Good evening. It's 6 p.m. I'd like to call the meeting to order. I'd like to
welcome everyone to the Town of Leland Planning Board meeting. Please note that
the public may videotape these proceedings at any time. At this time,
I'd like to remind everyone to please place their cell phones on vibrate or
turn them off so we do not disturb the business of tonight's meeting.
First item of business. Everybody would stand for the pledge of allegiance,
please.
» I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. [snorts]
» Bless you. >> [clears throat]
» person. >> Um, item number three, the approval of
agenda. Does anyone have any amendments to the agenda, Mr. Whitney?
» No, not the agenda. >> Not the agenda. Okay. [laughter]
May I have a motion to approve the agenda as stated?
» I'll move. >> Do I have a second?
» Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor?
» I. >> Any opposed?
Agenda's carried. Number four, approval of minutes. Does anyone have any
amendments to the minutes? >> I have uh one comment on the meeting
minutes of June 3rd. I was not attending the meeting. I was uh out of town. So um
I would move that the uh minutes be uh approved as amended.
» I have a motion. Do I have a second for that?
» Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor?
» I. Any opposed? Minutes are approved. [clears throat]
Item number five, public comment. At this time, do we have anyone who signed
up? >> There's no one signed up at this time.
» Okay, then we can go from there. Um, >> please go ahead and continue.
» Um, yeah, anyone has signed up to speak during the public comment prior to the
start of the meeting may come forward after all the speakers who have signed
up and finished. Anyone who did not sign up but wishes to provide public comment
will have an opportunity to speak. We've had no one sign up at this point in
time. Um is there anybody else who has wishes to speak at this time?
All right. Seeing none, um um then at that point I think we can move on to the
presentation item number six, quarterly update for the Leland 2045 comprehensive
plan. Miss Thirsten will now present the update.
» Thank you chairman, members of the planning board. Uh, I appreciate the
opportunity to update you on the Leland 2045 plan. As you know, we do these
updates quarterly to keep you a breast of the progress that we're making
towards implementation of this plan. Uh, these updates will help connect back the
work that staff is doing to the Leland 2045 plan and show you what themes we're
advancing through the organization. So, there are six main themes that make
up the comprehensive plan. I'll go over those briefly because most of you have
seen these before. Um, we tie these back. We tie each action item back to
one of these themes, but you'll note that many of the action items support
more than one theme at the same time. Um, and so as we go through these
updates to look at what was done and how that fits into the town's broader goals,
we'll tie them back to the predominant theme and any any related themes that
are applicable. So, first we have first we have the
Westgate area mobility and safety improvements. Uh you'll recall from the
last quarterly update that we put in the um teardrop roundabout and finished some
pedestrian improvements in that area. Uh this update is referring to um some
sidewalk improvements on the north side of West Gate that improves three high
visibility sidewalk or crosswalks, ADA compliant curb ramps, updated pavement
markings, and just general pedestrian improvements there. This connects back
to Leland 2045 by improving pedestrian safety, multimodal access, traffic flow,
and infrastructure reliability in one of the town's busiest commercial areas.
Um, the next item that we have is the extension of Founders Drive from
Settller's Village to Woodland Drive. This fills in a gap in the local street
network, improving connectivity between neighborhoods and providing additional
access from that neighborhood. Um, this ties back to the Leland 2045
emphasis on connected development, multimmodal access. You'll see the
sidewalks that were installed as part of this improvement. And generally
resilient infrastructure.
Not as much fun as um well, Founders Park was way more fun than Founders
Drive extension if you haven't been out there. Um Founders Park serves as a
central place for recreation, events, and community gathering. The
amphitheater has so so far supported several concerts and public programs and
the splash pad has already proven to be an extremely popular family-friendly
amenity. Leland 2045 is about quality of life,
investing in public spaces uh that support recreation, health, and
com and community life.
Back in June, town council authorized the design build of a boardwalk and dock
by Inter Coastal Marine. Surgeon Creek Park is planned as Leland's second
public water access with Cypress Cove Park being the first. And this supports
the Leland 2045 goal of providing water access to natural resources, promoting
outdoor recreation, and continuing long-term investment in parks and open
space.
I hope you were here along with about 3,000 other people for the Leland and
Bloom Festival on May 16th. There were several food trucks, art vendors,
farmers, environmental stewardship organizations, and live music. This
event supports local economy by giving visibility to local businesses and
organizations. And it shows how long-term planning goals translate into
real community experiences. So this is what I was talking about how
each of the action items for this quarterly update has a primary theme
with the big circle and then you'll see the supporting circles on the bottom
showing other themes that it relates to maybe not quite as directly. So you'll
see the infrastructure projects also support safety and connectivity. Park
and water access supports livability and infrastructure that supports community
life. Leland and Bloom supports local activity, placemaking, and community
identity. And this just demonstrates how Leland 2045 is an integrated framework
for connecting town projects, partnerships, and public investments to
long-term goals. These updates are intended to uh show progress over time
and reinforce the comprehensive plan as an active implementation document. I'm
happy to answer any questions you may have about any of these items or the
Leland 2045 plan in general. Does anyone have any questions?
» I have a comments, a couple comments to make. Um,
I journeyied over to the concert two weeks ago [laughter]
and it was a wonderful experience for um, a lot of folk that were there. Um, I
think I did miss the um, um, the open the grand opening, but I heard that was
also a big hit. And uh I think that um you might be able to get one of those
yellow green dots up there under the Founders Park, but I because I think
it's going to be coming a a headliner place for for other
communities to uh come to Leland and to participate in those um concerts that
are that were were there. Um, I believe there's one tomorrow night. And, um, the
only thing that I've heard is that the parking is somewhat of a of an issue.
It's too popular. You know, it's like Yogi would say, nobody goes there uh
anymore because it's so popular. Um, but I think that um I'm sure the town is
looking at certain options to deal with the with the parking concerns. I
understand there there is some kind of a shuttle. I think that there's uh coming
from the high school. Yes, sir. >> Here. And
» um I think there needs to be um maybe some better communication in the you
know in the town information to let people know that there are other options
available for the for parking and to make it a um um a communitywide event.
So, uh, I applaud the the town for its, uh, it work on the, uh, Founders Park
and, um, I think it's a great amenity for, uh, for the entire community.
» Thank you. And certainly, I agree that it's going to it's already a regional
draw and it will hopefully continue that way. Um, your point about the parking,
thank you for that, too. Uh, there is parking available at the high school and
a shuttle to run people um, back and forth. And um our communications team
does a really good job um explaining that on Instagram and other social media
outlets like Facebook. So I guess they say like and subscribe or whatever to
stay up to date on what's going on and how best to get there.
» Thank you. I'll be there tomorrow night early. [laughter]
» Excellent. Are there any other questions or comments? Not seeing any. I will have
to say I think this is an excellent update and there's a lot of progress and
it's a really good to see. Thank you very much.
» Thank you.
» I think we have another we have an introduction.
» Good afternoon everybody. Uh just wanted to introduce our next speaker Drew DLA
since this will be his first time presenting before you all. He's been
with the town for a couple months now but uh he's originally from North Salem,
New York. Uh he got his undergraduate in sports management from Sunny Courtland
and later he earned his jurist doctor his JD from Elizabeth Hob School of Law.
Uh he moved down to North Carolina and initially started working with the town
of Oak Island doing some code enforcement and uh slowly before leaving
there kind of transitioned over to more planning activities before he joined us
as a planner. on uh currently he does anything from uh commercial development
review, subdivision reviews, permitting um and helping out with a lot of other
processes like annexations and things like that. Um we're very happy to have
Drew. He's been a great team member from the start and we're really excited to to
have him grow with us with the town. So without further ado, all you
Thank you for the introduction. Good evening. My name is Drew Damela and I'm
here to present the zoning map amendment for Brunswick County tax partial ID
shown on the screen. >> Excuse me one second. Um Drew, does
anyone have any conflicts of interest or disclosure statements to make on this
item? >> No.
» Okay. Seeing none, then we're ready to proceed. Um and this is a reasonzoning
request to amend the US Highway 17 overlay district. Go right ahead.
This slide addresses some of the points for consideration in their alignment
with the North Carolina General Statute. In summary, the planning board will be
evaluating whether the proposed zoning map amendment aligns with and advances
the goals and vision in the adopted plan as well as whether the proposed zoning
map amendment is appropriate for the area.
This table shows the public notification schedule. Although there is no statutory
requirement for planning board notification, town goes above and beyond
by providing notice through several different channels.
to provide you with some background of the resoning application. It was
submitted by Branch Columbia Leland Associates. The subject parcel is
currently classified as a shopping center located on 16.79 acres. The
following slides will include maps to help orient yourselves on where the
property is located. This vicinity map shows where the site
is in relation to the area. For reference, it is across the street from
the villages at Bronzik Forest as well as the Bronzac Forest neighborhood.
This aerial map shows the developed land of the subject site, Leland Village,
formerly known as Savannah Branch, and the surrounding areas.
This map shows the existing zoning district. Site is currently within a
commercially zoned district and that underlying designation will remain
unchanged with the adoption of the overlay.
The C2 zoning across the corridor, also a commercial district, further reflects
the area's existing commercial character.
This next map shows the US Highway 17 overlay district as a whole. For those
unfamiliar, an overlay district is an additional layer of zoning that
establishes supplemental regulations within a specific area. In this case,
the overlay provides corridor oriented standards for businesses along Highway
17.
This map shows a more magnified view of the US Highway 17 district in relation
to the site. [snorts]
And this final map illustrates how the US Highway 17 overlay district would
appear with the subject site incorporated into the district.
I included this comparison table to highlight allowable signage under the
site's current zoning and the proposed US Highway 17 overlay district. The
primary differences highlighted in bold is that the overlay district does not
limit the number of of the total number of wall signs provided that they meet
the applicable dimensional requirements which I will discuss next.
This table compares the maximum allowable sign area under the site's
current C1. Sorry. This table shows it compares
compares the maximum allowable sign area under this site's current C1 zoning
versus the US Highway 17 overlay district. The key differences are
highlighted in in bold. There are two notable
differences. First, the overlay district allows significantly more sign area for
ground signs within combined development.
Second, wall signage is calculated differently. Under C1, wall signage is
limited to 55 square ft. Whereas under the overlay district, the allowable sign
area is tied to the size of the building. As a as a result, a larger
sign can accommodate more total wall signage.
I'll provide a brief example on how signage is calculated within the US
Highway 17 overlay district using this example shown on the screen. First,
you'll need to calculate the linear feet of the building perimeter. In this
instance, it is 400 linear feet. Next, it will be 75% of that, which equates to
300 square ft. That is the total allowable signage on the building. Now,
you are capped off at 10% of the wall of a singular wall. So, with this
calculation, that is roughly 200 square ft. So, you are permitted to have 200
square feet on one wall. Whereas, if this same building was in the C1 zoning
district, you'd only be permitted to have 55 square ft.
This last table compares the maximum sign heights allowed in each zoning
district. The key differences highlighted in bold apply to ground
signs. Individual business signs can be 2 feet taller in the overlay district,
while the combined development signs can reach 28 ft compared to just 8t in the
C1 zoning district. Transitioning into our consistency with
the town adopted plans, the proposed resoning aligns with the Leland 2045's
vision for a livable, diverse, and connected neighborhood that accommodates
growth as the overlay district would provide a greater flexibility for
development and signage along the major commercial corridor.
The applicant had a presentation prepared but is unable to present this
evening due to an illness. Okay, if I could interrupt you for a second, I
failed to mention exactly how this procedure goes. This is a public
hearing, so we've heard now from staff and you mentioned that the applicant uh
is not here at the moment. No sir. >> Um so we then would hear comments from
any members of the public that have signed up to speak. First from anyone in
support of the proposal, then from anyone in opposition to the proposal and
public comments limited to three minutes per person. After all public comments,
staff will complete the presentation and the board will deliberate. Um so
therefore if there is no um applicant presentation at this time anyone who has
signed up prior to the start of this meeting to speak directly about the
action today may come up and speak and after all registered speakers have
finished. Anyone did not sign up but wishes to provide comment will have an
opportunity to speak. Do we have anyone signed up?
» No sir >> we don't. Is there anyone out in the
audience that even though they didn't sign up wishes to say something?
All right. Seeing none. Um, that's in support or in opposition.
Okay, then I guess we're probably ready for deliberation.
» Yes. So, questions. >> So, staff recommends approval and
suggests a motion to recommend council approve the zoning map amendment
presented. >> So, in front of you are four potential
determinations regarding the resoning request. Thank you for your time.
So before we go into questions, uh, everyone here has received a document
which shows you all the options we have available to us. Uh, in case you have
any questions, please refer to that. And so at this point in time be our
deliberation. Does anyone have any comments or questions they'd like to
make? >> I have a question about the height.
So, if I'm understanding this correctly, that a ground sign
can be as high as 28 ft. >> Yeah. In combined development. And that
is to emphasize the ability to see the sign as they are driving on a commercial
uh road. >> I was just trying to visualize 28 feet
versus 8 feet. Um, which is interesting. And I guess I'm
asking this for a purely selfish reason because the entrance to this new
development is directly across the street from where I live. And um, it's
really interesting to be able to drive out and have one visual and then when
the signs go up, you drive out and you have another visual. So, we don't we
will not have any control over how high the sign will be. We do not have a any
control other than the fact that there is a cap of 28 feet in that zoning
district. >> Okay.
» Okay. Um >> but it's still limited in total area. So
that if it may be 8 28 ft high, it can't go all the way to the ground, right?
It's there's a a formula that says that it has to be what? 200 square feet or or
some maybe I'm wrong on the number, but >> two um
» 210. >> Yeah. So you are capped at 210 square
feet of the sign itself. That is just the height that can go up to 28 ft
» if it's that proportion. >> Yes, sir.
» Right. >> Whatever is proportionally able to fit
in that 210 square footage. >> Okay.
» Does it say, did I miss it? Um how many ground signs they may have?
» One per frontage. Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. So that and and that is the
same delineation from C1 to US Highway 17 overlay district. So that is not
changing regarding this determination.
» That's one sign per each if they're broken up into multiple
uh shops for example each one can have one sign.
» That is for individual businesses. Yes sir.
» Right. Right. But something like the let's say in the
case of Publix which is a much bigger business
» they still are limited by the same formulas.
» Yes sir. >> As the other one but only one per
business. >> Yes sir.
» Would that then a sign on public be considered a wall sign?
» Do you mind repeating that? I apologize. >> Would that would that what Mr. Whitney
was just talking about, would that be considered a wall sign? Like where it
says Lowe's or Publix on there. Would that be considered a wall sign?
» Wall signs are only if they are affixed to the building itself.
» Correct. So, as I understand it though, there's no maximum if that's correct on
this one. Wall sign says uh they uh under C1 is one per building frontage.
Now, it's no maximum. Is that correct? >> So, that is correct. However, based off
of this calculation, that is the determination for the amount that can be
placed. So there's no cumulative number that could be placed. However, there's a
square foot maximum that could be placed.
» Um could you go back to um showing us uh the the area that is being included in
this? >> Okay. The site. So there really would be
what would be considered frontage? Just 17.
» Yes, sir. >> Okay.
How about the the road coming up on the u
was it Kingsway or Kingsbridge or whatever it's called
you know on the left side or the right side
» Leland Village Road. >> Yeah. Well, the extension of uh
Brunswick Forest I think it's King something or other Kings Bridge or
» it's more. So, as that road comes up past the the
site, is that that's considered frontage?
» On the picture we're looking at now, I think he's Mr. Whitney is requesting is
it not just the the 17, but would it also include the blue line on the right
hand side, which um which would be the access into this area. Is that a
frontage? >> So, it could be considered frontage. It
all depends how the how the layout of the building and everything else is on
there. Now, mind you, that Kingsbridge, it's no longer that name, but it's
formerly known as Kings Bridge. I can't remember the name off the top of my
head. >> Um, that is not included as part of this
UI highway overlay district request. >> So, that would not be able to
essentially do a 8 foot or 28 foot sign in regards to that.
» So, going back to a question regarding like individual business can have a
ground sign versus a 28 ground um 28 foot combined development sign. If you
on a combined development sign, then you are not able to have a individual sign
itself. So you either have one or the other. Good. And then each parcel can
only have one ground sign in regards to that. So let's say Publix chose to have
its own ground sign at on that parcel. >> No other uh business would be able to
have that. So typically they work together in terms of saying, "Hey, let's
all have a combined development sign to have that." So it won't have a plethora
of individuals ground signs plus a large 28 foot high sign.
» Does the town get to have ability to suggest or demand where a a 28ft ground
sign would be located? >> That is completely up to the discretion
of the applicant. >> That's a very
» as long as it is out of the designated site triangle.
Other [snorts]
questions? So just understanding that this is a zoning
request and we're not supposed to talk specifics but to use an example
this would be similar to I think if you go back to
so when we're talking about the area Lowe's home improvement that
something that's come in front of us recently
» we would be talking similar to where Chick-fil-A has a sign on their building
but doesn't have signage in the same sign where Lowe's Home Improvement does.
That meets that example, right? If they have a sign on the building, it's not
necessarily going to be on the larger sign.
» Yeah. So in that specific example, um,
everyone is going to allow be allowed to have wall signs, any business. All
right, that's taken by its tenant space. All right, so Chick-fil-A does have a
wall sign. Now, mind you, Chick-fil-A does also have a ground sign, but
they're also not part of the Leland Town Center,
» okay, >> development, but to use that example,
the Leland Town Center, that will give you an example of a size sign that would
be permitted across at this location here. And then if you've noticed all the
other tenants have their own small combined development signs on those
inville, we'll say strip mall parcels, right? So like the Starbucks and the
firehouse subs, they have their own smaller one that's allowed on that
parcel, but they are not allowed to be back onto that larger combined
development sign. So that space is probably reserved more so for those
properties that are more behind that don't necessarily have the road frontes
on US Highway 17. So again, each individual business will be permitted to
have a wall sign based upon the the the calculations that are on the screen that
Drew had presented to you, but there may be some limitations on what ground signs
they would be allowed whether to all to have one individually or to be on that
combined development side. >> Okay. So I I think I agree with you,
Barbara. It's kind of hard visualizing a signage, but I think that's not
necessarily what they will build, but is it an example of
something that could be built? >> That's correct. Yeah, the parameters the
210 square ft for that entire sign and the maximum height is 28. It could be
lower, it could be smaller than square footage. It's all depends on what the
developer wants in terms of that. >> Okay,
» other questions or comments?
Um my only other comment would be that having been in the retail business for
quite a while um I find this frankly to be rather typical um that you'll find in
many new developments. That's my own personal opinion. Um so then at this
point and uh would anyone like to make a motion?
I'll make a motion to recommend council approve the proposed resoning to include
the subject parcel within US Highway 17 overly district as presented by staff.
» Do I have a second? >> Second.
» Any discussion? All those in favor?
» I. Any opposed? Seeing none, it's carried. Thank you very much. Thank you,
Mr. Dilla. >> Thank you. I appreciate your time.
» Item eight, discussion topics. Mr. Andrea will now begin the discussion.
» Thanks. Good evening, planning board members. Nice to see you. Uh back in
June in your agenda packet, you received the draft of article 4 for the unified
development ordinance that we're working on. This [clears throat] is the article
that includes the zoning map and the zoning districts that the town would
have on adoption of the UDO. um July we did not have a meeting so
we're this is on the topic for discussion tonight just want to go over
at a high level what this article includes some of the rationale behind it
generally speaking as I mentioned this sets out all of the zoning districts
that would be included in the UDO so some of those we currently have some of
them would be new zoning districts this article also would create what we call
legacy districts we have a uh zoning districts that essentially we
would want to retire as far as them being an option to be applied to
properties moving forward after the adoption of the UDO specifically that
those include the multif family district C1 2 and three which are are our three
commercial districts and the residential excuse yeah yeah residential
manufactured home district so essentially any property that's zoned
with any of these districts could stay zoned that zoning district, they could
still do what is allowed under the current regulations. Uh but no
new application of those zoning districts would apply moving forward.
Part of the reason for that is that we're in an interesting time trying to
write this ordinance and update our development regulations with some of the
constraints at the uh state statute level. And so it's easier just to say
you can have what you have now, but moving forward here are your new
options. Um, this is a way to not create nonconformities, but also to allow for
us to have updated development standards applicable to new zoning districts
moving forward. any zoning district moving forward would be at the option of
um sort of at the behest of the property owner through a reszoning request or
through the application of an initial zoning at the time a property is annexed
into the town.
Similarly, the residential manufactured home district. We would like to offer
that manufactured homes be allowed in some of the lower density um residential
districts and not have a zoning district specific to uh residential manufactured
homes. We currently have three uh zoning zoning
districts that are strictly for excuse [clears throat] me for residential
purposes. R six, R15, and R20. We'd like to fill in the gaps with four new
residential districts. Uh between the three existing and the four new ones, we
would have a pretty comprehensive suite of residential zoning districts
that could be chosen from. This would offer a
breadth of uh variation as far as the densities that would be allowed. Also
with the UDO all density all density would always be
um sort of administered through performance standards. So currently
right now the only performancebased way we control density is in the R six
zoning district. What that means is that in R six there's an option to say you
can have up to seven units an acre. seven units an acre and the dimensional
standards are relaxed or don't exist versus in an R15 or R20 the mandate is
that you have a 15,000 square foot or 20,000 square foot lot size minimum. So
moving away from that sort of old way to manage density and moving towards the
option for performance-based density in all zoning districts. What that offers
is more flexibility in site design which can provide benefits in putting areas
that are uh either in the flood zone or maybe have some environmental
constraints. not forcing development or not forcing prop private property to
include those areas and instead offering a neighborhood to be sort of designed
around those areas and that those areas become common space andor preserved open
spaces
with all of these zoning districts the residential and the commercial
districts. Um, we are writing into the ordinance some guidance for what
classifications from the Leland 2045 plan would be more most appropriate for
these districts. Uh the idea there is that when the 2045 plan was written, it
was written in a way to identify areas of the town with both uh on one end of
the potential development spect spectrum of hey, it should probably just be left
alone due to its environmental constraints all the way up to areas that
are identified as the most um the areas with the highest development
potential. And so those are the areas that we want to see used to their
highest and best use. What that can help us do is combat the
effects of sprawl. It can help us maximize a return on public investment
on things like streets, public utilities, and infrastructure. So if we
can target density and higher intensity development into areas that we've
identified in the land use plan as appropriate for those areas, it
alleviates pressure on development for areas that were identified as uh maybe
have some constraints or maybe should be left alone from a development
perspective. I talked about retiring the three
commercial districts. What we would do in their place is to essentially
establish three new uh commercial districts.
um tailored based on the uh sort of the si both the size and the
intensity of the non-residential development. So the idea there is to
locate smaller scale more neighborhood scale uses closer to residential areas
versus things like a shopping center probably should be u
more carefully thought out about where they're located. So again, three three
uh non-residential districts to replace the ones that would be retired.
Also wanted to mention this article would include the flex code districts.
Um we went through a pretty long and um involved effort into evaluating our flex
code over the past couple years. don't anticipate any major changes to that,
but because they are zoning districts, we want to include them into this
chapter versus in a standalone chapter as they are now in the code of
ordinances. We also would include the conservation
district. Um and then finally the US Highway Overlay District which was the
subject of the uh of the case before this discussion item. We would propose
to essentially get rid of that and write the allowances for the signed codes that
would come about as part of being included in in that overlay district to
just be allowed instead of having individual properties have to come and
request this resoning to be included into this special overlay district to be
able to get those special sign regulations.
with that. Uh, what kind of comments do you have or questions that I may be able
to answer? >> I I I would just like to know or have an
example of a neighborhood business service versus a community business and
service because to me it's kind of close there. So, do do you have any examples
current examples in Leland? >> Uh, in Leland maybe not so much, but
more hypothetical examples if that's okay. I would consider a neighborhood
um business to be more like your your corner coffee shop in whereas instead a
community uh business may be it may still may be a coffee shop but it might
it is probably larger in scale and it may have some incillary service. Maybe
they roast their own beans or offer uh they have maybe they have a restaurant
associated with it. So things that are more neighborhood oriented, I think you
can think about that they're things that you might
involve or include in your day-to-day activities.
» How would live work situations fit into this?
We [clears throat] the actual uses that are allowed in each of these zoning
districts are going to be part of the upcoming chapter that we're still
working on, article 5. Um, when we talk about live work, there's
kind of two things that can be talked about there. One being either a home
occupation or one being a place where someone could live in their business, so
to speak. The home occupation um is actually been made pretty easy for
us because in the most um there was some statutes passed recently that uh gave
some uh some mandatory guidance on how local jurisdictions should approach home
occupations. So we'll essentially mimic that as far as the ability to live in a
residential unit. That's something that we still would would need to to work
through. [clears throat] Glad to take any feedback if there's any
thoughts that you may have as we're thinking about that.
» So, next question is, do you have an example of a legacy district in Leland?
» No, there's not any legacy districts currently in Leland. This is something
that's um a little bit unique. It has been done in at least one other place.
Um, but again, the idea is that
I'll say it in a different way that I said it earlier. We are in a position
where we run the risk of running a foul of the downzoning law if we try to make
changes to these existing districts that would create nonconformities.
» And so this is the the way around that that issue. So there there aren't any
legacy districts in the town currently. >> Is that one last thing? It has to do
with the flex code districts. >> Um I guess my question is why are there
so many? Because you have rural, suburban, general urban, general urban,
open, urban center, urban core.
I mean are they truly that specific in nature?
» They are. They they all serve a unique purpose. Uh in the flex code, those
districts are associated with the rural to urban uh trans spectrum. Um I could
invite Mr. Watts up here and he could probably talk for an hour if you all
wanted to hear about that. But they all have some very uh unique and different
allowances and restrictions >> which ultimately collectively get to
this idea of the rural to urban uh transex spectrum
» and they could be in close proximity to each other.
» They generally are. So with those individual transexs
uh I'll use the the gateway district the area around here as an example. um
most of those not not all those in this case in the gateway district but there
there's the applicability of those transexs kind of moving out from an
urban core in the gateway district. So there is
within any new uh flex code area there has to be a certain allocation
um that's thought about as far as how many what acreage and in what proximity
these different transcts work together. >> Okay.
I I think my take on that was >> flex code is specific and that's a
recent update that we've undertaken and from my reading of this I think we're
moving more towards that specificity instead of broader zoning.
» That that's a great way to to look at it. So with the spectrum of residential
zoning districts that we're proposing um it gives us that predictability as
something is coming in to know what the range of density is going to need to be
developed on a particular property. So it's in some ways similar to the
transexs.
» Other questions? A followup on the live work. Um you say
that you're working on something with that just a thought is that you've got
here minimums and maximums as units in residential
» and when someone begins the live work past experience I've seen it has a
tendency if it works if that that is a successful kind of idea they can grow
off each other and I just question how is that going to fit within your minimum
maximums if if if you see I'm not suggesting you have an answer to that
now, but something you to think about because it's like success breeds success
» and so you may have one which has a minimum number of units and suddenly you
have more people who want to do things and I'm just just something you have to
think about if it's going to grow into something. I don't know if it will or
won't. >> Sure. But but
» sure I I if I'm thinking of live work units as the same way in the same way
that you are I would imagine those being more in the non-residential districts
where these max fine because I was thinking since it's got the live
component might be split into the residential right
» makes sense. One one other thing. Could you speak to
» uh the conditional zoning >> and and having that as part of each of
these as well? >> Yes, thanks for pointing that out. Uh we
do have a conditional pro zoning process. Now, a conditional zoning
process uh is somewhat rare. I think this board has seen a few. That's a
process where an applicant proposes to change the zoning district, but is
proposing to change it in a way that is conditioned based on a site plan and
then sometimes some additional conditions that may accompany uh their
proposal. So, every zoning district that we offer, we also want to offer the
conditional counter part to that. And so the benefit there is that it provides
even more specificity than we're kind of building into this UDO in in so far as
to provide a site plan or a a sketch of the subdivision or whatever the proposal
may be. So that this article also includes that um and sort of authorizes
that as an option.
» Any other comments or questions? Thank you.
» Okay, thanks very much. Um, we're getting into the next couple of uh
chapters which are pretty complicated, so bear with us as we continue to work
on those. When we feel that they're ready to come to you, we'll bring them
to you. >> Thank you.
» Thank you. >> U, that was item eight. Item nine, old
new business. Does anyone have any old or new business they wish to bring up
and discuss? [clears throat]
Seeing none. Um, >> can I speak to some new business real
quick? >> Oh, of course.
» Yeah. Um, [clears throat] so we had a meeting uh planning staff and the
clerk's office today and talk about some uh potential educational and training
opportunities that for the planning board. Um, before we offer any
suggestions uh for for something you guys may want to do, we want to hear
from you. So, um, hopefully you can take some opportunity uh this week. Adam's
going to send an email out here uh within the next week or so to ask what
type of things you want to learn about whether it's our processes or anything
zoning related or anything that might benefit you as a planning board member.
So, um please consider that uh and we'll follow back up with you regarding that
based upon your answers. >> Great. Thank you. Any other new or old
business? Seeing none, then planning staff to present the monthly reports.
So, um, give you a little update what's going on here. So, on July and August
town council meetings, uh, there wasn't any applications that you had any
actions on or recommendations on. Uh, just want to make pass that forward. Um,
however, just for some, uh, sneak preview, there was some movement um,
with some annexations. If you did not recall, the general statute um, sorry,
the the state has provided us some um, annexation powers again. So we have
started the initial process to bring in some of those properties into the town
that started last town council meeting. How your role fits into the annexation
process. You will be able to provide us um a recommendation for the initial
zoning u before it goes to town council. So not necessarily the annexation
itself, but what be the best appropriate um zoning district um after an
application from that um from the parcel owner as well as planning staff's
recommendations. So something to be aware of the next couple meetings. next
few months, uh, they'll be coming towards you. Um, going into some
numbers, we'll go into June and July since we didn't have meeting last month.
Um, we had, um, June building permits, uh, 242.
Uh, we had 77 single family homes and town houses permits as well. The second
one was the mechanical change out of which could be expected with the
temperatures going on. Uh, we had just short of 3,000 inspections and the value
of construction was 27,714 plus. in July. A little bit higher in
our permits with 285, [clears throat] excuse me, with 113
single family residential homes and town home permits with 50 mechanical change
outs,
[clears throat] excuse me. Um, total inspections were a little bit higher as
well with over 3,200. Uh, value construction was very similar to the
month before, just over uh just short of 28 million. um give you some highlights
on some recently approved plans. These are obviously plans that you have seen
through the TRC approval. Uh there was definitely more plans than I'm going to
say, but I'm not going through the minor modifications or slight modifications
you've seen from approvals. So, the Taco Bell off of New Point in front of
Walmart was approved. Um the uh 1,500 800 I'm sorry, 15,800 mixeduse retail
building that's off of Westgate Drive next to the self self storage business
was also approved. Uh and the 20,000 plus square foot retail and office space
off of old regent way next to the custom home furniture outlet was also approved.
So those are those recent approvals that have gone through the planning staff.
Other than that, that's pretty much all I have. Um all the other reports
including the transportation report is in your packet. Um any questions or
comments? I'd be glad to try to address any.
» You mentioned um the ability to do annexations. Now um could you briefly
mention what kind of limitations, if any, have been put on that?
» Sure. Um, if I recall correctly, it's everything that uh any part property
that the town of Leland owns or it's also any applications that we have
received prior to July 1st of this year that are no more than three
is it three miles? I'm getting confused from from the previous language, but
there's a geographical limitation of how far we can go, but the application had
been received prior to that July 1 um adoption date. So, um, those are pretty
much the limitations that we have. So, we can't
» So, after July 1st, >> we cannot annex those properties at this
time. >> Thank you.
» Other questions? Um, >> yes, Mr.
» The uh the property there next to Lowe's, it was a sports center. It seems
like it's closed. Is there any uh discussions about what's going to happen
with that property? >> Um, are you talking about Lowe's
hardware? >> Yeah. where the um
» I think O2 fitness >> um I am not aware of any um new
businesses going in there at this point applications.
» Okay. >> No, unaware.
» People have asked questions. I >> Yeah, I don't know the status on that.
» Okay. Anything else? And item 11 is
adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjurnn the meeting?
» So moved. >> Do I have a second?
» Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? I
» I any opposed? Then the next regular meeting of the planning board will be
held September 22nd um at 6 PM right here.
» Thank you.