Planning Board

PLANNING BOARD Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM Landis Board Room MINUTES PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES 1. INTRODUCTION: 1.1 Call Meeting to Order Madame Chair Catherine Drumm called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM 1.2 Determination of Quorum Members Present: Beryl Alston, Catherine Drumm, Jade Bittle, Scott Faw, Glenn Corriher Members Absent: Mark Bringle, Deborah Cox Staff Present: Deputy Town Clerk Angie Sands, Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe, Assistant Police Chief Kevin Young 1.3 Pledge of Allegiance Madame Chair Catherine Drumm Lead those in Attendance to the Pledge of Allegiance 1.4 Recognitions and Acknowledgements Madame Chair Catherine Drumm Welcomed New Member Glenn Corriher. Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe also welcomed Glenn Corriher. 1.5 Adoption of Agenda A MOTION WAS MADE TO ADOPT THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. Moved By: Scott Faw, seconded by Beryl Alston, motion passed by unanimous vote (5-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MEETING(S): 2.1 Consider Approval of April 9, 2024, Meeting Minutes. A MOTION WAS MADE TO APPROVE APRIL 9, 2024, MEETING MINUTES Moved By: Jade Bittle, seconded by Scott Faw, motion passed by unanimous vote (5-0). Planning Board/Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes 05/15/2024 3. OLD BUSINESS: 3.1 Consider Discussion of Downtown Plan Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe gave a brief overview of the Downtown Plan. Mr. Flowe talked about our downtown area being small compared to the area that Parkdale Mill has. Mr. Flowe stated that the Governing Board has been sitting on text amendment that the Planning Board recommended about six months ago, that would limit some of the uses in the downtown area so that we didn’t have offices taking up that ground floor, but we could have more things like restaurants or things that were more people oriented than employment oriented. That was an initiative driven by now Alderman Nelms. Mr. Flowe said that since that’s happened, the Town has learned that Parkdale is on the market again, and one of the buildings has possibly been bought by an investor. This is important because we have a very limited supply of downtown space, it’s very important to look at how that works. Will it be consumed by 9-5 when people go home, and it creates a dead spot for citizens after work if the town is trying to attract restaurants. What if the downtown area was a lot bigger. If it was a lot bigger, it would not be fair to those property owners on Central to say you can only lease to certain types of businesses. It’s important that we come up with an approach to talk with Parkdale, and gage where they are headed in the future. The concern that Mr. Flowe has is if the Town does not have a relationship with the property owner, we may one day look up and see that the building is abandoned. That could create a problem in trying to fulfill goals within other parts of our Downtown. Mr. Flowe stated that the building will likely become a low value storage space. The town is at a pivotal crossroad. Do we watch and wait, or do we get involved. The first thing we do to help the current property owner is take a position. If you reactivate the town will be behind the Parkdale property owner. If the Parkdale property owner puts it into the low rent market or cheap storage space, the town is concerned. It will take away from everything else. The value is not the building, it’s the property. The Planning Board needs to openly formulate a strategy, with this building the town needs a certain expectation. Predominantly job creation. Without the building there’s an opportunity. Mr. Flowe’s suggestion for the Planning Board is to absorb the information he has shared and give some feedback at the next Planning Board meeting in June. Our town is separated by train tracks. To redevelop that block that Parkdale is on could be the downtown. The downtown on Central will always be looked at as the historic downtown. We are divided by a railroad track. Our heritage is on the east side of the track, but the future is on the west side. We must look at both sides and their own unique purposes in how that works. 4. NEW BUSINESS: 4.1 Consider Zoning Map Amendment Keller- Mt. Moriah Church Rd. Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe gave a brief overview of Zoning Map Amendment Keller- Mt. Moriah Church Rd. Over the next month the town is going to see a couple of requests for annexation into our town. We have a lot of people that want to be a part of our town because of our new policy. On Mt. Moriah Church Rd all the way to the top at the lake property is about 22 acres and the owner has submitted a petition for rezoning. The property owner has requested a Mixed-Use 2 district. If you look at that property, you’ll notice a waffle pattern on the map. That is the critical area for the watershed area surrounding the lake. It is considered a high-quality water supply watershed by the State of NC. The mixed use 2 classification would be intense development, and probably not be able to do a lot of development, because the watershed rules are strict. The watershed limits your density. We told the applicant this as well and they wanted to ask for mixed use 2 anyway. Planning Board/Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes 05/15/2024  Madame Chair Catherine Drumm asked Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe if the apartments across the road was mixed use 1 and if the Board of Alderman had voted for that. Mr. Flowe answered yes. Mr. Flowe recommended mixed use 1. A MOTION WAS MADE TO RECOMMEND MIXED USE 1 FOR ZONING MAP AMENDMENT KELLER- MT. MORIAH CHURCH RD. Moved by Scott Faw, seconded by Beryl Alston, passed by unanimous vote (5-0). A MOTION WAS MADE TO RECESS PLANNING BOARD MEETING TO HOLD BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING AT 6:50 PM. Moved by Scott Faw, seconded by: Jade Bittle passed unanimously (5-0). 5. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: A. INTRODUCTION: A.1 Call Meeting to Order A MOTION WAS MADE AT 6:50 PM TO CALL THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING TO ORDER. Moved by: Jade Bittle, seconded by Beryl Alston, passed unanimously (5-0). A.2 Determination of Quorum Members Present: Beryl Alston, Catherine Drumm, Jade Bittle, Scott Faw, Glenn Corriher Members Absent: Deborah Cox, Mark Bringle Staff Present: Deputy Town Clerk Angie Sands, Planning, Zoning, & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe, Assistant Police Chief Kevin Young Others Present: Nadine Cherry A.3 Adoption of Agenda A MOTION WAS MADE TO ADOPT THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED Moved by Scott Faw, seconded by Beryl Alston, motion passed unanimously (5-0). B. NEW BUSINESS: B.1 Consider Quasi-Judicial Training Session Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe gave a brief overview of what Quasi- Judicial means. Board of Adjustment is a court-like body, with very limited subject matter. It is a requirement of local governments to have such a board. Board of Adjustment is only about facts. There are three types of activities that the Board of Adjustment are charged with. Two of those roles appear in Article 6 in the LDO. The third role appears in Article 7 of the LDO, called the special use permit, such as heavy industry such as asphalt plant, battery manufacturing. Something with waste or pollution. Article 6 is about variances. Mr. Flowe gave an example of a variance. If someone owns a house that has a stream in the back of the property, and it has been eroding over the last 50 years and the person wants to put a garage on the property. Because the stream is eroding, and I meet the normal setbacks for that district it will put the garage too close to the stream and might cause it to have issues 10 years down the road. The property owner can ask for a variance of 3 feet. The other people will be heard at the meeting. The Board of Adjustments job is to be able to distinguish the facts. C. CLOSING: Planning Board/Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes 05/15/2024 C.1 Adjournment A MOTION WAS MADE TO ADJOURN BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING AT 7:10 PM. Moved by Jade Bittle, seconded by Beryl Alston, motion passed unanimously (5-0). PLANNING BOARD RECONVENE PLANNING BOARD MEETING A MOTION WAS MADE TO RECONVENE THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING AT 7:11 PM. Moved by Scott Faw, seconded by Beryl Alston, motion passed unanimously (5-0). 6. REPORTS: 6.1 Planning & Zoning Reports (Included in Packet) Planning, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator Rick Flowe gave a brief overview of the Reports in the Packet. No discussion on the reports. Vice-Chair Scott Faw asked if the June 11, 2024, Planning Board Meeting could be moved. A MOTION WAS MADE TO MOVE THE JUNE 11, 2024, PLANNING BOARD MEETING TO JUNE 18, 2024, AT 6:00 PM. Moved by Jade Bittle, seconded by Scott Faw, motion passed unanimously (5-0). 7. CLOSING: 7.1 Adjournment A MOTION WAS MADE TO ADJOURN THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING AT 7:24 PM. Moved by Jade Bittle, seconded by Beryl Alston, motion passed unanimously (5-0). Planning Board/Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes 05/15/2024