Minutes 04-01-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Judith Ernst said she is a ceramic artist who lives in Chapel Hill. She read the following: The most recent economic development plan for Orange County names the arts as one of the focuses for development in the County. How can Orange County in fact be an arts-friendly community, specifically for the visual arts? An arts-friendly environment has to be an artist- friendly environment. For visual artists to thrive they need two things: places to show and sell their work; and places to make their work, or studio space. This second need is the one less understood and most often overlooked. Right now Orange County is reviewing its zoning laws. Under current rules, artists can realistically only build studios on land where they occupy a primary residence, under the "home business" designation. This assumes that all artists can afford their own homes: and all artists can afford to build a studio for their own exclusive use. If two or more people decide to collaboratively build a studio not at a primary residence, it must be done on land zoned for commercial use. While there are small parcels in the County that were not grand-fathered in as commercially zoned in the early 1990's, most plots designated commercial at that time were the so-called economic development zones that are best for big-box stores and mixed retail/food businesses that thrive in strip malls. These areas are not compatible with art studios, nor are they affordable for artist use. Artists have often favored shared studio space because of its affordability, but currently Orange County makes that almost impossible. I urge you to consider some alternative to these zoning rules, perhaps in rural areas, that would allow for low-impact collective studio use by artists, and perhaps for other creative, non-fine art designers, architects, etc. For example, imagine a group of painters deciding to buy a small piece of rural property with an old barn that can be rehabilitated for shared work space. Or a small group of potters purchasing an older affordable farm house to be used as a studio. Or a group of artists purchasing a plot of land and then constructing a relatively low-cost building suitable for studio space but not for residential use. Could the Commission staff investigate how other counties in North Carolina and throughout the country may help provide affordable work space for artists? Our area already has a strong arts community, but the County is not particularly friendly to younger artists, those who don't have the resources to create a home/studio combination. We will never be a dynamic arts destination unless we can attract young artists as well as nurturing those who are more well-established. With the redevelopment of the large warehouse structures in Durham that now serve as shared studio space, like Golden Belt and Liberty Arts Sculpture Studio, our larger area is starting to attract younger artists. While Orange County doesn't have much of that kind of infrastructure for redevelopment, there are things that a rural county can do to make it more affordable and possible for artists to live and work in the County. Reconsidering these zoning issues that relegate shared space to commercially zoned areas, and making the rules friendlier to shared studio space for artists, is an initiative that could make a huge difference in the economic development of the County. Jackie Stone Huerner said she is a resident of Hillsborough, and she is following up on discussion regarding the proposed bus routes. She said there is concern that one of the proposed bus routes was going to go along Highway 86 North from Hillsborough. She said there is a much more suburban lifestyle in that area, and most of the residents have cars and are unlikely to use the bus. She said there is a great need for bus service in the mobile home parks, rent subsidized apartments, and low income housing areas within Hillsborough. She