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<br /> DRAFT
<br /> 497
<br /> 498 AGENDA ITEM 8: NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
<br /> 499
<br /> 500 Perdita Holtz: Late last year, I think it was around the time we were doing the work plan in December, some
<br /> 501 planning board members, asked to have an opportunity to review and discuss the current notification
<br /> 502 requirements that we have in our unified development ordinance when there was available agenda space, and
<br /> 503 there was available agenda space,this meeting, and so here we are. I am going to give a short-ish presentation
<br /> 504 and then open it up for you all to discuss as you requested. So, I pulled together all of the current requirements
<br /> 505 in the UDO in this table that's on the screen and it's within the abstract for this item as well, and basically for
<br /> 506 amendments that affect a parcel of property, the current notification is that property owners within 1,000 feet of
<br /> 507 the subject property get a mailed notification, and then there are also signs posted on the property in question.
<br /> 508 Sometimes, more than one sign is required,for instance, if it's a corner,there's two signs. If it's a very large piece
<br /> 509 of property, we might post more signs along the frontage. And then, of course, there are also newspaper
<br /> 510 advertisements for the board county commissioner's public hearing. I wasn't going to go through each of these,
<br /> 511 it's just a table to share with you.
<br /> 512
<br /> 513 You may recall back in March of last year, we provided an info item, also as a result of planning board member
<br /> 514 requests about NIMs and who requires NIMs, and there some counties that were mentioned in particular to look
<br /> 515 at. This is a table that is also included in the agenda materials. It's the info item from last year. I made phone
<br /> 516 calls and emails to the planners within Buncombe County, Durham, Chatham, and Wake Counties to see who
<br /> 517 requires NIMs and what the notification requirements are, and that is all contained within this table as well. And
<br /> 518 then,just as a reminder, there is also additional communication that occurs that's a matter of policy or practice.
<br /> 519 There are email newsletters that go out, and you may have noticed that for the past few months, at the end of the
<br /> 520 planning board agenda, there's a link there that people can use to sign up for the planning and inspections
<br /> 521 department monthly newsletter, and then there's also a general county weekly newsletter that includes
<br /> 522 information on certain planning matters such as re-zonings when they come around,and also social media posts
<br /> 523 that are done by our community relations department for certain planning matters such as the re-zonings.
<br /> 524
<br /> 525 As part of tonight's agenda, over the weekend, Charity sent me a couple of questions because she knew she
<br /> 526 couldn't be here tonight, and I was able to pull some information that I shared with her and that I'm sharing with
<br /> 527 you. She asked about population density in unincorporated Durham and Wake and how that compared to
<br /> 528 Orange County, so I had our GIS data staffperson pull some 2020 census numbers, and, in a nutshell, these
<br /> 529 yellow-shaded cells here in the spreadsheet show what the density is, and in Durham County, it's .32 people per
<br /> 530 acre. In Orange County, it's .24 people per acre, and in Wake County, it's .61 persons per acre. And then
<br /> 531 Charity also asked if address quantities rather than distance is ever used as the standard by which to do
<br /> 532 notifications, and I can tell you that in my 30 years in planning in four different states, I have never seen that and,
<br /> 533 importantly, I have not seen it in North Carolina. We are North Carolina and follow North Carolina law, but she
<br /> 534 had asked if that is ever done . One of the reasons distance is used for the direct-mailed notifications is that it's
<br /> 535 based on who's directly affected by a project, and I realize there can be a lot of different opinions about directly
<br /> 536 affected or directly impacted, and so, you know, in Orange County, we settled on 1,000 feet. That was actually
<br /> 537 increased in 2017 from 500 feet. It was doubled in 2017 to the thousand feet that we use today and which is very
<br /> 538 much in line with the maximum that anybody else in North Carolina does that we are aware of. And then, also,
<br /> 539 we do post the signs, so if you're outside of the mailed notification boundary, if it's a site that you're driving by
<br /> 540 regularly, you're probably going to notice the sign. We know that some people say they can't read the sign, but
<br /> 541 that tells them, hey, let me find out about this because they show up at the meetings and so they know about it,
<br /> 542 you know, whether or not they could read every single word on the sign. So, Melissa has a question.
<br /> 543
<br /> 544 Melissa Poole: I have a question because us having discussed this many, many, many times, any change would
<br /> 545 require getting the county attorney involved and a UDO update, isn't that correct? And then the board of county
<br /> 546 commissioners ultimately have to vote.
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