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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-02 Agenda Review NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 2, 2017 PAGE 698 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for Agenda Review on Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. in the Harrell Conference Room at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present: Chairman Woody White; Vice-Chairman Skip Watkins; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; Commissioner Patricia Kusek; and Commissioner Rob Zapple. Staff present: County Manager Chris Coudriet; County Attorney Wanda Copley; and Clerk to the Board Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Chairman White called the Agenda Review meeting to order and announced that the purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the agenda items for the March 6, 2017 Regular Meeting with discussions as noted: Regular Item 3. Consideration of Girl Scout Week Proclamation. Chairman White will read the proclamation into the record. Regular Item 4. Public Hearing - Rezoning Request (Z-966, 1/17) – Request by Design Solutions on Behalf of the Property Owner, New Beginning Christian Church, to Rezone 8.57 Acres Located at the 3100 Block of Blue Clay Road, from (CZD) R-10, Conditional Residential District, to (CUD) R-10, Conditional Use Residential District, and for a Special Use Permit for a High Density Development Consisting of 68 Dwelling Units. Current Planner Brad Schuler stated the project was originally submitted to have 72 units but due to modifications the applicant made to the actual building design it will now have 68 dwelling units. High density development must go through the Technical Review Committee for review and the original submission did not meet the setback requirements along the southern property line. In order to meet the requirements, the buildings had to be shifted further north which resulted in the loss of a building. Greenspace areas will have a community building, picnic shelter, community garden, and some passive areas in the southern portion of the property which does comply with greenspace requirements. The bufferyard will be either three rows of vegetation or two rows and a fence; no impervious surfaces can be installed. The driveway and parking areas are paved. There will also be sidewalks and the applicant will be giving the County a 20-foot wide easement along Blue Clay Road for the purpose of installing a future multiuse path in accordance with the Wilmington/New Hanover Comprehensive Greenway Plan. In response to Board questions, Mr. Schuler stated staff would review any development application with the standards of the Comprehensive Plan. For Community-Mixed Use areas, the Plan does allow for up to 15 dwelling units per acre so staff would potentially be supportive of a higher density development on the adjoining property. If there is a proposal for anything that is a major change to the project the applicant would have to go back through the process. Fire hydrants are required in the area and sprinklers have to be installed in the buildings. Mr. Schuler reported that Covenant Lane will be built to driveway standards, not DOT standards, which complies with the County’s private road standards. It will connect to Rachel’s Place and have curb and gutter. Maintenance will be the responsibility of the property owners and they are aware of this responsibility. In response to Board questions, Mr. Schuler explained the property owners on the street would have the responsibility of getting the road turned over to the Department of Transportation (DOT). In this case, under the current standard, staff did not require anyone to make the upgrades to the road. A primary reason it cannot be turned over to DOT is that there is no proper turn around. A brief discussion was held about the number of roads in the County not maintained by DOT and the maintenance being a financial burden of the property owners. Staff explained that prior to the current system the General Assembly allowed for a maintenance bond whereby a county could retain a certain amount of a developer’s funds until the road was turned over to DOT. If the road was not turned over, then a county could use the funds to make the improvements to get the road turned over to DOT. That authority was removed by the General Assembly a couple of years ago. Currently, a county can require that a road be built to DOT standards at plat recordation. It is then up to the developer and the homeowners’ association to turn it over to DOT and have it at DOT standards for acceptance. Whenever a plat is recorded DOT has to sign the plat certifying the road was built within their standards. However, DOT will not take it over until there are a certain number of homes per certain number of feet in a development. DOT also has a very strict design standard that no water can be in the pipes. This standard is hard for communities on the eastern side of the state to meet. A road would have to be elevated to front door level and generally, developers do not want to meet that standard. In response to questions, Mr. Schuler stated that through the rezoning process, a conditional rezoning, if the developer agrees to build the road to DOT standards it can be made a condition and if not, the Board doesn’t have to approve the request. Planning and Land Use Director Chris O’Keefe further explained that another issue is the length of time between when a road is built and when it qualifies to be turned over to DOT. If any damage occurs during that timeframe, DOT will not take the road until its repaired and homeowners do not want to pay to fix the road. In response to Board questions, he reconfirmed that at some point the road is certified that it is built to DOT standards. The General Assembly is considering language to restore the ability to bond the transition of the road from private to public. This will allow counties to hold the funds until the road is turned over to DOT. New Hanover County has very few arterial and collector roads and it wants to give people options for traveling on roads other than main roads. The County requires subdivisions to stub out to the property edge so that the next subdivision end connects to it. Additional discussion was held about what the Board would like for road standards going forward. Staff was directed to examine when and where a developer should build a road to DOT standards and to meet with certain NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 AGENDA REVIEW MEETING, MARCH 2, 2017 PAGE 699 community members to discuss this issue. Staff is to provide a report to the Board in a month or two with the results of the discussions. Regular Item 5. Public Hearing - Zoning Ordinance Amendment Request (A-425, 9/16) - Request by Planning Staff to Amend Zoning Ordinance Article II, Article V, Article VII, and Article XI Regarding Special Use Permit Requirements and the Table of Permitted Uses. Planning and Land Use Director Chris O’Keefe stated he is aware the Board has received many citizen emails regarding this matter. The emails cite that 11 or 12 of the uses are currently not permitted at all in the I-1 industrial districts and if the Board adopts the text amendment as proposed these uses will all be allowed in I-1 with a Special Use Permit (SUP). The emails contain some misinformation. Specifically, rubber products manufacturing and plastics product manufacturing are already allowed in the I-1 districts with a SUP so that is not a change. The larger concern expressed is what is in the ordinance. An SUP is required for all uses except pharmaceutical product manufacturing which would be permitted by-right in the I-1 districts according to the new language. This is consistent with the Garner Report and is one of the reasons why that proposal is included in the package. The other uses would go through the SUP process. This means the request has to go through the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners before any of those uses would be able to be constructed in these districts. The area that seems to be garnering the most attention is a 30-acre parcel in the I-1 district located between Marsh Oaks and Porters Neck on Market Street across from Wal-Mart. It is largely developed with the exception of 6-acres, and there is the potential that an industry can be built on the site. The County has a light industrial district and a heavy industrial district. The light industrial district has a very broad range of allowed uses. The heavy industrial district covers approximately 20,000-plus acres and is typically where a large majority of manufacturing uses are located and would still be allowed in the proposed text amendment. The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) process will look to determine if any new districts need to be created to accommodate the way the land has been developed. The parcel near Porters Neck and Marsh Oaks is primarily offices. The creation of a new district could occur through the UDO and this area could be rezoned to the new district. In response to Board questions, Director O’Keefe stated that this request is a bridge to the UDO. In regards to the application process, the text amendment introduces a 35-day application deadline for intensive manufacturing uses and a 20-day application deadline for all other SUPs. The application deadline is based on what date is set for the request to be heard at a Planning Board meeting. He will explain this process during Monday’s presentation. At the request of the Board, he will also make a statement to rebut in clear, concise, layman’s terms the information being discussed in the emails. A brief discussion was held about extending the public comment time of people signed up to speak in favor and in opposition to the request. The general consensus of the Board is to extend the public hearing comment periods to allow everyone to speak, with each speaker having a three-minute limit, and then the Board can deliberate and vote on the request. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman White adjourned the meeting at 4:43 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kymberleigh G. Crowell Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting.