HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-18-2018 Minutes PB Work SessionPage 1 of 2
Minutes
Hillsborough Planning Board – special meeting
7 p.m. July 18, 2018
Town Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St.
Present: Chair Dan Barker, James Czar, Lisa Frazier, Chris Johnston, Alyse Polly, Jenn Sykes and Toby Vandemark
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell, Planning Director Margaret Hauth and Public
Information Specialist Cheryl Sadgrove
Item 1: Call to order and confirmation of a quorum.
Chair Dan Barker called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Planning Director Margaret Hauth confirmed the
presence of a quorum.
Item 2: Consideration of additions or changes to the agenda
Hauth requested that the first discussion topic be the continued review of the permitted uses table because
Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell was present for this topic.
Item 3: Discussion topics for possible text amendments
• Amend residential project review steps to remove Parks and Recreation Board recommendation on
proposed recreation unless the facilities are to be public
• Modify or remove steep slope provisions
• Modify the tree preservation/tree retention standards
• Discuss dark sky provisions for site lighting
• Modify buffers and screening provisions
• Continue discussion of permitted uses and review processes in non-residential districts
The board resumed discussing proposed changes to the permitted uses table, starting the discussion with
farmers markets. A decision was made to continue with farmers markets being a permitted use in Light
Industrial areas.
Planning Board Member James Czar expressed his opinion that a government maintenance yard should require
a special use permit. Planning Board Member Jenn Sykes agreed. Hauth asked what would be achieved by this
requirement. Czar answered some control or say in the configuration of the maintenance yard. When he
referenced the North Carolina Department of Transportation yard on South Churton Street as an example of
what the town does not want, Hauth noted that the yard predates any ordinance and is noncompliant with the
town’s current standards. The town now requires screening. New ones look like the town and county’s
maintenance facilities on N.C. 86 north of town. Sykes said anything that is not going to positively impact the
tax base needs additional scrutiny and people need to consider whether it is the most valuable use of the land.
Hauth and Czar said that is for the commissioners to decide — not this board.
Hauth said the special use permit process involves people coming to a public hearing to say they do not want
the proposal, but the government needs to have a place to do its business. That sets the speakers up for
disappointment. Planning Board Member Alyse Polly said she thinks it is a fair point to make something like
government maintenance yard require a special use permit. There was further discussion that a special use
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permit process could be justified for a lot of types of development. Sykes said having that check and having
accountable government is not a bad thing.
Hauth asked what are you going to achieve, considering we already have screening in place. The DOT
maintenance yard is noncompliant. Hauth believes there are checks and balances in place. Czar said there is no
opportunity for public input. Hauth said opening the special use permit process gives the applicant the
opportunity to ask for waivers. Staff cannot grant waivers, and the boards have a history of granting waivers.
Czar said he does not think there is a downside to the special use permit process.
There was discussion of the value of public hearings, with staff countering that the special use permit process
does not help make the town seem business-friendly. Board members countered that they aren’t talking about
a special use process for businesses but rather for government.
The board took a straw poll vote and decided 4-3 to change government maintenance facility to require a
special use permit.
As the board continued to review the permitted uses table, “mail house” was changed to “order fulfilment
center.” Campbell asked for “vocational” to not be made more restrictive in case a business needed to offer
vocational training on site of the business. “Vet” was changed to permitted in High Intensity Commercial and
Business Park districts.
Board members decided to discuss the rest of the discussion topics at another meeting, but Czar asked Barker
for a quick explanation of the lighting topic.
Barker explained that he thought it was time the town considered adopting a dark skies ordinance, as other
jurisdictions have. Hauth said Duke Energy owns most of the parking lot lights and calls the shots. Duke Energy
will not turn off those lights at night. The tradeoff of Duke Energy owning the lights is that it maintains the
lights. She noted she had placed a memo in the board packet detailing what Duke Energy is willing to do. Barker
said he believes there are municipalities within Duke Energy’s domain that have gone to the dark skies policy,
but he believes they are in a different region.
Item 4: Updates
There was none.
Item 5: Adjournment
Motion:Czar moved to adjourn at 9:05 p.m. Johnston seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Hauth
Secretary