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3 <br /> <br />suggesting that the policy of having the BOCC approve the required legal <br />advertisement would be removed as part of the streamlining effort. <br />Background <br />As staff indicated at the work session, Orange County’s typical review timeframe in <br />recent years (4-5 months from application deadline to BOCC decision) compares <br />favorably to other North Carolina local governments. One of the more significant <br />differences is that most local governments in North Carolina have a monthly public <br />hearing cycle rather than the quarterly cycle Orange County adheres to. <br /> <br />It is also notable that the current process was put into place at least 20 years ago <br />and one of the purposes was so residents who took interest in the types of matters <br />heard at the quarterly hearings would know in which months the hearings occur. <br />Dissemination of information was quite different 20+ years ago when compared to <br />today. The availability of agendas and hearing information on the internet makes it <br />easier for interested persons to keep apprised of matters in which they are interested <br />whereas 20+ years ago, interested people likely had to obtain hard copies of <br />agendas/materials directly from the County Clerk. <br /> <br />Agenda Process <br />Internal processes in the Planning Department, Manager’s Office, and Clerk’s office <br />will need to be updated if the amendments are adopted. Initial meetings between the <br />departments have indicated that necessary adjustments can be made although it will <br />be a change from existing processes. An example of an internal change is that, in <br />order to meet statutory requirements, the first legal advertisement for the public <br />hearing would run on the same day internal departmental agenda review occurs <br />(generally Wednesday afternoon). The current internal agenda setting process <br />allows items to be “bumped” from agendas if necessary; public hearing items could <br />not be “bumped” without incurring costs of running new legal advertisements and <br />running cancellation ads, if necessary. Additionally, for items that require mailed <br />notifications, Planning staff would likely have already prepared the notifications for <br />mailing by the time agenda review occurs, although the actual mail out is on Friday. <br /> <br />If public hearing dates are chosen that do not correspond to a regular BOCC <br />meeting, for example, holding public hearings on BOCC work session dates, the <br />internal agenda process is different. However, staff would have little ability to remove <br />public hearing items that were filed by published application deadline dates. <br /> <br />The existing practice of isolating UDO/Comprehensive Plan-related items on <br />separate meeting agendas (the quarterly public hearings) likely results in more <br />predictable BOCC regular meetings since some planning-related items can generate <br />a great deal of public interest and comment. However, most items in recent years <br />have not had significant public comment at the quarterly public hearings. <br /> <br />Orange County’s practice of holding quarterly public hearings is fairly unique in North <br />Carolina (staff is aware of only one other local government – the Town of <br />Hillsborough – that limits public hearing dates to only four times per year). Most local <br />governments in North Carolina have at least one meeting per month where planning- <br />related items can be heard (either as part of a regular meeting or as a meeting