Agenda - 08-27-2007-d3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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K THE Louis BERGER GROUP, INC. 1001 Wade Ave. Raleigh, North Carolina 27605 Tel (919) 866-4400 Fax (919) 755-3502 www.louisberger.com August 13, 2007 Craig Benedict, AICP, Director of Planning Glenn Bowles, AICP, Planner II Orange County Department of Planning and Zoning 306F Revere Road Hillsborough, NC 27278 Subject: Progress of Transfer of Development Rights Phase III (Implementation) Dear Messrs. Benedict / Bowles: The following is an assessment of the status, Joint Advisory Board (JAB) goals, and communication needs for the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Project Phase III, which is specifically oriented towards providing implementabon guidance of a specific program and administrative design of the TDR program. Status of Project To date, we have conducted one meeting of the Joint Advisory Board (April 23, 2007) to introduce the project, past work that has been completed in earlier phases, and the purpose of the Joint Advisory Board. Several meetings have been held with the Orange County Planning staff, and one meeting thus far with the County Attorney. We have or are in the process of conducting additional meetings with county private developers and comparable TDR programs outside of North Carolina that can provide insight into specific processes and program design issues identified by the project team. Draft documents have been completed for the secondary economic analyses; draft program design template; additional mapping / spatial analysis to refine both Sending and Receiving Area boundaries; draft administrative design workflow templates; a major project website update was completed in May; a list of questions submitted to the County Attorney; draft pros/cons document to illustrate major decision points; and draft conservation easement language. Additional work is being undertaken now to produce one or more display boards for the upcoming August 27th Board of Commissioners quarterly public hearing, and produce a draft baseline report to establish Sending Area credits for the Orange County Planning staff. To date, approximately 70% of the project budget has been expended. Joint Advisory Board Goals and Purpose The first JAB meeting was largely spent on reiterating work that has already been conducted and posted to the project website. During this meeting, it was apparent that the primary goal of the JAB — to help provide direction on the details of the program design and administrative options — was being subsumed by a larger discussion about the purpose of and need for TDR in Orange County. We would hope that the County would respond favorably towards past, relevant work products completed in Phases I and II of the project, and underscore the need for forward progress by the JAB to get comments on specific points of program and administrative design issues in subsequent meetings.