Orange County NC Website
• Increasing the mailed notice distance from 500 feet to 1,000 feet and providing <br />mailed notice of Planning Board meetings (in addition to the quarterly public <br />hearing). <br /> <br />2016 Quarterly Public Hearing Items <br />The attached matrix lists the items that were on the 2016 quarterly public hearing <br />agendas. There were a total of 11 items in 2016: <br />• 10 Legislative items <br />o 7 UDO text amendments <br />o 2 Zoning Atlas amendments <br />o 1 Hillsborough/Orange County Joint Land Use Plan amendment <br />• 1 Quasi-Judicial item <br />o Class A special use permit (SUP) for solar array facility <br /> <br />Of these 11 items: <br />• Seven were adopted by the BOCC the night of the hearing, including the Class A <br />SUP. <br />• One zoning atlas amendment was partially adopted the night of the hearing. <br />• Two UDO amendments were adopted approximately three months after the <br />hearing at which they were presented. <br />• One UDO amendment is expected to be adopted two months after the public <br />hearing at which it was presented. <br /> <br />Planning Board Input <br />The Planning Board was asked at its December 7, 2016 meeting to provide comments <br />and input into this report. Approved minutes of the Planning Board’s meeting are <br />available here. Input can be summarized as follows: <br />• It has been a positive that residents have attended the Planning Board meetings <br />(which are now held earlier in the review process) to address the Planning Board. <br />• Increasing the notification boundary to reach more people seems to have had the <br />positive outcome of increasing public participation. <br />• It seems that not many Planning Board members attend the public hearings. <br />• Knowing that members’ inability to attend a quarterly public hearing won’t hold up <br />the hearing has been a relief for some members. <br />• The revised process seems to have worked fine this year. <br /> <br /> <br />Staff Observations <br />Staff offers the following observations regarding the revised public hearing process: <br /> <br />Applicant-Initiated Legislative Items <br />• In 2016, there were no applicant-initiated legislative items. However, the process <br />for applicant-initiated amendments is similar to government-initiated amendments <br />and the information in the bullet below is accurate for applicant-initiated <br />amendments. <br />2