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Attachment 3 ~ <br />APPROVED 12/15/2009 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD <br />QUARTERLY PUBLIC HEARING <br />November 23, 2009 <br />7:30 p.m. <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board <br />met for a Quarterly Public Hearing meeting on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the <br />Central Orange Senior Center, 103 Meadowlands Drive in Hillsborough, N.C. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie Foushee and Commissioners <br />Alice M. Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Mike Nelson, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Barry Jacobs <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: John Roberts <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton and Deputy Clerk to the <br />Board David Hunt (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) <br />PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Brian Crawford and Members May <br />Becker, Peter Hallenbeck, Rachel Phelps Hawkins, Mark Marcoplos, Earl McKee, Tommy <br />McNeill, Jeffry Schmitt, Judith Wegner, and Larry Wright. <br />PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Mary Bobbitt-Cooke and Samantha Cabe <br />2. Sign Ordinance Amendments -Outdoor Advertising Signs (Billboards): To receive <br />public comments on a proposed text amendment to Article Nine (9) Signs of the Zoning <br />Ordinance to develop language outlining the County's limitations on the regulation of <br />outdoor advertising signs (i.e. billboards). <br />Michael Harvey presented this item. He said that this amendment would revise and <br />clarify existing regulatory standards as they relate to outdoor advertising structures or billboards. <br />At the September 10, 2009 work session, the County Attorney and Planning Director presented <br />an abstract providing information on the current regulation of billboards. Specifically, this <br />abstract detailed the limitations of local governing bodies to regulate billboards as the State and <br />Federal government regulations preempted local zoning law. This abstract is included as <br />Attachment 2. At that time, staff asked for direction on how to address an existing billboard <br />dispute within the I-40/I-85 corridor. The Board voted 6 to 1 to direct staff to prepare an <br />amendment to clarify what the County can and cannot regulate, specifically that County <br />standards are not applicable where there is a State or Federal regulation, and also to provide a <br />historical synopsis of the review and adoption of the major transportation corridor, the MTC <br />Overlay District, with specific focus on the rationale behind the County's approach to billboard <br />regulations. Further, the Board voted unanimously for the staff to engage in dialogue with <br />NCDOT to get more information on the regulation of digital billboards. This information is still <br />pending. In talking with representatives of NCDOT, he said that NCDOT's stance has not been <br />to allow existing non-conforming billboards or any billboard within the MTC to be replaced with <br />digital billboards. County staff will bring forward an amendment to the sign ordinance to <br />address some of the concerns referenced in the work session. As soon as NCDOT provides a <br />written response, this will be provided to the Board of County Commissioners. The proposed <br />