Orange County NC Website
APPROVED JUL Y 9, 2018 <br /> 146 LeAnn Brown continued, stating that N.C.G.S. §160A-388(g), which is a statue that governs the Board of <br /> 147 Adjustment, is quoted in pertinent part on Page 52 of the agenda packet in her letter to Chair Samantha <br /> 148 Cabe seeking subpoenas on November 7, 2017. What N.C.G.S. §160A-388(g) allows is it allows persons <br /> 149 with standing to seek subpoenas.The procedure is to give the Board of Adjustment a written request, <br /> 150 which she did by letter, And it provides the chair shall issue the subpoena if it is determined to be relevant <br /> 151 material and reasonable in nature and scope and not oppressive. The statute also contemplates that <br /> 152 parties from whom documents are sought may file motions to quash subpoenas. There was no motion to <br /> 153 quash or modify the request that she filed some six months ago. <br /> 154 <br /> 155 LeAnn Brown reviewed that six months ago she provided a letter of appeal to the Current Planning <br /> 156 Supervisor dated October 13, 2017, She noted that Pages 49-51 of the agenda packet outline the errors <br /> 157 alleged, The letter to Chair Samantha Cabe that she sent sought five subpoenas to the following properties: <br /> 158 Southeast Property Group LLC, which is the legal owner of the property; Wild Flora Farm LLC, which was <br /> 159 created at some point in time, Kara Brewer individually; Chris Brewer individually, and Barn of Chapel Hill <br /> 160 LLC. She noted that under the law, those are all separate legal entities. What she sought from them was <br /> 161 information submitted to the North Carolina Department of Revenue or to Orange County regarding their <br /> 162 alleged eligibility or alleged compliance with the statute regarding the farm exemption as it has been <br /> 163 amended. She noted where the farm exemption provisions can be found in the state statutes, as noted on <br /> 164 Page 53 of the agenda packet, and that the session law amends several places in the statutes. The other <br /> 166 information she sought is the relationship among these entities because information has been provided to <br /> 166 the county, suggesting that a tax certificate that was received identifies Wild Flora Farms and Kara Brewer <br /> 167 somehow applied to Southeast Property Group LLC. The statute requires the tax certificate to be issued to <br /> 168 the owner of the property and one of the errors that her party has alleged is that a certificate to Wild Flora <br /> 169 Farm or Kara Brewer cannot apply to Southeast Property Group LLC. On its face, it does not, Frankly, the <br /> 170 income amounts and time increments in the two statutes applying to the North Carolina department of <br /> 171 Revenue do not appear to have been possibly temporally to have been met and so her party thinks the <br /> 172 information she is requesting would be helpful to inform them as to whether there is compliance with those <br /> 173 issues. That would be the issue when she comes before this board again, <br /> 174 <br /> 175 LeAnn Brown reviewed that what the statues require is an annual income from farming for the previous tax <br /> 176 year of$10,000 or an average for three years of that amount. There are conditional exemptions for tax <br /> 177 purposes but that provision does not qualify a property owner. The letter to Kara Brewer with an exemption <br /> 178 identification number for Wild Flora Farm is dated September 22, 2017. Wild Flora Farm was created <br /> 179 February 14, 2017, so it had only existed a few months. There is annual record of an assumed name <br /> 180 certificate for Wild Flora Farm dated October 12, 2017, but it is after the certificate was issued as well. The <br /> 181 property was purchased in 2015 by Southeast Property Group LLC and has been owned by it throughout <br /> 182 this process. <br /> 183 <br /> 184 LeAnn Brown said that we believe that in order for the Board of Adjustment to make an intelligent and <br /> 185 informed decision on the appealing chief as to whether Orange County has misinterpreted what it has <br /> 186 received or has failed to make the appropriate legal distinctions among the parties would be informed by <br /> 187 the requested subpoenas. She and her clients believe that without the information, it would be difficult for <br /> 188 her and her clients in the dark without underlying information to know whether what has been provided <br /> 189 meets the statutory requirements. At a hearing on this matter, any evidence that is obtained through the <br /> 190 subpoenas can be objected to, The board can choose in a hearing to sustain the objections and LeAnn <br /> 191 Brown can offer to make an offer of proof and have that information available so that a court can look at it <br /> 192 later, Or the other party can object and the board can sustain that and a court can look at it later. If LeAnn <br /> 193 Brown is not allowed to subpoena the information, then it renders it very difficult under her due process <br /> 194 rights to prepare an argument before the Board of Adjustment, She appreciates Karen Barrows's decision <br /> 4 <br />