Orange County NC Website
2 <br />concurred with this recommendation since there are different legal requirements for the two <br />types of reviews/approvals. <br />Remarks on Possible Review Processes <br />Legislative <br />The possible process for legislative items illustrated in Attachment Ahas several advantages <br />overthe existing process: <br />Nearby property owners will be notified about proposed map amendments earlier than <br />currently occurs through first class mailed notifications and posted signs for the Planning <br />Board meeting, which would occur prior to the public hearing. <br />The public could speak at both the Planning Board meeting and the later BOCC public <br />hearing. <br />A quorum of Planning Board members would no longer be required to hold a BOCC <br />public hearing, but Planning Board members would be encouraged to attend the public <br />hearings. <br />The public hearing would be closed the night of the hearing and the BOCC could do one <br />of the following: <br />Defer a decision to a later BOCC meeting date (items would no longer be listed on <br />o <br />the public hearing portion of the later BOCC agenda and the public could make <br />oral comments). <br />Refer an application back to the Planning Board for further review. <br />o <br />Make a decision at the conclusion of the hearing (thiswould allow the current <br />o <br />process to move more quickly for items that are not particularly controversial). <br />Because the requirement for written comments is removed and the public hearing is <br />closed the night of the hearing, the hearing no longer would need to be continued to a <br />date/certain so the awkward process of having items listed on the public hearing portion <br />of the BOCC agenda, but with no additional comments accepted, would no longer occur. <br />Quasi-Judicial <br />Quasi-judicial matters differ from legislative items in that only sworn testimony from experts is <br />supposed to be heard at the public hearingfor quasi-judicial matters, which means that the <br />opinions of typical residents (unless they are experts in a particular subject matter) is not <br />supposed to be consideredin the quasi-judicial decision. The Planning Board believes that it <br />should be involved in making a recommendation to the BOCC on quasi-judicial matters and the <br />flowchart in Attachment Areflects this. Some advantages of the possible process over the <br />existing process include: <br />The Planning Board meeting could be viewed as a “dry run” for the later BOCC public <br />hearing and anyone would be able to address the Planning Board, although non-expert <br />speakers would be informed that their comments could not be a basis for decision at the <br />formal public hearing. <br />The discussion at the Planning Board meeting could highlight areas for interest for <br />o <br />the BOCC to question expert witnesses about at the formal public hearing. <br />A quorum of Planning Board members would no longer be required to hold a BOCC <br />public hearing, but Planning Board members would be encouraged to attend the public <br />hearings. <br />The public hearing would be closed the night of the hearing and the BOCC could do one <br />of the following: <br />Defer a decision to a later BOCC meeting date (would be necessary if additional <br />o <br />information was requested by the BOCC at the public hearing). <br /> <br />