Agenda - 12-07-2015 - 6-k - Text Amendment to the JPA – Revise Existing Language Regarding Transition Area Resident Representation of the Chapel Hill Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment

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8 form, and function than Chapel Hill In-Town Limits. The interests and environments of the JPA/ETJ people need to have their own representative, because unless you live there, you just don't get it and you won't understand what we want and why we want it." Debbie Mesquela asked for her comments to be put on the Chapel Hill website. She said the request is that the names of the seats remain the same, and whoever holds these seats would represent the needs of the JPA/ETJ. Mayor Kleinschmidt clarified that the only seat to be eliminated was the JPA seat, which would be replaced with a Chapel Hill resident. He said the ETJ seat would remain the same. Commissioner Jacobs said the proposal from Chapel Hill is reasonable, and the County has a similar process for addressing seats that are vacant for 180 days. He suggested a period between 90 to 180 days. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that suggestion is different than the Town of Chapel Hill's Planning Commission's recommendation. Alderman Chaney asked if two seats would be reduced to one seat and would represent this small percentage of the population. Mayor Kleinschmidt said yes. Commissioner Rich clarified that the ETJ position would not be done away with, but rather the JPA seat would be combined, or if it goes unfilled by an ETJ/JPA person in a specified time period, that the seat would go to a Chapel Hill resident. Mayor Kleinschmidt said the Planning Commission's recommendation is to morph the JPA seat into a Chapel Hill resident seat, but there are other options to consider and he reviewed them. Commissioner Rich asked if the Planning Commission has a definite number of membership slots or can the numbers be increased. Gene Poveromo said State statute requires that there be at least one person from the ETJ on Board of Adjustment and Chapel Hill Planning Commission. He said the Planning Commission is made up of nine members, and the JPA agreement says there must be one JPA position. Town Council Member Palmer said Commissioner Jacobs' suggestion of 180 days is a long time and explained the appointment process and Advisory Board schedules. She said even the 90 days could be problematic. She said there are only 298 residents that live in the JPA area, which is a small number from which to find a representative to serve on these boards. Councilman Ward said he believed that the JPA still needs representation, and he supports the "another option" choice. Gene Poveromo said there is one seat dedicated to the ETJ, and it would be possible to have a second ETJ seat. Councilman Ward asked if it is possible to transform the remaining ETJ seat into one that could also be filled by a JPA resident. Mayor Kleinschmidt said that is not be possible, because there must be an ETJ representative. Mayor Kleinschmidt said another option would be to consider bringing the small JPA area into the ETJ or releasing it to the County. He said the latter option would be a longer process. Mayor Kleinschmidt said when this was created years ago, there was a lot more transition area and a lot more residents in the JPA area. Councilman Ward said he hoped that if the shorter time frame was chosen, Chapel Hill would be able to help Orange County fill these positions as the Board should be fully staffed with membership. He said a time extension could be requested if need be. Alderman Slade asked if this potential change would affect Carrboro. Gene Poveromo said the proposal does not include changing Carrboro's jurisdiction.