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DRAFT 1 MINUTES 1 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 OCTOBER 4, 2017 3 REGULAR MEETING 4 5 MEMBERS PRESENT: Lydia Wegman (Chair), At-Large Chapel Hill Township Representative; Tony Blake (Vice-Chair), 6 Bingham Township Representative; Patricia Roberts, Cheeks Township Representative; Paul Guthrie, At-Large 7 Chapel Hill Township; Buddy Hartley, Little River Township Representative; Kim Piracci, At-Large; Township; 8 Alexander Gregory, Chapel Hill Township Representative; David Blankfard, Hillsborough Township Representative; 9 10 MEMBERS ABSENT: Laura Nicholson, Eno Township Representative; Andrea Rohrbacher, At-Large Chapel Hill 11 Township; Donna Coffey, Cedar Grove Township Representative; 12 13 STAFF PRESENT: Craig Benedict, Planning Director; Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor; Tom Altieri, 14 Comprehensive Planning Supervisor; Ashley Moncado, Planner II; Patrick Mallett, Planner II; Meredith Kern, 15 Administrative Assistant II; 16 17 ***** 18 19 AGENDA ITEM 10: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS – PUBLIC HEARING 20 REVISIONS - To make a recommendation to the BOCC on government-initiated amendments 21 to the UDO pertaining to public hearings. This item is scheduled for the November 2017 22 quarterly public hearing. 23 PRESENTER: Craig Benedict, Planning Director 24 25 Craig Benedict reviewed the abstract. He said that this amendment covers revisions to the public hearing process. In 26 conversations with the BOCC on September 7, 2017, members thought that there could be a better way to streamline 27 the process for development proposals to be heard and for additional public input that would move away from the 28 structure of quarterly public hearings. They recommended that the quarterly public hearing dates be removed from 29 future calendars and that land use related items be placed on regular meeting agenda. This new process has the 30 potential for 12 to 15 meetings a year where items could be heard. The BOCC instructed the Planning Department to 31 remove references in the UDO of “quarterly public hearing” and change the text to “public hearing.” This will 32 streamline and make the process quicker. Mr. Benedict reviewed the Rules of Procedure for the Planning Board and 33 references to quarterly public hearings and attendance. He asked for the Board’s input into this topic tonight and that 34 the issue be considered for a vote at the Planning Board’s meeting next month. He reiterated that the primary topic of 35 the discussion tonight is still the proposed ordinance change. 36 37 Lydia Wegman asked if this only references government-initiated amendments to the UDO. For example, Board 38 members would not have to attend a meeting on Settler’s Point. 39 40 Craig Benedict responded that Settler’s Point would be included (a so-called “developer-initiated” application) along 41 with government-initiated amendments. 42 43 Lydia Wegman said that she wants to think further about numbers at meetings to attend. She said that she would like 44 to discuss the topic at the November Planning Board meeting. 45 46 Ashley Moncado said that a preliminary discussion tonight would help this item stay on track so that it can go along 47 with the discussions at the November quarterly public hearing. She asked what members would recommend. 48 49 Paul Guthrie commented that he understands the intent of the proposal but the language is troubling to him. He said 50 that he has had to be absent from many meetings over the years, not because he did not want to be present, but 51 because of medical issues which made it physically impossible for him to attend. He suggested that if a requirement 52 is made for attendance, it needs to be flexible or it will have a negative effect on certain members. 53 41