HomeMy Public PortalAbout03-21-2019 Minutes PB regular meetingPage 1 of 3
Minutes
Planning Board
7 p.m. March 21, 2019
Town Hall Annex Board Meeting Room, 105 E. Corbin St.
Present: Chair Dan Barker, James Czar, Lisa Frazier, Chris Johnston, Doug Peterson, Alyse Polly, Jeff Scott, Jenn
Sykes, Toby Vandemark and Chris Wehrman
Staff: Assistant Town Manager/Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Town Attorney Bob Hornik and Public
Information Specialist Cheryl Sadgrove
1. Call to order and confirmation of a quorum
Chair Dan Barker called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Planning Director Margaret Hauth confirmed the
presence of a quorum.
2. Agenda changes and approval
The agenda stood as presented.
3. Minutes review and approval
Minutes from the regular meeting on Feb. 21 were considered for approval.
Motion: Member Toby Vandemark moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Member Doug Peterson
seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
4. Discussion:
A. Unified Development Ordinance text amendment — Section 3.14.12 to create standards for allowing
occupancy of projects/site when they are incomplete with financial guarantees.
Hauth said it has become more common to receive requests from developers to occupy a portion of a
development before it is fully complete. One example would be the completion of one apartment building in
a development that will have additional buildings. Hauth said a text amendment is also needed to address
occupancy of large projects with multiple phases. It is also needed for instances when a commercial
development is completed in a time not good for planting. In such an instance, it may be in the town’s best
interest for landscaping to be planted in the fall when trees have a better chance of surviving.
Town Attorney Bob Hornik said the proposed text amendment would authorize the planning director to allow
bonding. It does not require the planning director to permit it.
The board discussed the proposed text amendment. Member James Czar proposed striking the
subcontractors bonding. Member Jenn Sykes viewed it as boilerplate, act-of-God language. Hauth said staff
could use discretion and gave an example that if it was summer and the parking lot lights had not yet been
installed, a commercial building could possibly open without the lighting.
Czar suggested substituting “design professionals” for engineer.
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Motion: Sykes moved to send this item to public hearing with the two changes suggested by Czar. Czar
seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
B. Unified Development Ordinance text amendment — Section 6.11 on lighting and next steps toward a dark sky
compliant code
Hauth said she did not make as much progress on this as she had hoped. She does not recommend creating
overlay districts to create darker night skies because overlay districts are problematic in that people forget
they are there. She asked the board: Are there sites that are too bright or too dark? Do you want to save
energy? Do you want lights to be a different color?
Sykes said Cary is too bright. She likes the yellow glow of streetlights, but she was thinking this potential
ordinance would not apply to streetlights. Hauth confirmed this ordinance would not apply to streetlights and
said the yellow lights are being phased out. Hauth noted that Waterstone Drive and the parking lot at UNC
Hospitals have the new LED lights. The temperature range is managed to achieve a certain color glow.
Hauth said complaints she receives are about glare and usually are received when a commercial site is higher
than a residential site. Duke Energy does not put shields on light fixtures.
Barker would like to see lights dimmer. Member Alyse Polly would like dimmer lights but wants to be sure
spaces still feel safe. Czar wants to figure out a way to calculate light trespass on the vertical plane (lumen
count on the vertical plane for the downlight on neighboring properties). He is not sure that is a known
calculation. If that cannot be calculated, then Czar wants to be sure the town corrects the loophole for
ballfields in the lighting regulations.
Hauth thanked the board for the additional guidance.
C. Unified Development Ordinance text amendment — Section 6.22 on tree protection
Hauth said she has tested the proposed text amendment on some site plans and is not sure it would work.
She suggested that rather than addressing tree preservation, the text amendment could address what the
town wants the canopy or tree coverage to be when the site is developed. The text amendment could give
more credit for trees that are preserved and less credit for trees that are planted. She noted that Millstone
Drive is a good example of a development with many trees preserved.
The board discussed scenarios. There was a suggestion for the tree credit to be in exchange for more parking
spaces.
Hauth thanked the board for feedback on this text amendment, which is not ready to go to public hearing.
D. Unified Development Ordinance text amendments — various housekeeping
Hauth reviewed six items that are small changes.
Motion: Sykes moved to send all six items under Agenda Item 4D to public hearing. Vandemark seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
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5. Election of officers and appointments to other boards
Hauth reviewed that the board needed to select a chair and vice chair and appoint a Planning Board
representative to serve on the Board of Adjustment and the Parks and Recreation Board.
Nomination: Czar moved to reappoint Barker as chair. Sykes seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Johnston said he would like to serve as vice chair.
Nomination: Polly nominated Johnston to serve as vice chair. Czar seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Nomination: Czar moved to appoint Sykes to serve on the Board of Adjustment. Vandemark seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Wehrman said he was ready to stop serving on the Parks and Recreation Board.
Nomination: Sykes nominated Frazier to serve on the Parks and Recreation Board. Polly seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
6. Updates
Regarding items from the January joint public hearing, Hauth reported that the vote of the Board of
Commissioners aligned with the Planning Board recommendations. She noted that the Planning Board would soon
need to update the Vision 2030 plan and that the next joint public hearing is scheduled for April 18.
7. Adjournment
Motion: Sykes moved to adjourn at 8:25 p.m. There was no second.
Vote: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Hauth
Secretary