just be for downtown. Mr. Wehrman asked what if
it’s close to an entranceway and close to the wall.
MOTION: Commissioner Ferguson moved to close the public hearing on this item. Commissioner Bell
seconded.
Planning Board Minutes
January 19, 2017
Page 10 of 10
Approved: March 13, 2017
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #7: Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments to Table 5.1.6, Use Table for non-
residential districts, to list child day care as a conditional use in the General Industrial
district.
Ms. Hauth said this is for a specific daycare that cares for developmentally disabled children and
would like to co-locate with Orange Enterprises. Perhaps rather than allowing it as a use by right,
maybe as a conditional use permit would be appropriate. She is asking to streamline the review if it
moves forward tonight to get it before the BOA a little sooner.
MOTION: Commissioner Brewer moved to close the public hearing on this item. Commissioner Ferguson
seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #8: Adjourn
MOTION: Commissioner Bell moved to adjourn. Ms. Sykes seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Hauth
Secretary