Agenda - 09-01-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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20 1 Chair McKee said he is opposed to impact fees, period. He said they adversely affect 2 the affordability of all housing and that with lower-cost housing, the fees can total 10 to 20 3 percent of the cost of the house. 4 Commissioner Rich said it is time to gather data again and see what happens with the 5 non-generation of students. 6 7 Commissioner Jacobs said Orange County's payment in lieu policy for Parks and 8 Recreation needs to be reviewed. 9 The developer said he is confident of what the data will report. He said the only concern 10 for them is the timing. He said he understands from the discussion that Orange County will 11 help them work with Chapel Hill to allow construction to begin and act on the results of the data 12 as they are obtained. 13 Chair McKee said the Board can indicate to staff to start the study. 14 Craig Benedict said the study can be paid for either by the County or the developer. 15 Chair McKee said for Orange County to pay for this study. 16 Commissioner Rich said the study should be broad. 17 Chair McKee said to move forward with the study, to work with Chapel Hill to allow the 18 project to move forward, and to assess fees at the CO stage versus the permit stage. 19 20 5. Follow-up Discussion on Board Rules of Procedures - Petitions Process 21 Chair McKee said that Commissioner Jacobs petitioned the Board to review the petition 22 process. He said at their places is an excerpt from the January 30, 2015 Retreat Minutes. 23 Chair McKee said there have been more petitions in the past 6 to 12 months, and some 24 of these are requests for information and not petitions, and these should be sent to the 25 Manager to distribute to staff for responses. He gave some examples of petitions from Board 26 members from past meetings in order to see the difference between information requests 27 versus policy information/requests. 28 Chair McKee said he does not know if he, as Chair, or the Manager needed to address 29 these information requests more proactively at meetings. 30 Commissioner Jacobs said having a trusted Manager, who will do what the Board asks, 31 should be enough. He suggested Board members still be able to petition for all types of 32 information, but it should be Manager's responsibility to determine what she can simply have 33 staff answer versus what needs to go through the Chair and Vice Chair. He said it takes the 34 burden off the Chair of having to respond to so many requests while also relieving Board 35 members from worrying about the phrasing of their petitions, and allowing each member to 36 know what the others are considering. 37 Commissioner Rich said this process is a good idea but sometimes petitions come to 38 her while she is talking to others and she adds it to her petition list. She said, however, most 39 are not petitions, but rather information requests. 40 Bonnie Hammersley said she liked this idea and it would not be a burden as she keeps 41 notes throughout the meetings of all these requests. She said she often already has staff 42 working on many of the requests prior to the Chair/Vice Chair agenda review. She said there 43 are sometimes items that require the authority of the Board, and she cannot act without further 44 communication with the Board. She said the outcome of all requests, whether true petitions or 45 just request for information, will always be presented with full responses to the Board. 46 Chair McKee said Bonnie Hammersley often takes the lead on petition responses during 47 the agenda review. 48 Bonnie Hammersley said some petitions are complicated and will take more time but 49 she will make every effort to keep the petitioner updated from here forward.