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Home My Public Portal About9.6.2005 Planning Board Agenda & MinutesTown AGENDA PLANNING BOARD gh Tuesday, September 6, 2005 7:00 PM, Town Barn ®1994 Tovm of Hillsborough ITEM #1: Call to order and confirmation of a quorum. ITEM #2: Adoption of July public hearing and August regular meeting minutes ITEM #3: Additions to the agenda & agenda adjustment. ITEM #4: Committee reports and updates • Board of Adjustment • Parks and Recreation Board • Churton Street Corridor ITEM #5: Interview volunteer to fill in town vacancy Action requested: Recommendation of action to Town Board ITEM #6: Discuss creating Town Code provisions regulating the location of newsracks Action requested: Discussion ITEM #7: Discussion of potential amendments to the noise provisions in the Zoning Ordinance and Town Code for improved consistency and applicability. Action requested: Discussion ITEM #8: Discussion of possible sidewalk requirement amendments and updates Action requested: Discussion & direction ITEM #9: Discussion of Prevention of Demolition by Neglect ordinance and potential amendments Action requested: Discussion ITEM #10: Discussion potential hearing dates for items continued from July Action requested: Select 2 or 3 evenings when a quorum is available ITEM #11: Update on staff activities Riverwalk Strategic Plan Code Enforcelnent ITEM #12: Adjourn Please call the Planning Department if you cannot attend. 732-1270 extension 73 (this line is connected to voice mail) 101 East Orange Street • P.O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, North Carolina 2 72 78 919-732-1270 • Fax 919-644-2390 MINUTES PLANNING BOARD September 6, 2005 PRESENT: Matthew Farrelly (vice chair), Tom Campanella, Edna Ellis, Neil Jones, Paul Newton, Eric Oliver, Dave Remington, Barrie Wallace PUBLIC: Eddie Sain, Toby Vandemark, Tom Stevens, Bryant Warren, Keri Clay, Cheryl Johnston, Mayor Joe Phelps, Bob Hornik, and Margaret Hauth Farrelly called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM and confirmed the presence of a quorum. ITEM #2: Remington moved to approve the minutes as written. Wallace seconded. VOTE: Unanimous. ITEM #3: Ellis asked to bring up some enforcement concerns, which were added during the code enforcement update in item 11. ITEM #4: Newton reported that the Board of Adjustment did not meet in August. Oliver reported that the Parks and Recreation Board reviewed the Ashton Hall plan and asked for information about an old road bed in the project and questioned the recreation points assigned to the parking spaces at the recreation center. He said they received a request to consider tennis courts when reviewing projects. The Board also approved a preliminary design for the Hillsborough Heights Park and continues to work on park signs that address proper behaviors and applicable rules. Remington reported that the Churton task force did not meet in August. ITEM #5: Hauth introduced Vandemark, who is interested in filling the in town vacancy. She noted the other applicant on file has decided to wait for a future position. Vandemark said her family has been in the area since 1996 and they are currently renovating 110 S Churton Street to be a residence upstairs and a restaurant run by their son downstairs. She said she also works as a realtor and technology advisor to the Board of Pediatrics. She said the diversity of Hillsborough attracts her. Oliver asked if she had sufficient time to attend meetings, hearings, and committee assignments. Vandemark said she would have enough time. Ellis asked if she would be able to visit sites of proposed development. Vandemark said yes, that is part of what she enjoys in real estate. MOTION: Oliver moved to recommend Vandemark's appointment. Campanella seconded. VOTE: Unanimous. ITEM #6: Hauth reminded the members of where they left off the discussion regarding regulating new racks downtown. Oliver noted that the statistics he gathered earlier are out of date as the racks seem to be mushrooming downtown. He noted his preference for the grassy area between the public and leased parking lots behind Bank of America. He noted a concrete pad would be needed to provide a method to secure the boxes and to limit their proliferation. He said this choice would also require directional signage so people could find the racks. Campanella supported the area near the alley parking lot by Dual Supply. He said that area has more pedestrian activity in the morning and is more visible. Wallace agreed. Jones asked how the town could require vendors to use racks the town provides. Hornik said they town regulate the racks, but the regulation cannot be content based due to free speech concerns. Hauth said she would do more research and report how Chapel Hill implemented the plan. The members discussed various locations and positive and negative aspects of each including visibility, vehicular access, existing activity, and size. The members asked Hauth to do further research 9/6/2005 Planning Board Minutes Page 1 on three locations: the grassy area between the two parking lots, the area near Dual Supply, and the first block of West King between the sidewalk and parking. She said she would also report back on how the program is implemented in Chapel Hill and what costs we could expect for purchasing the racks and maintaining them. ITEM #7: Hauth introduced discussion of potential text amendments to both the Town Code and Zoning Ordinance to update provisions dealing with noise. She noted that recent complaints around construction noise and current business operations highlighted the difference between the standards in the two documents. She noted the difficulty of having specific standards in the Zoning Ordinance without having enforcement staff available at nights and on weekends, when most complaints come in. She said the memo highlighted some changes that would make the documents more consistent. Newton noted his support for changes that make enforcement easier for the police department. Oliver expressed concern about moving away from a specific standard. Hornik said that disturbance from noise is subjective and ordinances vary widely. Oliver suggested getting input from the Police department before implementing any changes. Campanella said that noise and light pollution are rapidly becoming quality of life issues. The members agreed to discuss this more at the next meeting. ITEM #8: Hauth introduced some options for amending the Zoning Ordinance regarding sidewalks. She noted that specific zoning districts are listed in t he sections requiring sidewalks and the list is not comprehensive. She asked the members if they wanted to see amendments to make sidewalks universally required. The members agreed. She added that the Town Board is researching using impact fess for sidewalks in limited circumstances. She said that the Town Board will be researching those options later to allow developers in certain cases to pay an impact fee rather than installing a required sidewalk. The members asked to be kept up to date with the process. ITEM #9: Hauth introduced the discussion of amending the Demolition by Neglect ordinance to address some working confusion highlighted by the Colonial Inn case. She said a second part would be to investigate whether the standards in the ordinance are what is desired and whether additional standards for what types of repairs are acceptable should be added. Homik said that the iterative process used the write the ordinance originally probably contributed to the confusing language. Hauth suggested that a short term task force with 2 members of the relevant boards work together and suggest amendments to the three boards. She suggested that 2 members of the HDC, PB, and Town Board could work together over a few short meetings. The members agreed to pursue the task force. Newton indicated his willingness to serve. ITEM #10: Hauth said the calendars in the packets showed available dates in October for the continued public hearing. Members said they were generally available, with a preference for October 6. She noted the special hearing and the regular October hearing would both be held in the Orange County courthouse. ITEM #11: Hauth updated the members on projects in the department: She said that the Requests for Proposals for design on Riverwalk are due back on September 30. She added that the appraisal work is almost complete and then the acquisition specialist will begin negotiating with property owners. Hauth said that she is also working on an agreement with Orange County to share expenses on the Strategic Growth Plan as well as Requests for Proposals for consultants to complete the work. Hauth said work should begin on the plan with the consultant in January. Hauth said that although the code enforcement position wasn't fully funded for the year, she has hired an experience person through the holidays. She noted that Thomas Cummings recently left Chapel Hill where he was dong the same job. She said he's 9/6/2005 Planning Board Minutes Page 2 been on the job about 6 weeks and has approximately 100 cases underway. Ellis noted her concern about the news article on Brent Lockwood. She noted that many of his statements seem to indicate he is not following ordinance requirements. She also expressed concern about the way in which construction is happening at Kenion Grove. She said that drainage area on the south side on Revere is not well marked and could be very dangerous to anyone walking along the road. Hauth said she would look into both situations and take the necessary actions. Farrelly asked for an update on Turnip Patch Park. Hauth said the town is doing some preliminary clean-up right now, but the construction hasn't begun yet. She added that the final agreement with the citizens is not complete yet. Farrelly expressed concern about the way in which the work was done. Hauth said she would look into it. Farrelly adjourned the meeting at 8:55 PM. Respectfully submitted, M rgaret A. Hauth, Secretary 10114 p5 ate approved 9/6/2005 Planning Board Minutes Page 3