MINUTES
STATE
OF
The Henderson County
Board of Commissioners met for a special called meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the
Commissioners' Meeting Room of the Historic Courthouse on
Those present were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chairman
Also present were: Planning
Director
Absent were: Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn and
Commissioner Mark Williams.
CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer called the
meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance. The purpose of this special meeting is a Workshop
for discussion between the Commissioners and the Etowah / Horse Shoe
Communities Plan Committee and a presentation of the Etowah and Horse Shoe
Communities Draft Plan by the Chair Kenneth Allison.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Planning Director
INVOCATION
County Manager
DISCUSSION / ADJUSTMENT OF AGENDA
Commissioner Messer made the motion to approve the
agenda. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
WORKSHOP ON THE ETOWAH AND HORSE SHOE
COMMUNITIES DRAFT PLAN
On February 19, 2009, the Planning Board held a
joint meeting with the Etowah and Horse Shoe Advisory Committee and voted
unanimously (9-0) to send forth a favorable recommendation on the Etowah and
Horse Shoe Communities Plan.
At its meeting on February 18, 2009, the Board
briefly discussed the Etowah and Horse Shoe Communities Plan and decided to set
a workshop to discuss the draft plan in detail.
Mr. Ken Allison, Chair of the Etowah and Horse Shoe Communities Advisory
Committee, will give a power point presentation highlighting each section and
recommendation contained in the draft plan and answering any questions that the
Board may have.
Staff requests no action to be taken at this
meeting. Prior to adopting the Etowah
and Horse Shoe Communities Plan the Board of Commissioners must hold a public
hearing.
The Advisory Committee members are as follows:
Kenneth Allison, Chairman
Hayes Albea
Richard Briggs
Debbie Ducote
Bruce Gosnell
Jerry Merrill
Jeri Peterson
The following members of the committee took part
in 95% of the process, they both moved out of the area. John Antrim was the original Chair and with
his resignation Kenneth Allison took on the responsibility of Chair. John Antrim (9/4/07 – 10/17/08) Maryann
Parish (9/4/07 – 10/17/08)
A public input meeting was held soon after the
committee first met, November 2007, to obtain public input about the concerns,
ideas, and vision for the community that citizens had for those areas. They utilized that public input throughout
their planning process and arriving at their recommendations. It was a common statement to refer back to
what the public input was; the board was well grounded in meeting the
objectives they heard early on.
The committee met a number of times and
developed a draft plan. Once they were
comfortable with the draft plan they held a second public input session in
which they took feedback. Most of the
feedback was very positive. Minor
adjustments were made to the plan based on the feedback and the plan was formally
presented in December.
This committee was formed to study issues for
the Etowah / Horse Shoe communities and charged with looking at a number of
areas:
Etowah and Horse Shoe
Plan covers:
· Natural and Cultural
Resources
· Agriculture
· Housing
· Community Facilities and
Services
· Transportation
· Economic Development
· Land Use and Development
· Community Character and
Design
This process was identified by our County
Comprehensive Plan which was adopted in 2004 which outlines an objective of
creating a series of smaller area plans throughout the county.
Process
· August 14, 2007
Communities Plan Charter Adopted
· September 4, 2007
Communities Advisory Committee formed (9 members)
· Public input meeting
held November 13, 2007
· Committee met 16 times
and developed draft plan
· 2nd Public
input meeting held December 2, 2008 to obtain feedback on draft plan
· Planning Board review
and recommendation (the Planning Board voted 9-0 to recommend the approval of
the plan)
· Board of Commissioners
review, public hearing and approval
Kenneth Allison, Chair of the Etowah / Horse
Shoe Small Area Planning Committee provided a power-point presentation of the
Draft Plan.
Etowah and Horse Shoe
Population
1990 – 7209
2000 – 7919
2006 – 10396
This area has seen
significant growth in the last sixteen years.
Since 1990 the study area has grown 44.2%. The main thing heard early on and through the
process was “maintain rural character.”
Age Composition in
Planning Area in 2000
19% 70+ 1501
7% 65-69 590
40% 35-64 3218
13% 20-34 1009
5% 15-19 387
11% 5-14 846
5% >5 368
Between 1990 and 2000 the
greatest increase in population age groups in the Planning Area is in the 70+
range at 44.9%. The greatest decrease in
population age groups in the Planning Area is in the 20-34 age groups at 16.3%.
Income Groups in
Planning Area in 1999
Less than $10,000 6.00%
$10,000 to $24,999 18.90%
$25,000 to $34,999 16.30%
$35,000 to $44,999 13.70%
$45,000 to $59,999 16.50%
$60,000 to $74,999 11.20%
$75,000 to 99,999 9.00%
$100,000 + 8.50%
Key Recommendations
Section 3.1 Natural and Cultural Resources
Maps were shown
reflecting the natural resources of the area including streams, wetlands, flood
plain, public water supply areas, natural heritage inventory sites, and
regulated mountain ridges.
· Prohibit public
waterline extension in areas designated by the Henderson County 2020
Comprehensive Plan as Rural/Agricultural
· Incorporate water supply
standards into major subdivision regulation
· Adopt local storm water
regulations
· Conduct a feasibility
study to consolidate wastewater treatment plants
· Incorporate
environmental assessment requirements into major subdivisions
· Incorporate stricter steep
slope regulations into LDC
The
committee would like to ensure that water is available prior to subdivision
approval and a significant amount of construction is finished. The committee is not recommending more
stringent rules than are already in place.
No environmental inventories are done prior to development and should be
compiled as part of the subdivision approval process. Currently in the study area (Etowah / Horse
Shoe) 24% of the land area is in present use as farmland which would include
forestry, horticulture, and food crops.
Section 3.2 Agriculture
· Make agriculture
appealing to younger generations by creating incentives for these generations
to keep farming (the average age of farmers in
· Determine the need for
and possibly establish a small farmers’ market in the Planning Area.
· Continue to expand
education efforts for farmers and adjoining property owners
· Encourage schools to buy
and use local foods
Section 3.3 Housing
Statistic
– In the last three (3) years 171 homes and approximately 3,662 lots were
approved in the study area by two (2) very large developments were proposed and
one (1) has been tabled with a little over 600 lots.
· Affordable Housing
should make up 10% of housing in new major subdivisions with 100 or more
dwelling units
· Create partnerships
between residents of the Communities an organizations like the Community
Foundation
· Establish a funding
stream for affordable housing projects by creating an affordable housing trust
fund
Section 3.4 Community Facilities &
Services
· Increase school capacity
at Etowah Elementary, Mills River Elementary, and
· Establish
multifunctional YMCA, governmental or nonprofit full service recreation
facility and community center in Planning Area.
· Consider establishing a
service district to create revenue to support recreation in the Planning Area.
· Incorporate pedestrian
and bicyclist friendly measures in the core of the Communities.
· Establish greenway on
existing Norfolk-Southern railroad line
· Increase law enforcement
presence and patrol
Section 3.5 Transportation
· Implements improvements
such as traffic signals or changes in road geometry at:
·
·
·
·
· Create a new connector
between Morgan and McKinney Roads
· Improve transportation
network:
·
Widen
and Straighten
·
Implement
better access management standards along
·
Lower
speed limit along
Section 3.6 Economic Development
· Continue to support
small local manufacturing operations by avoiding regulations that would inhibit
these types of business
· Encourage small retail
centers in Etowah and limit commercial expansion in Horse Shoe
Section 3.7 Land Use and Development
· Eliminate maximum
densities allowed for multifamily development from all residential districts
except R1
· Replace R-40 in the
southernmost portion of the planning area with R3
· Replace R2MH and
remaining R-40 areas with R2
· Replace RSMH zoning
around north course of Etowah Valley Country Club with R1
· Create a
· Add Local Commercial
Zoning:
·
Between
·
Along
both sides of
·
Along
south side of
· Add Community
Commercial:
·
To
south side of
·
Expand
around existing CC District in Etowah to include additional commercial uses and
property
Ms. Jeri Peterson stated
there were more comments on the
Section 3.8 Community Character & Design
· Create Planning Area
Overlay District
·
Establish
design standards for nonresidential uses in the Planning Area Overlay District
·
Require
sidewalks for new commercial business
·
Create
new sign requirements
·
Eliminate
front and side yard setbacks along
·
Incorporate
standards to limit light pollution
Chairman Moyer asked for
comment on Appendix 3 – Implementation Schedule, which reads: The following table shows an approximate
schedule for implementation of the plan’s recommendations and action
strategies. It is anticipated that this
schedule will change over time and need periodic revisions and updates.
Chairman Moyer
questioned that staff has looked over the plan and felt it was feasible.
Chairman Moyer asked if
the NCDOT has provided help with the transportation issues.
Commissioner McGrady
noted that this presentation was given to the Transportation Advisory Committee
today.
Kenneth Allison stated
that some of the issues are state regulations and beyond the scope of local.
Commissioner McGrady
felt that a lot more discussion was warranted before a decision was made. He commended the committee and staff for
their work on this project. In regards
to the reduction of solid waste and recycle piece he was surprised given the
other recommendations i.e. wastewater etc. that the idea was put forward on the
need for a regional incinerator in Etowah.
Ms. Jeri Peterson stated
that this had been a personal passion / idea from Jerry Merrill just to bring
it to attention.
Chairman Moyer asked
Mr. Starr answered yes.
Chairman Moyer asked if
these recommendations could be acted upon without going back to the Planning Board.
Mr. Starr answered no;
this will act as an extension of the Comprehensive Plan. There will be a separate mechanism as
required by state law; the rezoning process.
County Manager
Chairman Moyer stated
that the Board of Commissioners could proceed, adopt the plan, and then have
the Planning Board work through the process.
Commissioner McGrady noted
with respect to zoning changes recommended there’s a lot of different parcels
and owners and questioned if these changes were a reflection of interest of the
property owners?
Commissioner Messer felt
that some of the issues of the plan were already in place or in the works.
Commissioner Young
stated that all of these plans would be at a cost to the county.
Chairman Moyer felt that
the Board would need to have further discussions.
Commissioner McGrady
noted that there are some interesting concepts within the plan, one in the
recreation area, the committee is recommending considering the establishment of
a service district to create revenue to support recreation in the planning
area. This is a new concept for
Chairman Moyer stated
that based on the questions and comments, at the Board’s next meeting a public
hearing would be set to allow input from the citizens.
ADJOURN
Commissioner McGrady made the motion that the meeting
adjourn at 7:50 p.m. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
Attest:
Teresa L. Wilson, Deputy Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer,
Chairman