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HomeMy Public PortalAbout6.6.2000 Agenda & MinutesTown of HiSilnclel'? AGENDA PLANNING BOARD Tuesday, June 6, 2000 6:30 p.m. Town Barn ITEM #l: Consideration of additions to the agenda. ITEM #2: Comments from the Chair • Committee Reports ITEM #3: Approval of minutes from May 2 meeting. ITEM #4: Consideration of Preliminary Subdivision Plan for The Summit, 72 lot cluster residential subdivision between Wildwood and Beckett's Ridge. ITEM #5: Discussion of open space .definition and related topics ITEM #6: Recess regular meeting to convene special public hearing ITEM #7: Recommendation to Town Board regarding ordinance to establish a 6 -month development moratorium at the I-85/NC 86 interchange. ITEM #8: Adjourn. Please call the Planning Department if you cannot attend. 732-2104 extension 228 (this line is connected to voice mail) 101 East Orange Street • P.O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 010 090 010,4 . 5,.... 010 RAA 0900 MINUTES PLANNING BOARD June 6, 2000 PRESENT: Ed Gill (Chair), Pam Blue -Thompson, Jim Boericke, Richard Bradford, Joel Brinkley, Cathy Carroll, David Daniel, Chris Quinn, Bryant Warren PUBLIC: Roger Stephens, Margaret Hauth Gill called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM. ITEM #2: Hauth asked the members how they would like to reschedule the July meeting, which would fall on the &h. She suggested moving the meeting to June 27 so the members could still place items on the July hearing if they wanted to. Blue -Thompson noted she would not be able to attend that meeting, the other members agreed. ITEM #3: Warren moved to approve the minutes with the correction of Gill adjourning the meeting. Daniel seconded. VOTE: Unanimous. ITEM #4: Hauth introduced the continued discussion of Summit subdivision. Stephens described his contact with Centex as unsuccessful. He noted that the price being asked was unreasonable and Centex's desire is to purchase the whole development from him and build it. He added that he did provide the right-of-way area the members wanted to allow a connection to John Breckenridge Drive in the future and set aside lot 68 as a playground for which he would also provide the equipment. The members thanked Stephens for addressing' their concerns. They discussed the road/connection issue. Hauth said the options are to continue working with Centex, requiring the connection through Wildwood, or granting a variance on the narrow right-of-way width. Hauth suggested the members direct her to notify the affected Wildwood homeowners about the possibility to connecting to John Breckenridge. The members agreed. ITEM #5: The members continued discussing the proposed open space changes. Brinkley suggested that further pursue the relationship between slope and area dedicated. He suggested a cap the to percent slope of property that could be counted as open space. Hauth suggested that she could take the subdivision plans for Cornwallis Hills and Beckett's Ridge and see what impact the proposal would have. The members agreed to hold further discussion until next meeting. ITEM #6: Gill recessed the meeting at 7:23 and passed the gavel to Mayor Johnson to convene a special public hearing. The Planning Board members all remained present. Town Board members present were Ken Chavious, Evelyn Lloyd, Brian Lowen, and Mark Sheridan. PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Johnson called to order the hearing on an ordinance to establish a 6 -month moratorium on the review and approval of non-residential development plans within 2500 feet of the intersection of the rights-of-way for Interstate 85 and NC 86. Hauth introduced the concept of the ordinance, passed around copies of the written comments received, and said that enough comments were submitted in the form of a protest petition to trigger a 4/5 majority vote if the Board decides to adopt the ordinance. Hauth asked the County Planning Director Craig Benedict be allowed to speak next, since his presence is required at another meeting. Benedict described the focuses of the workgroup as transportation, entranceways, and landscaping and open space requirements. He said that the County is planning a parallel moratoria process at this interchange and at Old NC 86/1-40. Benedict said that the County is PB 6/6/2000, page 2 also considering expanding the Old 86 district to facilitate access to NC 86. He said they are considering two time lines; one that has a hearing in November, and one that moves the hearing to August. Jerry Dickens of North Pointe Development spoke against the ordinance. He said that his firm is the one that built the North Pointe center in Durham and the Sam's shopping center on Harrison Ave in Cary. He said they intend to do a similar project on the Hampton Point site in Hillsborough. He noted that national chains are focusing on site they can build and open during 2001 and a 6 -month moratorium would take Hillsborough out of contention. Bill Anderson, also of North Point, spoke against the ordinance. He said they are prepared to work with the Town and negotiate out whatever conditions or issues the board feels are critical. He noted that the word is deadly in their business. Bud Dalton spoke on behalf of DCA General Partners, owners of Cornerstone Park. He said they have concerns about the ordinance and that the development has a strong track record of working well with the Town. He added that the current zoning is in the town's best economic interest. Mark O'Neal, commercial realtor, spoke against the ordinance. He said it send. a negative message to the development community. He said the Chamber of Commerce and town have worked hard to create a positive business image and that should be protected. He said the current EDD manual is very difficult to implement and the town's HIC zoning is flexible and reasonable. He added that the work being discussed couldn't get done in 6 months. He is opposed to the moratorium and the creation of additional EDDs. Scott Lanier spoke on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. He said the Chamber opposes the ordinance because it sends a bad message and he encouraged the Town to work with the North Pointe developers. Jim Tullai of Greystone Enterprises spoke against the ordinance. He said they are ready to submit site plans for new buildings and the delay will be costly. He asked to be excluded from the ordinance since his sites are not visible from 86 if the ordinance must be enacted. Jim Cates of Cates Propane spoke against the ordinance. He noted that they are also getting ready to submit a site plan to expand. The moratorium will cost them to lose a potential tenant for the new building. George Horton spoke on behalf of the Meadowlands. He said he has been working successfully with the Town for 15 years to complete his development. He asked to be excused from the ordinance because his restrictive covenants exceed the ordinance requirements and his development does not affect the NC 86 corridor. He suggested the parties seek a compromise. Jim Hopper spoke on behalf of the Hampton Point property. He said that they are trying to capture this moment to provide the town with commercial and industrial tax base. He added that the EDD does not appear to encourage development because its not being used. He urged the board to work with the developers to come up with a plan for his site. Mark Trustin spoke as the owner of Owl's Wood development. He said he also has another Orange County project. He urged the town to avoid the ordinance and work with the developers to come up with a development scheme for the area. Mayor Johnson expressed his concern that implementing a moratorium when there is a new player (North Pointe) doesn't look good. Dale Swiggett spoke on behalf of Paliourous Enterprises. He said that the family is also entertaining proposals to re -develop their site and they are opposed to the ordinance. Dickens spoke again and offered to voluntarily not submit a site plan in return for avoiding the "m" word. Horton indicated that this is a unique situation. The parties need to work together; they will come to the same result and the Town will get the needed tax base. 6/6/2000, page 3 Sheridan spoke on behalf of the workgroup. He said the moratorium is needed to get the vision in place, to give us the time. He agreed with the comments that the EDD manual clearly needs work. He said the board has a luxury at I-40 because those developers are seeking annexation and the town has no obligation to annex them. He said that the I85 interchange is not the same. He said the board has responsibilities for both tax base and quality of life. He said the workgroup has been a very positive and healthy collaboration with Orange County. Lloyd spoke as the other workgroup member. She mirrored some of Sheridan's comments and said the committee is working to not repeat mistakes made on South Churton Street. She added that whatever gets built the town will have to live with for a long time. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing and returned the gavel to Gill who called a brief recess. ITEM #7: Gill called the Planning Board back to order. He polled the members as a way to start discussing a recommendation. Carroll said she felt the targeting of the small area was unfair. She added that she supports protecting the entranceways, because they are critical, but the moratorium method is not appropriate. Bradford said that he supports amending the EDD manual because it is difficult to understand and not successful. He added that the Entranceway Overlay district was adopted to protect the entranceways, but it has not been applied even though the Planning Board has requested it. Bradford said that the target is unfair and the use of a moratorium is overkill in this instance. He said the committee's work will likely not be completed in 6 months and the real impact to owners will be more on the order of 24-36 months. Warren said he couldn't support the use of the moratorium. Daniel said he thinks it includes too many parcels; the circle encompasses those that won't impact the entranceway. Blue -Thomson said she agrees with the others that it is unfair to the owners, especially since the property is not newly annexed. Daniel said he does support the planning process to make changes to improve he entranceways and the EDD. He said he would be willing to support a smaller area and asked whether the others would. The members agreed that they couldn't support any moratorium. MOTION: Warren moved to recommend denial of the ordinance to the Town Board. Bradford seconded. VOTE: Unanimous Gill adjourned the meeting at 9:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, A A A-IJA, k2z.62L MargAect A. Hauth, Secretary