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Worksession - Continued Council Discussion of Carrboro Connects 2022-2042 Comprehensive Plan
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is for the Town Council to consider and specify revisions to the draft comprehensive plan, Carrboro Connects 2022-2042.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Patricia McGuire, Planning Director, 919-918-7327; pmcguire@carrboronc.gov <mailto:pmcguire@carrboronc.gov>, Ben Berolzheimer, Associate Planner, 919-918-7330; bberolzheimer@carrboronc.gov <mailto:bberolzheimer@carrboronc.gov>
INFORMATION: The Carrboro Town Council held public hearings on November 16, 2021 and February 22, 2022 on a draft comprehensive plan View the latest Carrboro Connects Draft Plan! | Carrboro Connects <https://www.carrboroconnects.org/public-hearing-draft>, (and included as Attachment B- see Full Resolution version for highest quality maps). Agenda materials for the two hearings can be accessed at the following links:
November 16, 2021 - Town of Carrboro - Meeting of Town Council on 11/16/2021 at 7:00 PM (legistar.com) <https://carrboro.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=902919&GUID=66E660AB-E51C-462B-8285-D8D375D836E6&Options=&Search=> (see Item 1)
February 22, 2022 - Town of Carrboro - Meeting of Town Council on 2/22/2022 at 7:00 PM (legistar.com) <https://carrboro.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=917885&GUID=0FAE7659-1C0A-43FC-984B-EFAEE7955135&Options=&Search=> (see Item 1)
An implementation chapter is included with prioritization of actions in the first five years identified. Regular evaluations of progress are planned to occur each year. Updates every five years are expected. These updates will include checking on the progress of the plan’s implementation and assessing whether goals, strategies and projects, including their prioritization, still meet community needs and interests. These reviews and updates may lead to amending the plan in response to changes in conditions.
Summary of February 22, 2022 Public Hearing: Seven members of the public provided comments:
• Bob Proctor
• Edward Larson (via video recording)
• Linda Haac
• Patrick McDonough
• Diana Newton
• Lisa Bennett
• Nathan Jorgensen
Public comments discussed the following topics: undeveloped portion of Westwood Cemetery; including the ParkServe map in the plan; amending Transportation Strategy Map to to be consistent with the Bike Plan and Town Council resolution; making plan language more bold and direct; removing “consider” and “study” where feasible; revise future land use map to identify more land for greater density; eliminate parking minimums from the LUO; add specificity to metrics, and include cost estimates for proposed projects; create a digital plan dashboard.
The Town Council received public comments and discussed the agenda materials and the plan. The Council began to identify items to include on the resolution specifying revisions to the plan, including some of the edits in red text in the draft, and agreed to continue that discussion in an additional meeting or meetings. March 8 , 2022 has been identified as a meeting for the Council to continue its consideration and provide direction to finalize the draft plan. The draft resolution as provided in the February 22nd public hearing agenda packet is attached.
The Town Council also discussed and asked questions relating to the engagement process. A summary of engagement is provided in Chapter 2 of the draft plan.
Action Needed: Per North Carolina State Law, 2019-111, Section 2.9(c), action on a reasonably maintained comprehensive plan or land-use plan that accords with North Carolina General Statutes 160D 501 is needed before July 1, 2022 in order for the Town to continue to exercise its zoning authority.
Teska Associates and CNT will need approximately six weeks to incorporate edits and complete formatting of the document. If direction is provided by March 8, and the edits are mostly changes to wording, and incorporating edits from the public and advisory boards, staff and the consultant team would be able to bring the plan back for final consideration /adoption on or around the April 19th date. If there is extensive reworking and coordination with staff on metrics, mapping, and implementation priorities, more time will be needed - doable by the May 10th date.
The Town Council is requested to review all comments (Attachments C-E from the February 22nd packet, including written public comments sent in since that evening) and provide direction to staff and consultants on changes to incorporate into a final draft of the plan. The staff will have the summary tables available at the meeting to aid in review.
Additional discussion items included in the February 22nd abstract are listed again below. There was discussion of some of these items; directions were not specified.
• Including adoption information for One Orange and incorporate use of REAL and other One Orange racial equity pillars in implementation chapter
• Refining metrics so they are relevant, feasible and measurable.
• Determining final wording for statements that are shown as red text in the draft plan:
o P. 145 Westwood Cemetery sidebar - Recreation, Parks, Cultural Resources (see also page 172)
o P. 161 Architectural standards - Land Use
o P. 162 Strategy 2.2 - select project(s) - Land Use
o P. 162 Accessory Dwelling Units Maximum Size - Land Use
o P. 166 Remove parking minimums - Land Use
o P. 167 - Architectural/historic preservation - Land Use
o P. 172 - Westwood Cemetery - Land Use
Final adjustments to prioritization and scheduling of items in the Implementation Chapter, especially for actions to be pursued in the first five years following adoption may be needed. With adoption anticipated to closely align with adoption of the Town’s annual budget for FY 22-23, all activities shown within the first fiscal year will likely focus on the development of more detailed timelines and associated processes/steps related to implementation.
Next Steps: Dates in April (the 19th) and May (the 10th) have been identified.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: None noted with the Town Council discussing plan revisions at this worksession.
RECOMMENDATION:r The staff recommends that the Town Council review and discuss input on the draft plan and identify revisions towards creation of the final document. A draft resolution that provides an opportunity for the Council to specify plan revisions is included as Attachment A.