Orange County NC Website
N <br />00 <br />Options for Closing Public Hearing <br />(with salient points included in bullets) <br />1 Hold public hearing open until a date /time certain in order to receive written comments made to the Planning Board <br />• This is the existing process which can be kept in place even if the Planning Board no longer attends public <br />hearings as a formal board. <br />• This process ensures the BOCC is apprised of all comments made during the project's review <br />• This process should be retained for quasi - judicial matters (special use permits) in order to meet requirements <br />related to quasi - judicial issues <br />■ Several jurisdictions in North Carolina have different processes for legislative vs quasi - judicial projects, <br />including some jurisdictions in which the Planning Board does not make a recommendation on quasi - <br />judicial matters However, some types of projects require both a rezoning (legislative) and a special use <br />permit (quasi-judicial) so it can be problematic to have the Planning Board review only certain aspects of <br />an overall action (This was a point of confusion during the Buckhorn Village deliberations, which <br />occurred prior to the LIDO making it clear that the Planning Board makes a recommendation on Class A <br />SUPs The former zoning ordinance was unclear on whether the Planning Board acts on Class A SUPs) <br />• Requiring written comments after the oral public hearings helps to ensure that the Planning Board meeting does <br />not become a defacto second public hearing where new oral comments may be made on controversial matters <br />• If the Planning Board were to make a recommendation prior to the oral public hearing, the process could be <br />different <br />■ Staff received fairly strong direction at the September 9, 2013 work session that it was desirable for the <br />Planning Board to make its recommendation after the oral public hearing <br />Confusion related to how items are listed on the BOCC agenda when the public hearing is being closed and no <br />additional comments are accepted could be addressed by adding a new section to the BOCC agenda <br />specifically for these types of items <br />■ "Acceptance of Planning Board Recommendation and Decision on Land Use and Planning - Related <br />Matters," or similar phrasing, may be appropriate <br />2 Close public hearing the night of the hearing <br />• The Planning Board could not consider any additional comments (oral or written) after the public hearing is held <br />