Agenda - 01-24-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

Browse Search

7 1 2 A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Rich to: 3 a.) adopt the proposed amendments by approving the Statement of Consistency (Attachment 6) 4 and Ordinance amending the Zoning Atlas (Attachment 7), with the exception of the Efland Real 5 Property LLC properties: PIN 9844881230, 9844788137, 9844786242, 9844786236, which will 6 be held over for further discussion with the community, and be brought back to the Board of 7 County Commissioners no later than February 7tn 8 9 Commissioner Price asked if the community had been invited to the Planning Board 10 meeting. 11 Michael Harvey said letters were sent to residents that lived within 1,000 feet, including 12 the Ashwick HOA. He said staff met their obligation under the ordinance, and provided notice of 13 the Planning Board meetings and the Board of County Commissioners meetings. 14 Commissioner Price said she respected the residents, but felt that this has been going 15 on for a long time, and there have been opportunities for the neighborhoods to come to the 16 meetings. She said this new designation is making the area better. 17 Commissioner Dorosin referred to his question about keeping this parcel open, and 18 asked if options could be reviewed. He said this process was designed to clarify the zoning 19 based on what is actually on these properties now and avoid creating non-conforming uses. He 20 said the option of changing this property to general commercial is consistent with the fact that 21 there is some type of commercial operation on the property now. 22 Michael Harvey said when staff started meeting with the property owners there was 23 concern with an existing industrial operation or manufacturing operation in this particular area of 24 the County. He said rather than modifying or altering the existing industrial, staff was asked 25 about rezoning the area to general commercial. He said staff reviewed numerous studies of the 26 area, and found the suggestion was consistent with those documents, and moved forward with 27 the change. He said this brings the property more into compliance with the Efland-Mebane 28 Small Area Plan and the Comprehensive Plan. 29 Commissioner Dorosin said the neighbors may want a residential zoning for this parcel, 30 but that would be an unrealistic expectation. He said continuing the conversation may lead to a 31 false hope. 32 Commissioner Jacobs said he agreed with both Commissioner Dorosin and 33 Commissioner Price, and he also thinks staff made good points. He said he knows from 34 experience that residents do not understand the process, and he would like to create another 35 forum for them to have a conversation with staff to be able to ask questions about how this 36 affects their community. 37 Commissioner Rich said she agreed with Commissioner Jacobs. 38 Chair McKee asked Craig Benedict, Planning Director, if he could identify how long it 39 would take to bring this item back, and if, during conversations with staff, the residents have 40 expressed a desire for any of the proposed changes. 41 Craig Benedict said when HOAs turnover from the developers to the HOAs, staff usually 42 has meetings with them. He said the Ashwick HOA has turned over again, and staff can meet 43 with the HOA to provide information and answer questions. He said staff did look at the existing 44 zoning, and feels the proposal is a better solution for the property owners and the 45 neighborhood. 46 Commissioner Pelissier said she is fine with delaying a vote on this set of properties, but 47 she would not want to wait until spring. 48 49 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 50