Minutes 02-28-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Craig Benedict said that Orange County is unique in that there are multiple layers of planning concepts that are reinforced. There are some counties in the state that have no zoning. If there is a land use plan that says what the future land use is, and it is next to an interstate, there would be a conscious decision about what type of use would be appropriate for the future. There is also the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement and small area plans. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the section on Planned Development Districts in Article 7 and said that there was a section at the beginning of the article that described the districts "generally." She also made reference to 3.7, in the UDO that described the Conditional Districts "generally." She said that for the Planned Development (PD) Districts there is overarching language, that pertains to all of the districts, which ties the approval of PD Districts to the Comprehensive Plan, and it includes more specific language that references guidelines like protecting the character of surrounding neighborhoods. She made reference to Section 3.7, page 3-62 for Conditional Districts and compared that language with the language for Planning Development (PD) Districts. In comparison with PD Districts, there is much less overarching language that ties the approval of Conditional Districts to the Comprehensive Plan in ways that take into account the surrounding land uses and the character of the area in which the Conditional Districts will be located and the types of infrastructure that should be in place. Also, the text for Conditional Districts (CD) describes four circumstances when a CD is allowed. At least one of those standards seems to indicate that perhaps the Comprehensive Plan does not always have control. For example, the first standard says that a CD could be allowed if it was consistent with the objectives of the UDO "and/or" the Comprehensive Plan, and that seems questionable. Overall, there does not seem to be the same protection in the UDO as there is in the existing ordinance. It is the combination of all these factors working together in the ordinance that changes what can be done. She thinks that is why people are concerned. Commissioner Gordon stated that there were other sections of the ordinance that were of some concern, such as a section on quarterly public hearings that has eliminated the stipulation that those hearings be held in February, May, August and November. That makes it more difficult for the public to keep track of when the public hearings will be held, and she wondered why that was changed. However, the main concern and therefore the main point has to do with Conditional Districts and their effectively being allowed in more areas that would have been allowed before, in comparison to PD Districts. This is a consideration. She said that this is why people that have read the UDO are concerned. She does think that these CDs are a really good idea for areas like economic development districts and other areas meant for more intense commercial or economic development. The problem is the way the Conditional Districts will be located in other parts of the county. Craig Benedict said that the important part of what Commissioner Gordon said was the update of the Comprehensive Plan. This was the land use medium with 284 guiding policies. He said that this document was a great effort and will be used to make regulatory changes in the future. Commissioner McKee thanked the Planning Board members for their time and effort and said that their discussions were not always on the same page. He applauded the public as well. He said that he understands many of the concerns about having something disagreeable spring up in a rural area. He said that he also understands many of the rural residents' concerns and fears. He said that this first phase is critical to economic development and he would like for them to move forward with this and move on to Phase II to iron out the concerns. Chair Pelissier echoed Commissioner McKee's comments and said that after reading the Planning Board minutes, she was very impressed with the thoroughness and the thoughtfulness in the deliberations. She said that reading the deliberation was helpful to her to be able to understand the UDO better. She said that she is ready to move forward with the second phase of the UDO. She said that some of the requests in the towns' resolutions will add clarification and she would like a Q&A document to respond to the towns' concerns. She said that one area