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10OctoberPB - Special Meeting w—r. •\s • � .`'I� MINUTES ,n jai �-' RANDOLPH COUNTY PLANNING BOARD October 30, 1995 There was a special meeting held at 2: 00 p.m. , on Monday, October 30 , 1995, of the Randolph County Planning Board in the Commissioners ' Meeting Room, Randolph County Office Building, 725 McDowell Road, Asheboro. The following members were present: Jim Routh, Phil Brower, Lynden Craven, Tim Poole, and Maxton McDowell. Planning Director Hal Johnson explained to the Board that this was a special day - the beginning of the process of updating the County' s Zoning Ordinance. Johnson revisited the 1995 Planning Agenda: 1. Updating and Rewrite the County Zoning Ordinance: Johnson said that several issues had been identified by citizens during various rezoning public hearings, Planning Department operational experiences and the Strategic Planning process that reflected the need to update the Zoning Ordinance. Johnson said that this department has been working on this proposal for approximately one year. The current County Zoning Ordinance was originally written and designed in 1987 . 2 . Update County Land Use Plan: Johnson explained that originally the County had planned to update the Land Use Plan, but soon came to realize the need to establish a Growth Management Plan for Randolph County. Johnson said this Plan would clearly show what the County wanted to accomplish and also how to manage growth in Randolph County. Johnson described the Plan as a document that would be a good working tool, that would not be a large unused document. 3. Junk Vehicle Regulations: Johnson described this program as a tremendous problem that sometimes falls through the cracks. Johnson said that this Ordinance would give the County the ability to regulate and remove the storage of junked or abandoned vehicles when they are not located in approved storage facilities. This program has been one the department has been working on for several months and next Monday, November 6, 1995, it will be taken to the County Commissioners . 4. Strategic Planning: Johnson gave a brief overview of this process and explained that the Implementation Committee is currently working on Action Plans . Johnson said that one of the strengths of Randolph County is that the County approaches problems in their jurisdiction from an organizational effort and not an individual effort. Johnson explained that this Zoning Ordinance has been written with the assistance of David Townsend, Public Works Director; Mike Walker, Environmental Health Supervisor; and Carol Rhea, John Anthony, and Bill Smith, North Carolina Division of Community Assistance. Johnson said that what the Board would be reviewing is a group effort. Johnson introduced Annette Lineberry, Data Processing Manager, and explained that her department produced the nice maps and other computer capabilities for the Planning Department. Johnson described the Growth Management Plan as a document that says what Randolph County wants it to say. This Plan includes problems, characteristics and general ideas that the County needs to make land development decisions. Johnson said that this Plan presented today is a draft document. The Growth Management Plan is composed of three elements. Johnson reminded the Board that this Plan is not a lot by lot development plan but rather a more general plan that looks at past trends, current conditions, and future expectations. Johnson said that the Growth Management Plan divides the County in a few basic areas: 1. Primary Growth Area: Areas identified that may at sometime in the foreseeable future have water and sewer, contain major highways and thoroughfares. 2. Secondary Growth Area: These areas may have water in the future and possibly sewer. 3. Rural Conservation Area: These areas do not have major industrial development, but rather are areas that need to have their rural quality of life preserved. 4 . Watershed Environmental Area: Areas were the primary development considerations are to protect public drinking water supplies. Johnson explained that these basic growth areas have certain traits, problems, and conditions for the County to consider while making decisions on issues. Johnson said that there has been a conscious effort made to make this a simple, short document. Johnson told the Board that this presentation of the proposed Zoning Ordinance is just to describe the highlights of this document and that they would not be asked to make any decisions on this Ordinance today. Rural Conservation Districts Johnson said that the establishment of a new zoning district - Rural Conservation District - is being proposed. Johnson said that the establishments of RC districts would require major property rezoning. Johnson said the areas proposed for this type new RC district is basically zoning RA currently. Major Subdivision Overlay Districts Johnson described Randolph County as currently one of the leaders in the procedures of handling residential subdivision of properties. Johnson said that due to the tremendous impact that a subdivision can have on an area, Randolph County brought subdivisions into the zoning arena. Johnson said that we want to refine this process and take it one step further by establishing a new zoning tool of Overlay Districts . Johnson described this as an effective component in the newly proposed Zoning Ordinance. Johnson said that the new Ordinance would also allow for development options in the RC districts of "cluster development" that would give options of conservation easements and open space. Class C Manufactured Housing The new Ordinance would have appearance criteria and upgrade the standards of manufactured housing in Randolph County. Johnson said that a Class C Manufactured Home (manufactured homes built prior to July 1976 - and don't meet building codes) would require a Special Use Permit in Randolph County. Private Roads Johnson explained that in 1973 Randolph County enacted their first Subdivision Ordinance. Johnson said that the Commissioners implemented the requirement of properties without State Road frontage must have a minimum of 5 acres. This lot size requirement was to control density and basically worked for twenty years. Johnson said that now Randolph County is faced with the problem of long private roads that are maintained by property owners on that road (instead of State Maintenance) . Johnson reminded the Board of the case that came before them on October 3rd, where the developer was requesting a subdivision that would have a 2+ mile private road. Johnson said that this new Ordinance would regulate the length of the road and the number of residences that are served by a private road. Existing Junkyard Screening Requirements Johnson said that the County will shut down junkyards that are operating illegally, but that the legally operating junkyards will be required to establish and maintain appropriate buffers/screening for their location. Johnson said that after a year owners of these facilities will be required to comply with these requirements . Outdoor Shooting Ranges This Ordinance will have specific regulations that must be met by both new shooting ranges and existing shooting ranges. There will be time limits, backstop requirements, etc. Phil Brower left the meeting. Johnson explained that we have tried to address all concerns that have been raised during the past years (since the last Ordinance was implemented) . Johnson said that there is an extensive definitions section and administration section. There Permits Section will clarify what and when permits need to be issued. The Enforcement Section spells out exactly what can be done when the Violations occur. Johnson went over the establishment of districts , and discussed the new districts being proposed (RE, RB, RC, LO, TD, SEO) . Johnson asked Carol Rhea, N.C. Division of Community Assistance, to explain the concept of Overlay Districts . Rhea told the Board that the overlay district process is designed to provide greater flexibility for certain areas of the County' s jurisdiction. Rhea explained that the uses and regulations for an overlay district would be supplemental to those uses and regulations of the underlying district. Rhea explained that the underlying district will not change, instead have additional regulations . Rhea said that if the regulations conflicted, the more stringent regulations would apply except those which pertain to subdivision development. The overlay subdivision districts will be established to allow major subdivisions in areas of the county where they would be appropriate. Johnson continued through Article 5 and explained that the Table of Permitted Uses is expanded from the original table. Johnson discussed additional regulations for road access (Article 6) that are being proposed that will help to control the length of private roads . This Article also covers required buffers and screens that will help to eliminate guess work for the Planning Board. Article 7 covers site plan requirements and Article 8 considers appeals and variances. Johnson explained that a tremendous amount of work has taken place over the past year. Johnson said that there has been a change in philosophy in Randolph County. Johnson said this stricter Ordinance is an attempt to reflect what we have heard from the citizens . This Ordinance can and will begin to stabilize growth in Randolph County. Johnson said that this has been a conscious effort to try and provide the Board with alternatives to confront growth in this County. Johnson asked the Board to take the information, proposed drafts (Growth Management Plan and Zoning Ordinance) , and announced that the Board will have another meeting in November to discuss the "nuts & bolts" . Johnson said that the tentative time frame for this process is November - reviewing documents, December - recommendation to the Commissioners , January - Commissioner Community Meetings, and possible approval in February. Board member Jim Routh commended the staff on an extensive Ordinance proposal - Routh said the staff deserved a job well done . Routh asked if lot size costs, tax base effects, etc. had been considered prior to the Ordinance development process . Johnson said that these things were considered and that the 80 , 000 sq. ft. lot size (proposed for the RC area) would be required in areas that will probably never have available sewer services . Johnson said that currently the State and County require this lot size within z mile of a public water supply, so why shouldn' t the County protect the private water supplies in the same manner. Board member Tim Poole discussed the perking problems existing in some of this proposed RC area. Johnson asked that the members of the Planning Board look through the Ordinance and at the Thursday, November 9, 1995 meeting there will be a date set from a special meeting to discuss this newly proposed Zoning Ordinance. The meeting adjourned at 3: 15 p.m. NORTH CAROLINA RANDOLPH COUNTY Planning Direc //- .2- ?L iL) ( ' Date Cle •/Secretary 4:4mom'