Board of Commissioners
Chatham County, NC
Meeting Agenda - Final
Agriculture & Conference Center 9:00 AM
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Special Meeting
Special Meeting - 9:00 AM - Agriculture & Conference Center CALL TO ORDER
CLOSED SESSION
17-2319 Closed Session to discuss matters relating to Economic Development
BOARD PRIORITIES
17-2312 Comprehensive plan work session to provide an in-depth review of the plan goals and elements.
Presentation
More information from Planning Department website Attachments:
ADJOURNMENT
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Chatham County, NC Printed on 9/1/2017
Text File
Chatham County, NC
File Number: 17-2319
Agenda Date: 9/6/2017 Version: 1 Status: Board Priorities
File Type: Agenda Item In Control: Board of Commissioners
Closed Session to discuss matters relating to Economic Development
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Chatham County, NC Printed on 9/1/2017
Text File
Chatham County, NC
File Number: 17-2312
Agenda Date: 9/6/2017 Version: 1 Status: Board Priorities
File Type: Agenda Item In Control: Planning
Comprehensive plan work session to provide an in-depth review of the plan goals and elements.
Action Requested:
Comprehensive plan work session to provide an in-depth review of the plan goals and elements.
Introduction & Background:
In the fall of 2015, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners appointed a steering committee to oversee the development of a comprehensive plan for Chatham County.
The steering committee and planning department staff have been working with Land Design; a consultant hired through an RFP process, to develop the plan. After much public involvement and refinement, the final draft of the Chatham County Comprehensive Plan is complete. Staff and the steering committee have reviewed the final draft, the draft was released for public comment online from July 17th to Aug 28th 2017, and a public hearing was held by the Commissioners on August 21st 2017. To view the final draft visit www.chathamnc.org/comprehensiveplan <http://www.chathamnc.org/comprehensiveplan>
. This work session will include further detailed information on the organization and structure of the plan, how to use the plan both generally and specifically, as well as the evaluation and implementation of the plan.
Discussion & Analysis:
The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee met 16 times over the course of the plan’s development to guide the different elements, discuss the framework of the plan, and provide input on recommendations for the County.
The Comprehensive Plan effort set out to first establish a background understanding of the existing conditions, issues, and opportunities in the County presented as a Phase 1 report to the Commissioners in April 2016.
Simultaneous and critical to the development process, there was also an extensive effort to engage residents to gather meaningful feedback in a variety of ways. Staff has met with numerous stakeholders such as members of the Agriculture community, the Chatham Health Alliance, Chatham County Conservation Partnership, as well as presented to communities and interest groups. Staff also coordinated info booths at local events such as the Pepperfest, the Chatham County Fair, Pittsboro First Sunday, and the Chamber of
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File Number: 17-2312
Commerce Business Showcase. Two social media accounts, an interactive website, a meeting in a box tool, and three surveys were created to gather further detailed input.
Additionally, in June of 2016 and February of 2017, 6 public input meetings were heavily advertised across 15+ news outlets for all residents and business owners to attend across the entire county. In March of 2017, staff presented the final elements and recommendations to over 18 groups at their regular meetings as well to high school classes across the County.
After extensive review of the final draft of the document, the Steering Committee held its final meeting on June 15th 2017 recommending the Board of Commissioners set in motion the process for adoption by scheduling a public hearing for the document Aug 21st at 6PM in the historic courthouse. Comments have been received from the public and the draft plan will be reviewed by the Planning Board starting in September.
Recommendation:
Receive the presentation
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Chatham County, NC Printed on 9/1/2017
WORK SESSION September 6, 2017
AGENDA
9:00am Welcome + Introductions 9:15am Planning Process Summary 9:25am Plan Contents
10:00am Using the Plan (General) 10:15am Using the Plan (Specific)
Noon Lunch
12:30pm Using the Plan (Specific) - Continued 1:30pm Implementation
1:45pm Evaluation | Amendments
2:00pm Adjourn
PLANNING PROCESS
T H E P L A N N I N G P R O C E S S
• 6 Public Meetings
• 16 Steering Committee Meetings
• 1967 Survey Responses
• >25 Stakeholder Group Meetings
• 18 Board/Comm Mtgs (before Draft)
PLAN CONTENTS
Economic Development Land Use
Housing Health Agriculture
Environment
Parks and Recreation Transportation
Utilities and Public Services
Plan Chatham | PRESENTATION
PLAN ELEMENTS
Resiliency
Preserve the rural character and lifestyle of Chatham County.
Preserve, protect, and enable agriculture and forestry.
Promote a compact growth pattern by developing in and near existing towns, communities, and in designated, well planned, walkable mixed use centers.
Diversify the tax base and generate more quality, in-county jobs to reduce dependence on residential property taxes, create economic opportunity and reduce out-commuting.
Conserve natural resources.
Provide recreational opportunities.
Provide infrastructure to support desired development and support economic and environmental objectives.
Become more resilient by mitigating, responding, and adapting to emerging threats.
Provide equitable access to high-quality education, housing and community options for all.
Foster a healthy community.
GOALS + OBJECTIVES
Plan Chatham | PRESENTATIONCOMMUTING OUT OF COUNTY
INCOME DISPARITY 58% RETAIL LEAKAGE
(= $207M ANNUALLY)
DIVERSIFY THE TAX BASE AND GENERATE MORE QUALITY, IN-COUNTY JOBS
10,000 new jobs by 2040
(a 71% increase, up from 14,000 jobs today)
• Increase high-quality, in-county jobs.
• Strengthen support for existing businesses, including small and medium-sized firms.
• Increase non-residential share of the tax base.
TAX BASE + RETURN ON INVESTMENT
$- $0.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $3.50
Commercial / Industrial
Agriculture Residential Return on $1.00 Investment
by Land Use Type
SOURCE: COST OF SERVICES STUDY, NCSU, 2007
$3.01
$0.87
$1.72
PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND ENABLE AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY
• Maintain the number and diversity of farms and forestry operations.
• Support existing and expanded agriculture, forestry, and horticultural operations,
including value-added production.
• Reduce encroachment on or development pressure on agriculture, including forestry.
• Avoid conflicts between agriculture and residential development over water
availability.
Chatham is #2 in the state of North
Carolina in cattle sales. The poultry sector is also strong, consistently ranked in
the top 15 in the
state.
33.79
Millions of dollars in visitor spending in 2016, continuing an 8-
year growth trend.
PRESERVE THE RURAL CHARACTER AND LIFESTYLE OF CHATHAM COUNTY
• Preserve and restore cultural and historic resources that contribute to the identity of the County.
• Preserve farms and lifestyle in the western part of the County and forests and open space in the eastern part of the County.
• Leverage assets to promote entrepreneurship, arts, culture and tourism.
Over 500K people rely on Jordan Lake and area rivers for drinking water
Millions come to county as
visitors/tourists every year
CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES
• Maintain and restore the quality and quantity of groundwater and surface water resources.
• Preserve and protect the ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure.
68% of County in forest
PROMOTE A COMPACT GROWTH PATTERN BY DEVELOPING IN AND NEAR EXISTING TOWNS,
COMMUNITIES, AND IN DESIGNATED, WELL PLANNED, WALKABLE, MIXED USE CENTERS
• Reinforce towns as residential and commercial centers of the County.
• Reduce impacts to natural resources and systems.
• Lessen infrastructure burden and long-term cost of
providing services.
PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT DESIRED DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT
ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES
• Focus the development of utilities and urban services to foster compact
development and support economic development in defined areas.
• Create a multi-modal transportation system that is well-maintained, age-friendly, and context-appropriate.
• High-speed internet/broadband should be available to all and enable education and entrepreneurship
21%
of Chatham residents are
over 65 years of age
HOUSING AND DEMOGRAPHICS
• Age, Preferences & Housing Mix
• Lack of affordable housing
• Definition: a dwelling that costs no more than 30% of gross monthly household income
• Affordable units needed for
households who make 80% or less of Area Median Income ($65K in the region)
• Average sale price of new homes in the past 12 months was
$260,500 (~$1,560 mortgage)
Law
Enforcement Worker in Chatham County
$40k (60%
AMI)
Teacher in Chatham County
$35k (53%
AMI)
PROVIDE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY OPTIONS FOR ALL
• Increase high school graduation rate (current rate is 87.3 (2015 NC BOE)).
• Increase number of post secondary degrees (career and technical school, university,
etc.).
• Provide a diversity of educational options (public, private, STEM, magnet) and support services.
• Provide housing and community options (types, locations and prices) for all ages and incomes
PROVIDE RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCESS TO OPEN SPACE
• Provide expanded recreation opportunities and improve access to parks, community facilities, trails and open space
26% of adults in Chatham County are obese
(Source: Chatham County Health Assessment, 2014)
FOSTER A HEALTHY COMMUNITY
• Assure access to health care for all county residents
• Improve access to healthy food
• Support active lifestyles (walking and biking as transportation options)
BECOME MORE RESILIENT BY MITIGATING, RESPONDING, AND ADAPTING TO EMERGING THREATS
• Improve emergency response and limit risk associated with natural and man-made
disasters (drought, floods, energy costs and availability, etc.).
• Become/remain a carbon negative county.
• Encourage resource efficient building standards.
• Increase awareness through outreach and provision of information
FUTURE LAND
USE AND
CONSERVATION
PLAN
HEALTH RECOMMENDATION 06
HEALTH POLICY 12
HEALTH STRATEGY 12.1
CASE STUDY
RECOMMENDATIONS, POLICIES, STRATEGIES + CASE STUDIES
Promote “healthy community” design.
Establish a framework for guiding public and private investments so the end results are environments that are conducive to healthier living.
Adopt regulatory standards and/or guidelines that contribute to the
creation of a healthier community. As part of the process of amending the regulations and related plan review processes, consider developing a
Healthy Community Checklist.
Loudon County, VA
Landscape Design and Management Guidelines
Promote safety improvements for roads
Update Parks & Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan
Improve tracking of existing assistance programs and expiring income-based housing
Assess staffing needs
Create a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
Prepare a new incentive policy for small/medium-sized businesses
Study access issues on Public Health Priority Areas
Develop countywide W/S master plan
PROJECTS, PLANS + PROGRAMS
USING THE PLAN (GENERAL)
The COMPREHENSIVE PLAN presents a vision for the future, with long-range goals and objectives. It should be used to guide the future actions/decisions of a community re:
Public and private land development proposals
Regulations
Expenditure of public funds
Investments in infrastructure
Funding programs, staff
Tax policy (tax incentives)
Partnerships (participation in cooperative efforts)
Ways to address issues of pressing concern
EXAMPLES: Farmland preservation, water quality/supply
USING THE PLAN (SPECIFIC)
REGULATIONS
LAND USE + DEVELOPMENT DESIGN
§ 153A-341. Purposes in view.
Zoning regulations shall be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan. Prior to adopting or rejecting any zoning amendment, the governing board shall adopt a statement describing whether its action is consistent with an adopted
comprehensive plan and explaining why the board considers the action taken to be reasonable and in the public interest. That statement is not subject to judicial review.
The planning board shall advise and comment on whether the proposed amendment is consistent with any comprehensive plan that has been adopted and any other
officially adopted plan that is applicable. The planning board shall provide a written recommendation to the board of county commissioners that addresses plan
consistency and other matters as deemed appropriate by the planning board, but a
comment by the planning board that a proposed amendment is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan shall not preclude consideration or approval of the proposed
amendment by the governing board.
NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES (153A, COUNTIES)
USING THE PLAN (SPECIFIC)
• Consistent with Plan Chatham
• Clarity
• Predictability
• Flexibility
LAND USE – UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE
• MU-1 (PRD)
• MU-2 (CCO)
• MU-3 (CD-MU)
LAND USE – MIXED-USE DISTRICTS
LAND USE – AREA PLANS [City of Greer, Spartanburg County]
BMW + Expansion
• Land uses
• Primary tenant
• Supporting uses (vendors)
• Retail, services
• Residential
• Community facilities
• Transportation (logistics, access, multi-modal circulation)
• Utilities
• Urban design, streetscape
LAND USE – PERFORMANCE-BASED STANDARDS FOR RURAL/AGR
• Control for impacts, such as
• Scale (given context)
• Setbacks, heights
• Traffic, parking
• Max spaces, imperv limits, location
• Outdoor storage
• Screening, buffers
• Noise
• Hours of operation
• Light
• Sliding scale (based on use and size/intensity)
LAND USE – CONSERVATION DESIGN
• An easy choice (= conventional)
• Primary and secondary
• Ecologically important + other
• Usable (accessibility)
• Otherwise “developable”
• Agriculture-friendly
• Market-supported product
• Water / wastewater solutions
Conventional vs. Conservation Design
• Appendix to Plan Chatham
• Recommendations for Conservation Areas delineated in the Future Land Use and
Conservation Plan
• “Big Woods” area used to illustrate
potential benefits of conservation design
Chatham Conservation Partnership Meeting, Winter 2017
4 2 3
1
LAND USE – REZONING / DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS
1-acre lot subdivision in ‘Center’
Boat storage in ‘Agriculture’
near Jordan Lake
Wedding venue in ‘Agriculture’
Hotel in ‘Rural’ along 15-501 5 1-acre lot
subdivision in
‘Conservation’
INITIATIVES
PROGRAMS + PARTNERS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• EDC (and municipalities)
• Megasites – increase resources for targeted recruitment
• Improved incentive and loan programs for small- and medium-sized businesses
• CCCC
• Small business center – increase resources for expanded services
• CVB
• Bolster promotion efforts (marketing, social media, journalist tours, visitor services)
• Support tourism-related uses and activities
HOUSING
• Property transfer
• Rebuilding Together
• Housing Trust Fund
HEALTH
• HiAP
• Participating in efforts to gather, store, share data
• Seniors’ needs (support UNC study: data + staff resources?)
• Funding study of Public Health Priority Areas (access issues)
• Employment
• Car / transportation
• Food
• Parks and trails
TRANSPORTATION
• Support studies - NCDOT
• Safety audits
• Widenings
• Access
management
AGRICULTURE + NATURAL RESOURCES + RESILIENCY
• Education, awareness campaigns
INVESTMENTS
INFRASTRUCTURE + SERVICES
AGRICULTURE + NATURAL RESOURCES + RESILIENCY
• Regulations
• Infrastructure
• Staffing
PARKS + RECREATION
• Staff (i.e., trail coordinator)
• Update Comp Parks and Recreation Master Plan
• Greenway/Blueway Plan
• Nature preserves
• Indoor rec
• Coordination with municipalities
• Private development:
• Easements, dedication,
or accessible spaces
UTILITIES – COUNTYWIDE WATER + SEWER MASTER PLAN
• Coordination with municipalities
• Extension policies
• Utility service area(s)
• Allocation policies
• Public and private systems
• Decentralized
• Standards (design, components)
IMPLEMENTATION
0-5 years 6-10 years
Ongoing
10+ years
• Assess staffing
• Create a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
• Update Parks & Rec Comp Master Plan
• Establish Housing Trust Fund
• Moncure Area Plan
• Encourage CERT organizations
• Support Health Alliance
• Coordinate with transit providers
• Assess staffing
2018 2023 2028
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MANAGER
COUNTY DEPARTMENTS
ADVISORY BOARDS
COMMITTEES
EVALUATION | AMENDMENTS
Most plans are
written to provide direction over a 10- to 20-year period after plan adoption.
However, plans should be
reviewed every 5- 10 years and
possibly updated every 10 years.
Adopt Comprehensive
Plan Update
Implement Plan
5-10 Years:
Evaluate Plan Relative to Major Community Issues and Opportunities Develop
Recommendations for Plan Update
10 Years: Prepare Plan Amendments
