October 14, 2002 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Rezoning)

10 117 Meeting of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners October 14 , 2002 The Johnston County Board of Commissioners met in regular session Monday , October 14 , 2002 , at 7 00 pm in the Commissioners Meeting Room , Johnston County Courthouse Annex , Smithfield , North Carolina , with the following members present Present James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman , Cookie Pope , Vice Chairman , Thomas M Moore , Allen L Mims , Jr , Wade M Stewart , and W Ray Woodall Absent Fred Smith Also Present Rick J Hester , County Manager , Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the Board , and Mark Payne , County Attorney The Chairman called the meeting to order and announced that Commissioner Fred Smith was absent due to a family commitment The following business was transacted Public Comments - no one spoke at this time 1 Public Hearing - Correction to Zoning Atlas Advertised - October 4 , 11 , 2002 in The Smithfield Herald The Chairman opened the public hearing and invited anyone who wished to address the Board on a proposal to correct mapping errors on the County Zoning Atlas for the following two properties A Property located at 4303 US 701 South in Bentonville Township owned by Wilton B and Shirley Parker that was incorrectly zoned general business The correct zoning should have been designated Agricultural Residential B Property located at the intersection of US 701 South and Peach Orchard Road SR 1148 in Bentonville Township , owned by William Christopher and Deborah B Parker that was incorrectly zoned Agricultural Residential The correct zoning should have been designated Industrial 2 Special Use District If approved , the applicant is requesting a Special Use Permit Case 599 Planning Director , Steven Finn , pointed out the adjacent properties on the GIS map He explained the map designations for the two properties were switched in error at the time of countywide zoning If approved for correction , the property at the intersection , owned by William Christopher and Deborah B Parker would require a special use permit to bring the existing use into compliance with the County Development Ordinance There being no further comments , the Chairman closed the public hearing Decision on Correction to Zoning Atlas Upon a motion by Commissioner Wade M Stewart , seconded by Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr and carried by unanimous vote , the Board approved the following corrections to the Zoning Atlas as recommended by the Planning Department lt; Property located at 4303 US 701 South , owned by Wilton B and Shirley Parker , changed to Agriculture Residential lt; Property located at the intersection of US 701 South and Peach Orchard Road , owned by William Christopher and Deborah B Parker , changed to Industrial 2 Special Use District 2 Public Hearings on Rezoning and Special Use Permit Requests Advertised - In the Smithfield Herald - October 4 and October 11 , 2002 Certified letters were mailed to adjoining property owners on October 3 , 2002 and notices posted at the locations on October 3 , 2002 The Chairman Opened the Special Use Permit Hearing for Case 599 Case 599 Special Use Permit application for an existing body shop , storage of salvaged and wrecked vehicles , towing service for highway patrol on approximately 261 acres located at the intersection of US 701 South and Peach Orchard Road SR 1148 in Bentonville Township Owners and Applicants William Christopher Parker and Deborah B Parker Those wishing to speak on Case 599 were sworn in by the Clerk to the Board Mr Finn submitted for the record the following summary of evidence on Case # 599 Page118 October 14 , 2002 Continued A pre - application hearing was held with the applicant on July 30 , 2002 At that time the applicant was informed of the following If approved , applicant must provide to the Planning Office a Site Plan for their review and approval Applicant must comply with the requirements of the Johnston County Development Ordinance regarding landscaping , buffering and fencing or any additional requirements as approved by this Board Applicant will be notified in writing of the Board’s decision If denied , no application can be accepted for the same use affecting the same property for a period of twelve 12 months and that their right of appeal to Superior Court must be exercised within thirty 30 days of the receipt of notice of denial by the Board of Commissioners Applicant’s Special Use Permit will expire at the end of twenty - four 24 months if it is not used as permitted within that time period When necessary , staff informed the applicant of further Planning Office requirements and the requirements of other departments such as soil erosion and sedimentation requirements , Health Department regulations , stormwater and public utility requirements Subsequent to the pre - application conference , all required notices were mailed to property owners within 500 feet , the property was posted and notices of public hearings were advertised in accordance with the requirements of the North Carolina General Statutes On August 20 , 2002 , the Johnston County Planning Board held a public meeting regarding this case and recommended approval by a vote of 10 - 0 , to correct the zoning to Industrial 2 - Special Use District , and recommended a special use permit for an existing body shop , storage of salvaged and wrecked vehicles , towing service for highway patrol based on the following findings of facts with no special conditions Findings of fact 1 That the use or development is located , designed , and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or promote the public health , safety , and general welfare ; 2 That the use of the development complies with all required use and intensity regulations of articles II and VI of this chapter , and the applicable specific standards contained in section 14 - 257 and with all applicable regulations Note Applicable regulations not in the land use chapter may include and are not limited to other provisions of this Code , other ordinances and resolutions , and state and federal regulations ; 3 That the use or development is located , designed , and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property , or that the use or development is a public necessity ; and 4 That the use or development conforms with general plans for the physical development of the county’s planning jurisdiction as embodied in the Development Ordinance , or other development policies as adopted by the Board of Commissioners 5 The use described in the application has been in continuous operation since 1988 6 The subject property should have been zoned I - 2 in 1991 when the county adopted a county - wide Zoning Atlas Special Conditions - No special conditions were recommended Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr remarked on the fact that the Planning Board did not recommend special conditions He asked if the Planning Staff is satisfied that the use of the property meets the standards required by the County Mr Finn responded that staff has visited the site and feels comfortable with permitting this operation The Chairman recessed the Special Use Permit Request Hearing Decision on Application for Special Use Permit - Case 599 Case 599 Special Use Permit application for an existing body shop , storage of salvaged and wrecked vehicles , towing service for highway patrol on approximately 261 acres located at the intersection of US 701 South and Peach Orchard Road SR 1148 in Bentonville Township Owners and Applicants William Christopher Parker and Deborah B Parker Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr moved the Board authorize the Planning Staff to issue a Special Use Permit to William Christopher and Deborah Parker for an existing body shop , storage of salvaged and wrecked vehicles , and towing service for highway patrol on approximately 261 acres located at the intersection of US 701 South and Peach Orchard Road SR 1148 in Bentonville Township , based on the following findings of fact and the evidence presented Commissioner W Ray Woodall seconded the motion which carried by unanimous vote Page119 October 14 , 2002 Continued Findings of fact 1 That the use or development is located , designed , and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or promote the public health , safety , and general welfare ; 2 That the use of the development complies with all required use and intensity regulations of articles II and VI of this chapter , and the applicable specific standards contained in section 14 - 257 and with all applicable regulations Note Applicable regulations not in the land use chapter may include and are not limited to other provisions of this Code , other ordinances and resolutions , and state and federal regulations ; 3 That the use or development is located , designed , and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property , or that the use or development is a public necessity ; and 4 That the use or development conforms with general plans for the physical development of the county’s planning jurisdiction as embodied in the Development Ordinance , or other development policies as adopted by the Board of Commissioners 5 The use described in the application has been in continuous operation since 1988 6 The subject property should have been zoned I - 2 in 1991 when the county adopted a county - wide Zoning Atlas The Chairman Opened the Public Hearing for Rezoning Cases The Chairman opened the rezoning public hearing and invited interested persons to make comments on the following case Case 596 Petition to rezone approximately 143 acres at the intersection of Matthews Rd SR 1509 and Cleveland Fire Rd SR 1515 in Cleveland Township from Agricultural Residential to Community Business Owners DR Wells and Elgie Wells Applicants David Wells and Marlo Wells Mr Finn indicated the property on the GIS Map and noted it is located across from the old Cleveland Middle School at the intersection where Cleveland Fire Road and Matthews Road come to a fork at Hwy 1010 The site is east of the Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department and across the road from the present D R Wells Emporium The surrounding zoning is predominately Agricultural Residential with some commercial Applicant David Wells stated his family would like a larger facility and improved traffic flow for their retail business , D R Wells Emporium The property they are currently located on has no room for expansion He presented a site plan and a floor plan of the proposed new building With the new facility , they will be increasing their floor space from 3,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft , and will be adding 27 parking spaces County Attorney Mark Payne pointed out for the record that rezoning to community business would open the property up for a number of allowed uses Mr Finn noted there was some discussion at the Planning Board about traffic and parking concerns due to the alignment of roads at this intersection The NC Department of Transportation has looked at this and has indicated they do not foresee any problems He noted the Planning Board recommended approval by a vote of 9 - 0 to Community Business The Chairman Closed the Rezoning and Special Use Permit Hearings Decision on Rezoning Case 596 Case 596 Petition to rezone approximately 143 acres located at the intersection of Matthews Road SR 1509 and Cleveland Fire Road SR 1515 in Cleveland Township from Agricultural Residential to Community Business Owners D R Wells and Elgie Wells Applicants David Wells and Marlo Wells Upon a motion by Commissioner Cookie Pope , seconded by Commissioner Thomas M Moore and carried by unanimous vote , the Board approved rezoning case 596 for owners , D R Wells and Elgie Wells and applicants , David Wells and Marlo Wells of approximately 143 acres located at the intersection of Matthews Road SR 1509 and Cleveland Fire Road SR 1515 in Cleveland Township from Agricultural Residential to Community Business Case 597 WITHDRAWN prior to the meeting Petition to rezone approximately 200 acres located on Lake Wendell Road SR 1716 in Wilders Township from Agricultural Residential to Community Business Special Use District Owners and Applicants Jeffrey W Bailey and Elizabeth A Bailey Page120 October 14 , 2002 Continued 3 Adoption of Proposed Schedule of Values for 2003 Property Tax Revaluation Tax Administrator , Pat Goddard , provided the Board with revised pages for the 2003 revaluation schedule of values and briefly outlined the proposed additions and revisions She noted retention ponds , when required by the State or County , have been added under Restrictions to be valued at 10 of the neighborhood base rates , which is consistent with similar types of property Also there have been changes for apartment complexes to include potential gross income , and increases in the possible ranges for vacancy , and expense information Commissioner Thomas M Moore asked how valuations for easements and required buffers are handled Ms Goddard stated those areas are addressed in the price per acre The County does not always have sufficient information about these , however , they would be considered if identified during the appeals process She noted we do have a land use cover on our maps that identifies marshland , woodland and nonproductive land so they can be correctly valued Commissioner Wade M Stewart asked Ms Goddard for a brief outline of how the new schedule differs from the 1995 schedule of values we are currently operating under Ms Goddard noted the following differences lt; Pricing for commercial properties is now broken down into three different segments , primary for the structure , secondary for parking lots , and residual for underdeveloped land lt; More procedures in place for making unit comparisons on empty land lt; More neighborhood groups identified - 554 neighborhoods have been grouped lt; Use of zoning information , which is now available on tax property cards lt; Use of accurate images that were made in 2000 and 2001 lt; Increase in accuracy due to the fact that each property was visited twice In response to a question about the percentage of values that will increase or decrease , Ms Goddard stated she should have that information very soon CLT still has a few people in the field and the Tax staff is looking at anything that seems out of line to verify accurate values The last date for filing an appeal to the nd schedule will be November 22 Mr Campbell and his staff will finish setting values by November 26th , and th the new values will be mailed to property owners on December 6 The notices will have a bottom portion that can be detached and sent back if the owner wishes to appeal the value The first step in an appeal will be to meet with CLT staff ; then if not satisfied , with the Tax Department staff Many appeal cases will be handled during these informal hearings Those still not satisfied will make appointments to go before the Board of Equalization and Review Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr asked if the Board will have an approximate total property value after th November 26 Ms Goddard stated she should be able to provide a great deal of information by the first meeting in December Commissioner Stewart asked if the County were to decide to have another revaluation in less than the eight year cycle required by law , would we be in a position to do so Ms Goddard stated , in her opinion , due to much better records following this revaluation , and better information with our GIS mapping system , this would definitely be feasible She cautioned , however , that the County would want to look at the rate at which properties are increasing in value to see if this would be advisable Following discussion , Commissioner Cookie Pope moved the Board approve the Schedule of Values , Standards and Rules to be used in appraising real property at true value or present use value for the January 1 , 2003 Revaluation , and ordered the Clerk to publish a notice stating the rights of property owners to appeal the schedule within 30 days Commissioner W Ray Woodall seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote Ms Goddard noted that staff is making a concerted effort to educate the public on the revaluation and how the values were determined Staff is working on an insert to go in each of the newspapers and a pamphlet that can be distributed by various means In addition , community meetings will be scheduled throughout the County for the public’s convenience Board Reports and CommentsPagePage pageNumber5121 October 14 , 2002 Continued 4 Tornado In Kenly The Chairman announced the County will provide as much support as possible to the citizens affected th by the tornado that touched down in Kenly on October 11 He noted that building permit fees and landfill tipping fees will be waived Commissioner Wade M Stewart complimented the County employees who worked together during this emergency He stated he was very impressed with the emergency post that was set up and the smooth operation of the team members in dealing with the public and the media There was a tremendous amount of cooperation between County staff , fire and rescue personnel and outside agencies such as CP & L 5 Purchase Price For Land Approved - Benson Middle School Chairman Langdon reminded the Board of the request from the School Board for approval of the price for the new Benson Middle School property The School wishes to purchase 319 acres from Wade Johnson on Hwy 301 and Honeycutt Road at a purchase price of 484,200 Commissioner W Ray Woodall stated , in his opinion , the School Board has offered the County very questionable appraisals in support of this property and the Smithfield Elementary property on Galilee Road In both cases the appraisals were totally inadequate Commissioner Wade M Stewart moved the Board approve the purchase price of the land , as requested by the Board of Education He stated the amount the property owner is asking is high , but the availability of water and sewer has to be considered Commissioner Thomas M Moore seconded the motion and stated he has visited the property and feels it is a good site for the proposed school Discussion Commissioner Moore noted that even though he supports this request , the School Board , in his opinion , has been paying too much for land over the last 10 years This property , however , will not require a great deal of site work as it is cleared land , and with available utilities is probably worth the asking price He pointed out , in the future , the School Board might want to spend more time in the search process for good land since the County is no longer in the urgent mode for building schools and should have the luxury of more time in making decisions Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr agreed with the choice of a site for this school , however , he voiced problems with the appraisal that was given The original appraisal was for 250,000 , then an addendum was presented listing comparable sales that were totally unrelated and too far removed from the site With questionable support , the appraisal price went up to 471,000 He questioned the entire process and voiced concern that the appraiser put restrictions on his document that keeps him from having to justify his findings He suggested it is not fair to the taxpayers for the schools to pay more than is necessary for school property and recommended they use another appraiser in the future He stated he would have a difficult time voting for approval of this price without additional appraisals Chairman Langdon voiced his approval of the site and noted even though the price is high , with the water and sewer availability , the price is good compared to some of the other properties the schools have purchased in the past Commissioner Woodall stated he has no problem with the site , but would like to require more realistic appraisals in the future Commissioner Moore agreed and suggested the County require three appraisals in the future VOTE The motion carried by the following vote Ayes James H Langdon , Jr , Wade M Stewart , Thomas M Moore , Cookie Pope and W Ray Wood Nays Allen L Mims , Jr Commissioner W Ray Woodall moved the Commissioners tell the School Board to change their appraisal company Chairman Langdon stated he would prefer to speak with the School personnel without having a motion to that effect Commissioner Woodall agreed and withdrew his motion PagePage pageNumber6122 October 14 , 2002 Continued 6 Operation of JCATS Discussed The Board discussed the operation of JCATS under the administration of the Council on Aging COA Agency The COA has indicated they would require additional funding in the amount of 25,000 per year if they are to continue administering the program Commissioner Thomas M Moore moved the Board approve an additional allocation of 12,500 for th Council on Aging to cover the period from January until June 30 , to assist in the administration of the JCATS program County Manager , Rick Hester , pointed out this would be a commitment of 25,000 per year for the future He noted COA executive director , Donna Creech , has indicated her agency can run the operation smoothly , however , they will need the additional funding The County has looked at several options including privatization and placing the program under the County , and in his opinion , the best solution would be to leave the operation under Council on Aging Commissioner Wade M Stewart asked if COA didn’t agree in July to continue administering the program without additional funds Commissioner Moore responded that during the budget discussions Ms Creech stated that if JCATS remained with her agency she would need additional funds At that time , there had been problems with the operation of the program and its future was uncertain Since then the different options have been considered and , in his opinion , the County should leave the administration of the program under COA He noted the problems with their billing operations have been corrected , and the new manager is doing a good job Commissioner Wade M Stewart noted at one time the Department of Social Services expressed a desire to have more input in the operation He stated he would like to have more time to look at this issue and suggested the Board postpone a decision at this time The County Manager recommended a committee of himself and Commissioners Stewart , Pope and Moore to look into this matter further The Chairman agreed and Commissioner Moore withdrew his motion 7 Special Meeting Scheduled for Monday , October 21 , 2002 A special meeting of the Board was scheduled for Monday , October 21 , 2002 at 10 30 am to hear a presentation from the Johnston County Industrial Development Corporation concerning a proposed new Skills Training Center in the Clayton area There being no further business , Commissioner Allen L Mims , Jr moved the Board adjourn Commissioner Cookie Pope seconded the motion , which carried by unanimous vote ________________________________________ James H Langdon , Jr , Chairman _____________________________ Joyce H Ennis , Clerk to the BoardPage