Proposed Dollar General in White Cross?

[tony...@nc.rr.com]

Hi Commissioners and Planning Board,

 

As a former planning board member I understand the process and challenges. I want to repeat and repeat again my concern that when zoning changes like this are proposed by county planning and put in front of the planning advisory board there is not even an attempt at public notice.

 

How are people supposed to consider the proposal, location and even know about the meeting TONIGHT at 7PM at the Planning board offices 131 W. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough?

 

I remember vividly the hoops our local fire department had to jump thorough when we proposed a sub station on Neville Road, all BEFORE it went through any process whatsoever. Why are zoning changes not subject to the same scrutiny? Why, for example is it the county does not use the public information tools such as the hyper local “Nextdoor” to inform people? Why aren’t there community mailing list such as the Sheriffs department has? If that’s too hard perhaps text messages?

 

Seriously It is, after all the 21 century, and SOME of us do have email and internet.

 

Cheers,

Tony Blake

 

 

 

[Cy Stober]

Mr. Blake,

 

Thank you for your email. Your concerns regarding public notification for this general rezoning case are acknowledged and will be considered for how Orange County might better use online resources for public notification purposes in the future. For all general rezoning cases going before Planning Board, the Orange County UDO requires us to mail letters to all property owners within 1,000’ of the subject parcel and post signs on that property on all right of way frontages informing the public of the pending County action and its particulars, including location and time. The item was also posted on the Orange County website and the agenda packets are available for download and review via the Planning Board webpage. These requirements exceed the statutory public notification requirements under NC State laws. Additional mailings, postings, and legal advertisements will be published alerting the public to the public hearing for the Board of County Commissioners to consider this request, likely at their September 6, 2022, meeting.

 

There may be other tools Orange County Planning staff can explore for public notification purposes and your suggestions will be taken into consideration. The general statutes are written such that public notification requirements associated with land use changes are equal in their outreach impact, regardless of the size of the property or the intensity of the proposed use. Planning Department staff will need to coordinate with the Attorney’s Office and Public Information Officer, as well as the Manager’s Office, on any changes to how we might notify the public of proposed land use changes to ensure that this equality of communication is maintained. Voluntary listservs and apps are, unfortunately, going to leave folks out of the notification process, which would be contrary to the intent of both State and County laws. It is a matter that I will look into further to see if a balance might be struck in increasing awareness while making sure that all potentially-affected residents have an equal opportunity to be aware of a pending case.

 

Thank you again for your email.

 

Sincerely,

 

Cy Stober

Planning & Inspections Director

(919) 245-2585 (Office)

(919) 245-2592 (Direct)

cst...@orangecountync.gov

 

[tony...@nc.rr.com]

Mr. Stober,

Thank you for a timely reply. I scanned the document you linked, and there
is no mention of Dollar General. I pass though the area on highway 54
regularly and see no zoning signs (although I would ne expect to see them
until after the Advisory board votes and forwards their recommendation to
the county commissioners).

I have held that the notifications were inadequate for quite a while and was
on the planning advisory board when the recommendation to exceed state
requirements was made. I felt then and continue to feel that timely
information on proposed and significant changes that impact a community
should be "pushed" to communities rather than having to be "pulled" from a
county website.

Given the general mistrustful atmosphere surrounding government at large
these days, I think Orange County could set an example by clearly
communicating the proposed changes as soon as they are available. Residents
should not have to dig through web pages or rely on word-of-mouth
communication. In the long run I think it will have the effect of
suppressing conjecture and misinformation and lead to better decision
making.

Please call me Tony.

Sincerely,
-Tony Blake
Orange County resident.





-----Original Message-----
From: Cy Stober <cst...@orangecountync.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, August 3, 2022 4:52 PM
To: Tony Blake <Tony...@nc.rr.com>
Cc: Amy Fowler <afo...@orangecountync.gov>; Anna Richards
<aric...@orangecountync.gov>; Bonnie Hammersley
<bhamm...@orangecountync.gov>; Crystal Long <CL...@orangecountync.gov>;
Donna Bradford <dbra...@orangecountync.gov>; Earl McKee
<emc...@orangecountync.gov>; Gary Donaldson <gdona...@orangecountync.gov>;
Greg Wilder <gwi...@orangecountync.gov>; Jamezetta Bedford
<jbed...@orangecountync.gov>; Jean Hamilton <jham...@orangecountync.gov>;
John Roberts <joro...@orangecountync.gov>; Laura Jensen
<lje...@orangecountync.gov>; Melissa Allison <mall...@orangecountync.gov>;
OCBOCC3 OCBOCC Google Group Exchange Mailbox <ocb...@orangecountync.gov>;
Renee Price <rpr...@orangecountync.gov>; Sally Greene
<sgr...@orangecountync.gov>; Tara May <tm...@orangecountync.gov>; Todd McGee
<tmc...@orangecountync.gov>; Travis Myren <tmy...@orangecountync.gov>;
Planning Board <planni...@orangecountync.gov>; Renee Price
<rpr...@orangecountync.gov>; Bonnie Hammersley
<bhamm...@orangecountync.gov>; Perdita Holtz <pho...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: RE: Proposed Dollar General in White Cross?

Mr. Blake,

Thank you for your email. Your concerns regarding public notification for
this general rezoning case are acknowledged and will be considered for how
Orange County might better use online resources for public notification
purposes in the future. For all general rezoning cases going before Planning
Board, the Orange County UDO requires us to mail letters to all property
owners within 1,000' of the subject parcel and post signs on that property
on all right of way frontages informing the public of the pending County
action and its particulars, including location and time. The item was also
posted on the Orange County website and the agenda packets are available for
download and review via the Planning Board

webpage<https://www.orangecountync.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_0803202
2-1617>. These requirements exceed the statutory public notification

cst...@orangecountync.gov<mailto:cst...@orangecountync.gov>

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