Minutes - 01-29-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4. PLANNING GOALS PRIORITIZATION -QUARTERLY PUBLIC HEARINGS Planning Director Craig Benedict summarized the information in the agenda packet. The final adoption of the School Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is in the final stages. School Impact Fees will be addressed in February as will Planning and Building Fee revisions. He said that he feels that it is a priority to look at the Efland area, the Buckhorn EDD, and the Upper Eno area in looking at the land use in that area. He would also like to address the comprehensive plan in November 2001. One of the last areas they will work on this year and on into next year will be a unified land development code. He asked the County Commissioners for their ideas on what they think is a priority for the Planning Department after the EDD issues. Commissioner Gordon would like to see the other elements of the Comprehensive Plan pulled back into the plan, like the transportation element and other elements. She also asked if the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school sites were also a planning priority. Craig Benedict said that the school sites were ongoing. Commissioner Gordon asked for a presentation about hiring additional staff or consultants to complete the comprehensive plan. Craig Benedict said that he has been in discussions with the Manager and the Personnel Director about the possibility of hiring a Special Projects Planner to jump start comprehensive planning efforts. He has also considered using interns. He said that there would still be a lot of work done by staff even with consultants. Commissioner Gordon asked Craig Benedict to put a higher priority on FiscaUService Impact Analysis, Environmental Impact Analysis, the ERCD and Recreations and Parks piece, and transportation. Commissioner Jacobs asked for dates for the unified land development code. He said that Coordinated Planning with Mebane was more likely than Cooperative Planning with Mebane. He would like to focus on Efland/Buckhorn EDD Small Area Plan and the Upper Ena Study. Craig Benedict distributed a draft Upper Eno Community Outreach schedule where information will be presented to the public. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Upper Eno Study and TDR and said that there were much simpler processes than TDR to address mitigation issues. He said that it was highly ambitious to project that some of the issues will be resolved by May. Commissioner Brown made reference to the payment-in-lieu and asked what basic data was needed before they could start working on this. This was added back on the priority list. Commissioner Brown is also interested in the Efland/Buckhorn EDD Small Area Plan and the Upper Eno Study. She thinks the County has an obligation to protect the Upper Ena watershed. She thinks that it would be very important to move ahead with the critical area of the Eno watershed. Craig Benedict will work out a new timeframe to bring information forward about water extension policies in the Efland area. Commissioner Carey said that the Commissioners should justify their decisions to the public about the minimum lot size outside the critical area of the Upper Eno. The public needs to understand what the degradation is going to be for different models. Chair Halkiotis agrees that the public should have a clear understanding of the degradation. He also agrees that the Efland/Buckhorn EDD Small Area Plan and the Upper Eno Study are very important, but he also thinks it is very optimistic to think that it will be ready by May. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to a joint meeting with Hillsborough in March and said that it might be a good time to bring up the notion of having them buy into being one of the sponsoring utilities in the Upper Eno, because this is far Hillsborough's benefit as well. 5. PRESERVE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT The issues with Hillsborough are related to water and sewer and the issues with the County are related to traffic, affordable housing, open space, etc.