Minutes 03-21-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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conversations together. He said when the Town of Chapel did the Small Area Planning (SAP) process, it was assumed that there would be an agreement with Orange County and this area would become a part of Chapel Hill. He said it is now known that town initiated annexation is unlikely for any unincorporated parcel in the state. He said that for town services to be provided, the town has legal restrictions with what it can/cannot do outside of the town limits. He said there needs to be a lot of thought, as plans are made for extending urban services into these joint planning areas. He said there are many factors that distinguish this area from a rural area, yet this will never become part of the Town in any Town initiated process. He feels the Board needs to incorporate a response to this into its discussions. He questioned, if it is decided that this will never be part of the Town of Chapel Hill, whether urbanizing this area is a wise effort or not. He questioned whether the Board should consider transitioning this area into the Town through other mechanisms. He said that the neighborhood's continued demand for urban services, like water and sewer, will put development pressure that may lead to voluntary annexation by a developer. Commissioner Dorosin said the Mayor's comments are important context for discussion, but the Board of Commissioners needs to keep in mind that the issues related to Rogers Road come in the form of remediation. He said this makes it more distinct then other ETJ areas and this is a unique issue. Mayor Kleinschmidt said he was just adding this to the conversation. Commissioner Price said Commissioner Rich said they brought the information about this proposed legislation in reference to the elimination of ETJs by the legislature to the meeting yesterday of the Task Force and it was discussed. Mayor Kleinschmidt asked if the task force could be encouraged to add this to their on- going discussions. Commissioner Rich said when the Task Force discussed this last night, it got mixed reviews. She said the bills are coming to the Board of County Commissioners' so quickly these days that County Commissioners often can't meet on time to discuss them so the Board has had to amend how it does business. Commissioner Rich said the reaction of the task force is to have the conversation in spite of the bill and she is not clear on what Mayor Kleinschmidt wants. Council Member Donna Bell arrived at 7:15. Mayor Kleinschmidt said one response would be to come to an agreement on the zoning intensity desired for this area to keep it from becoming an urbanized area outside the city. He said this might be underscored more, instead of just being one of the principals. Commissioner Rich said that would be something the Task Force would be considering in its discussion of gentrification anyway. She asked if he wanted to add the zoning issue to that portion of the charge. Council Member Jim Ward said he does not feel the vision for this area should be changed based on proposed legislation. He said that as this area grows, it will make more sense for that part of the community to be part of Chapel Hill. He said he feels that moving forward, it should be ensured that what is being done with regard to possible utility service districts is legal, even if ETJs get discontinued. He said another question that came up was regarding the fact that there is no ETJ out there; it is a joint planning district and it is unclear if it will be affected by ETJ legislation. Commissioner Dorosin suggested the audience might benefit from an explanation about the proposed legislation. Mayor Kleinschmidt said the first important point is the change in the annexation rule that was enacted last year. He said that in any state with limited ability to grow, even