Agenda - 10-15-2013 - 5h - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 County staff and elected officials received comments during development of the Comprehensive Plan (2008) and Unified Development Ordinance (2011) about the perceived need to streamline and speed up decisions on applications. Analysis The topic of amending the current quarterly public hearing process has recently been brought up as part of the work on "Agricultural Support Enterprises" (ASE) because the pre -2010 ASE work included a different approval process for ASE - related projects. The September 9, 2013 BOCC work session (held at the end of the quarterly public hearing) materials contain more information about this topic: http:// orangecountync .gov /occierks /130909.pdf, including staff's concern about having a different review process for only certain projects. The purpose of the work session was to obtain BOCC input/direction on the public hearing process, which staff received. There is not total agreement among BOCC members that the current process should be changed. However, a majority of the BOCC directed staff to bring forward proposed changes for public hearing and consideration. At this time, staff is considering the following changes to the public hearing process: • End the quarterly hearings and instead have the BOCC designate a minimum of 8 regular meetings per year where Comprehensive Plan, UDO, and Zoning Atlas amendments and applications for Class A Special Use Permits can be heard. The 8 meetings (minimum) would be designated each Fall when the BOCC approves its meeting schedule for the following calendar year. Stop holding the public hearings as joint hearings with the Planning Board. The Planning Board is an advisory board comprised of volunteers and there are sometimes issues of having a quorum of members present for hearings /meetings. A joint hearing cannot occur without a quorum of members from both Boards. Staff intends to propose that the Planning Board provide a recommendation to the BOCC after the public hearing. This would allow Planning Board members to either attend the public hearing or view the hearing on the internet in order to hear public comments prior to making a recommendation. Flow charts showing the current process and the process staff intends to propose are included at the end of this Form. It should be noted that staff is suggesting that the policy of having the BOCC approve the required legal advertisement would be removed as part of the streamlining effort. • Staff is researching whether the number of public hearings items and /or anticipated time required can be limited on any one agenda in an effort to ensure land use /zoning issues do not dominate a particular BOCC meeting agenda. As staff indicated at the work session, Orange County's typical review timeframe in recent years (4 -5 months from application deadline to BOCC decision) compares favorably to other North Carolina local governments. One of the more significant differences is that most local governments in North Carolina have a monthly public hearing cycle rather than the quarterly cycle Orange County adheres to. It is also notable that the current process was put into place at least 20 years ago 2