Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I hereby call to order the June 16th meeting of the Lancaster County Planning Commission. Call the meeting to order. Would the clerk please call roll?

Richard Crandall. Linnette Henson. Here. Michelle Richards.

Here.

Frances Liu.

Here.

Yoki McHurton. Here. Julianna Tinklenburg.

Here.

Sheila Henson.

Thank you. Will the clerk please make a note on the record that a quorum of the Planning Commission is present. Public notice of the meeting including the meeting agenda have been posted the required length of time in the lobby of the county administration building and on the county website and the news media was notified of the meeting place and time. Everyone please welcome to the Lancaster County Planning Commission meeting. Would you please make sure that you've turned off all of your electronic devices. Please take off any hats and please abide by the posted rules of the meeting room, please. Sign-up sheets were provided at the entrance. If you haven't already done so, you can add your name to the list for a relevant item agenda, and you will be called to speak at the appropriate time. Please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer by Commissioner... Richard. The last name just escaped me. Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Our Father in heaven, we are so grateful for the opportunity to join together as a community this day and to have the opportunity to serve Lancaster County. We pray that as we get underway today that we may do it with humility and charity towards others. We pray that we may have wisdom in the decisions that we make. Father, we pray that as we are forced to make hard decisions that we may do it with goodwill towards each other and with the best interest of the county and those in attendance in mind. This prayer we offer in the name of thy son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Oh, yeah. If you have on a hat, please take it off. That is one of the rules of the room to remove your hat, please. Thank you. Commissioners, you have before you the agenda for tonight's meeting. Do I hear a motion to approve the agenda?

I have a motion. I'll second it.

Commissioner, show of hands to approve the agenda. Vote passes 6-0. Excuse me. The next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes. First set of minutes are from the May 7th, 2026 workshop minutes. Do I hear a motion to approve?

I'll make a motion to approve.

A show of hands to approve?

I wasn't here.

Okay. So five, four, and one abstaining. So the motion passes. The second set of minutes is from the May 19th, 2026 regular meeting. Do I hear a motion to, Oh, actually I need to make one amendment before I go too far. I guess I need to make a motion to approve first and then amend. Yeah. All right. So there we got a call from a citizen on page 76. His personal email was not redacted. So if you would please redact his personal email from page 76 of the minutes. So that's the only thing. So do I have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 19th, 2026 regular meeting as just amended? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Show of hands to approve.

the one I wasn't at.

Okay that's okay. Vote passes five with one abstaining. We will now consider ourselves into citizens comments. No one has signed up to speak under general comments so we will consider ourselves out of general comments. Next on the agenda is public hearing items for recommendation to county council. First item on the agenda is TA 2026 1137 road acceptance.

Sorry, the clicker is having issues. So thank you for having me. What I've got for you here is a text amendment for chapter 6.13.1, which is the road acceptance policy for council and for the county. And so I know it's kind of hard to see on the slide there, but in your packet, you got it kind of more detailed so you can review what's proposed to be changed. The intent of this change is just to provide some clarity and some criteria for the county's road acceptance policy. You know, the county has held a policy that roads constructed as a part of new residential development or commercial development remain privately owned and maintained. However, what was found was that the UDO lacked a certain criteria or a certain explanation of when the county would accept a road. And so this amendment is providing that clarity and criteria. If you'd like to review those in your packet, of course, the changes are in that blue and teal color, and then the removals are with a striped-through font. And then, of course, staff recommends approval of this. And then if you have any questions, our Public Works Director, Mr. Jeff Cato, is here.

Commissioners, do you all have any questions or comments? Tinkleberg first. Thank you.

I guess since we're in the middle of writing the new UDO, I'm wondering— Why this is important now? Why is this push before we adopt the new UDO? It was requested per county council. We don't know why.

I guess it was just I think there was recently at County Council there was a request to accept a road and and there wasn't really a whole lot of criteria on when the county would accept a road and so it created some confusion and that purview is always left with County Council but it just seemed to create confusion and then to would maybe allow others to come ask for the roads to be accepted and so that would offering that criteria would give a guideline to when that would happen.

One more question. I serve on the UDO committee as we're rewriting that. And one of the important things that was brought up as we're talking about roads was forcing connections to adjacent properties so we have connectivity as things are built out to bring traffic off major thoroughfares. So is that something that can be added to this? It was left off.

That's a great question. I think the reason that County Council requested this amendment specifically was to speak to the road acceptance policy into the county system, knowing that this would affect Chapter 9, I think, in the rewrite. And so I do think a couple of auxiliary conversations have come from this with the consultants that I think we can expect as we navigate the process. But what they wanted to resolve right now was that criteria to accept the road. That doesn't mean that it would be left out. of that. Correct. It just was not covered here to be amended more promptly rather than waiting on the, the UDO rewrite. Okay.

Mr. Curitan.

That was actually my question. I want to understand the urgency since we're already in the middle of the UDO rewrite. I wanted to understand why we were doing text amendments at this point.

Thank you. All right.

Um, nothing else for me.

I was going to say, I was going to say, normally I ask if the applicant's here, but the applicant is us.

Here we are. All right. The man himself is in the back somewhere.

Yeah. So, all right. Well, thank you. So we will consider ourselves, if there's no more questions, we'll consider ourselves into public hearing. No one has signed up to speak regarding this matter, so we will consider ourselves out. Public hearing I do have one more question.

Yes, so if we if we do approve this particular This particular text amendment that means it goes directly into you do rewrite Does there is there an opportunity for the committee then to weigh in on what exactly should actually happen? I

So this would amend chapter 6.13.1 immediately if it's accepted by county council of course you're recommending approval or denial to council so if they accept this text amendment it will immediately affect the UDO currently as it stands however this will also be carried into the rewrite as well because the language that's being amended here was actually being carried over in the rewrite with no changes so this that's being updated will go into the new one as well.

immediately and permanently or immediately and based on the UDO committee's decision?

Yeah, so this change would go, the rewrite, it would affect the rewrite and if that, the way we have it slotted is that this amendment will go into the rewrite. It will be written this way for the rewrite that is coming before, you know, the public and council. Unless the ad hoc committee decides to remove it for the rewrite. So if the ad hoc committee and then county council decide to remove that, then they absolutely could. If county council accepts this amendment now, it will affect the UDO currently. Did that answer your question?

I think so. Kind of, but not really, but maybe. I'm trying to understand if we say yes today and approve it, does that make it go directly into, which you've already said it does, it goes directly into being active, but as they're continuing to consider what other changes are made, does it make it permanent?

Yeah, so this will go, of course, if you recommend approval, it'll go to county council and they'll have to read this three times for it to be accepted. And so that would, it would then change the UDO currently after council reads it and whether or not they approve or deny it. Now, the way that this is written, it is written so that the rewrite that is coming that's currently being handled by the ad hoc committee, this will be included so that there's no more changes to this specific chapter in this specific section. It may not be the only thing that's changed in that chapter, but this 6.13.1 will appear should it not be removed in the rewrite as well in this way. Was that a better explanation?

Maybe.

Okay.

Maybe I can ask a little different. You referenced a consultant. There's a consultant that's working on the rewrite as well, I imagine. Were they participating in this change? Okay. So they've gone through. It's perceivably likely that in the end, this is going to go through into nine. You just can't. Promise that or into the new UDO. Correct.

So it's not my decision, so the council will accept it. But yes, the UDO consultants participated in writing this as well as the county attorney.

Same people that made the decision on this are making the decision on the future one as well. Correct. Got it.

I just wanted, maybe I can clarify. So we were asked by county council to put this in. They did not want to wait on the UDO. They thought this was the urgency to do the text amendment. So that's why that's there. We took that. We wrote, we worked with public works and with the county attorney, send it over to the consultants. They put the wording to that to do the text amendment. So If this gets approved, it'll go in there immediately. And then as we're continuing to look at the UDO with the adult committee and of course all the public that we will, if it needs to be changed, it can be changed. But for right now, they wanted it put in there.

Do we know or understand what the urgency, what triggered the urgency?

That I'm not privileged. I don't know what the urgency was. I just know the request came from the chairman of county council for us and they wanted us to do this sooner than wait on the UDO rewrite.

Thank you. All right. Any more questions? All right. Very good. Thank you. So commissioners, it's like I said, we consider ourselves out of public comment. Commissioners, you have before you item number TA 2026-1137, road acceptance. Do I have a, now I'm changing procedure here a little bit because we've had some from the training that we had last week. So do I have a motion to accept this item as presented? So we have to. accept it, and then if you don't agree with it, then you vote against it. We now have to declare whether we're doing a vote for or against something from the beginning. So do I have a motion for item number TA-2026-1137, road acceptance, to accept the text amendment as presented? I need a motion to accept it as presented.

I'll make a motion to deny it.

Well, then vote against it.

Okay.

So right now I'm saying because... You want to put it forward as a motion to... Accept. Because according to the staff report, they are recommending to accept it. So that was some very... Hard training last week. So putting forth a motion for TA 2026-1137, road acceptance to accept the text amendment as presented. So I need a motion and a second.

We'll make a motion to accept it. I'll second it.

All right. So... So we have a motion and an approval to accept this text amendment as presented. Can we have a roll call vote? So if you vote yes, you agree to the text amendment. If you vote against, then you disagree with the text amendment.

Richard Crandall.

For.

Lynette Henson. For. Joaquin McCuritan. Against. Judy Anna Tinklenburg.

4.

Frances Liu. 4.

Michelle Richards. 4. Motion to accept text amendment 2026-1137 road acceptance criteria passes at a vote of 5 to 1. Do you think Ginny would be proud that we did it to the new system? All right, very good. So next item on the agenda is CP, well actually the next two items on the agenda, CP 2026, 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School and RZ 2026, 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School. One is a comprehensive plan amendment and the other is a rezoning request and we will vote on them separately but we're going to present them and discuss them as one.

Thank you, Mar. That should be—there we go.

We're good.

Okay, so the subject parcel is located off of Harrisburg Road. The intent is to redevelop an existing structure for a charter school. For the zoning, it's currently zoned light industrial, and the proposed zoning is institutional. For the comprehensive plan amendment, the current designation is economic development area. The proposed is growth area. Here are two pictures of the subject parcel, the first off of Harrisburg Road, the second off of Caprington Drive, which is an adjacent community that has a stub out that backs up directly to the site. On the left-hand side of the screen is a picture that shows the zoning of the subject parcel outlined in that teal color with the LI designation on it. And the proposed institutional zoning is directly adjacent to the parcel to the north side of it. Now looking at the proposed change for the future land use going from economic development to growth area you can see the proposed growth area is directly adjacent to the subject parcel but this change going from economic development to growth area goes against Lancaster County goal 2.1 in the comprehensive plan which states preserve and protects designated for economic development and employment generating activities such as commerce, light industrial parks, and encroachment from incompatible land uses. So at this time, staff is recommending denial of this rezoning and comprehensive plan amendment. The applicant is also here available for questions as well as I am.

Could you go back two slides, I believe?

Let's see, this one.

Okay, and the sign for the school?

Yeah. It's just... What's the photo you're referring to?

That one there.

Yeah, that's located along Harrisburg Road. That's right out front.

It's just a premature sign.

What do you mean? Yeah, pre-existing business. Yeah, and are you talking about the sign that they had posted to the right of the PCI sign?

Yes. It says Bridgepoint Charter School.

Yes, yeah, the applicant posted that. Yeah, we didn't, I'm not sure, I don't think we permitted that. So yeah, they put it up by themselves, yeah.

Oh, it's an advertising sign, but there is no.

Yes, the use has not been approved yet. Thank you. You're welcome.

Commissioners, do you have any other questions for staff?

Yes. Yes. Thank you, Matthew.

You're welcome.

Has economic development had any input on this, considering this, you know, if this goes forward, we would be losing light industrial in the county. And over the last, you know, few years that I've been on this commission, there's not a lot of light industrial in the county, especially in the northern part of the county. So I'm concerned about that.

Yes, we've talked to Brian Folk, the head of the economic development, and he was concerned about us potentially losing this area of light industrial. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

Any other questions? Yes, sir.

There's another economic development zone just a little bit south of this with three parcels on it, and their zoning is, I think, IMX, right? Did they look at rezoning this to IMX at all, which would allow them a school under conditional use?

Yeah, we haven't heard anything from those parcels Got it.

Okay, not for those parcels for this one because it could stay in the economic development zone It can it can stay as a economic development flu But be zoned as IMX Because we do that in the parcels below when we were looking at this one Do we look at rezoning from Li to IMX at all? Are you familiar with?

That's not what the applicant

ASKED FOR. OKAY.

WE HAD A PRIEST MIDDLE MEETING. THIS IS THE PATH THEY CHOSE. OKAY.

THANKS, MATTHEW.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MATTHEW. IS THE APPLICANT HERE? IF YOU'D LIKE TO SPEAK, PLEASE COME UP TO THE DIAS, STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO THE MICROPHONE FOR THE RECORD.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. MY NAME IS DR. NATALIA. I CURRENTLY RESIDE IN SPARTANBURG. South Carolina.

Skip Powell. I live in 5029 Lake Miss Drive in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. And I'm the current co-owner of the building.

Thank you for allowing us to speak on behalf of Bridgepoint Charter School and provide a little bit of a context. Just make sure that you have all the information that you need to make a decision or your recommendation today. And we are here tonight on behalf of Bridgepoint Charter School, and we have a team with us. We have an architect. We have community members, planners, everybody who's been working on that project so far. And before we begin, I want to acknowledge you and to say that you have an immensely hard job. You have a very important task to make sure that Lancaster County is developing and balancing what the master plan calls for and with what rapidly growing community needs at this time. This is not a simple task, and we have a lot of respect for what you do. So we want to start with the most important question. I think I would like to start with the why. We hear what we want for the children growing up in India land right now. Where do we want them to grow? What do we want them to do? This is why we're here tonight. This is not the real estate transaction to us. It's not a business deal. And this is the belief the kids in this community deserve a great school, close to home, tuition free and build around who they are and where despite where the world is going. And that's our school. We are a tuition-free public school, K-8, focused on STEAM. And we have the slides that accompany it, so there's more information on the slides. I don't duplicate that you have more information. So we're focusing on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. We are planning to open in 2027 and serve approximately 860 students at the full capacity. And our long-term vision includes a possibility of adding a much-needed high school to serve the community and keeping students here in Indian land all the way through graduation. This isn't a school for a selected few. Any family in Lancaster County can apply. No tuition, no admission test, just a high-quality education available to every child. Our STEAM program is intentionally designed to be appealing, not just academically, but as a reason for families to put down roots where they stay. We want students to grow up in the community, contribute to it, and build their future in it. That's the kind of positive and lasting presence that we intend to be. And the timing matters. Indian land is one of the fastest growing areas in South Carolina. Families are moving here every month and the schools are feeling it. There is a lot of pressure. Bridgepoint doesn't take anything away from the existing system. We complement it. We add the capacity at the zero cost to Lancaster County taxpayers as we have funded through a private investment and the state per pupil charter school allocation. So we have an overwhelming community of support. We knocked on the doors. We conducted surveys. We had interest forms and asked people what they want, got a lot of input, and they are very happy to have a school in that area. Most importantly, we have hundreds of families who have expressed interest in enrolling their children in Bridge Point. This community is telling us they want the school. Also, we have the owner of the building who has more context and historical context in what is happening with the building and why this is the right building for the school.

Good evening. I'm a little taller. Back when we bought the building, We were kind of in the woods. The original owner had a microfilm, microfiche company. He wanted to be kind of like a fortress way off the road so that no one knew about it. He could do with bank work for microfiche and microfilm. As you fast forward, that When imaging came along, that business kind of evaporated. So he reinvented himself to more of a scanning company. But in the end, the building was way too big. So along we came. We bought the building. And at that point, it was still pretty much surrounded by woods. And it kept that because we're a highly compliant light manufacturer. And as time went on, we are now completely surrounded by residential. So I retired four years ago. My partner saw the operational inefficiencies and also that the space was, the company was growing and running out of space, so decided to move to a bigger location. Hence, we put the building on the market. And we found that people would come and look at it love the building did not like the location because they saw it was in residential if you're a manufacturer this truck noise there's manufacturing noise and you're surrounded by residents who don't really like to have that noise so it was a big turn off in addition since it's in not in a main road. Egress to 45 and 77 is challenging with big trucks. We were having a hard time getting people interested in buying the building. Along came bridge point and we said this is a solution that the community needs. The building's life cycle reached its zoning I call zoning dead end that if you compare it with and I understand to you want to reserve industrial property for economic development but if you really do a a aerial of the area it's not the 160 corridor we're here and unique loom and neutral max are located that's a real industrial part we're like a standalone building that doesn't really fit that Persona if you want to say and where we are currently in the development of the county so the to me The solution is not only to get the building sold which would be a great thing for us but it's also to create a solution that's really what the county needs and So and I also spoke to economic development and of course they don't like to lose An industrial client, but he said it is what it is. The county is craving it It's a solution that we really need so in my eyes Although the letter of the law the way it's written Says to deny it. I think that you should really reconsider because it's the best thing for the community. I

Thank you.

If you have any questions, we have a team present for any technical questions, any questions that you may have for us.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Bear with me. I have a lot of questions. So this is in my district. I'm very familiar with your location. In going through the information that was made available to us and serving on this commission for a number of years, we've recently approved another charter school that is to your north. So I was surprised that there was no mention of that. Are you in affiliation or working together or can you catch me up on that relationship and how it affects you?

I have it in my notes as the question that will be asked. So just wanted to give you an opportunity to ask that question. Yes, we're well aware. The other school that is right next to us is Harrisburg Global Academy. It's K-8 school. We actually have the same authorizer, Erskine Charter Institute. And we are planning to work in... in collaboration with them to make sure that we're working together and providing best school choices for the families. So the families will have a choice since we are two very different programs. So they have a focus on global languages and global leadership, as far as I understand, and we are focusing on the STEAM integration. So they are very different. And it is a unique situation, but we are very proud that we can provide the service to the community when they don't select a school because of the convenience, but because of the quality. Also, they are opening one year ahead of us. They are scheduled to open in August 2026. They do have a robust waiting list, and they do have a full enrollment, and we do have almost 1,000 students that are interested as well. We understand and also we will work together with them to make sure that we mitigate the traffic, that we have different start times and times we can collaborate on safety. We can collaborate on, again, on different programs and resources.

Thank you. Okay. Jumping on to another question. So I have three children. We are in the public school system. So when I hear about charter schools opening, I realize that there is an overabundance. We're at capacity. Our schools are crowded. So I understand on that level the need, but I also realize that the funding of our school is based on FTE money, which is the number of students. So when we're removing students from the public school system, it's actually to a detriment of of our county schools budget. So when I'm thinking about that, it makes me think of what my kids might be losing as far as programs, numbers of teachers, services that our public schools are getting. Can you speak to that? I know you mentioned in what I read that county school funds aren't going to it, but state funds are. So I guess I'm just concerned about that.

Every public school is concerned about that. However, charter schools have been in existence since early 90s, and they do provide a quality choice for the parents. Again, it's a school of choice. And the parents have the right to choose the school and the setting where they want to be. The preference of charter schools, and again, the whole philosophy of charter schools, that we are holding ourselves to higher standards. Otherwise, we would not be able to exist. So we can never be complacent. We do need to provide quality education at all times with a little bit less money. So we make do. The local taxes are actually staying with the district. So even though the students may not be there, you don't get that FTE, you do have more money staying with the district. We don't get that property taxes.

charter schools don't get that we would still be losing number of students to your school so that would be at the county school systems detriment because they would be allocated differently my next question is how is your school handling special special education

This is the federal law. And again, we bound and we adhere to federal law for the special education in IDEA. So we provide all the services that the regular traditional schools do. So we provide all the services that we have to. So from the self-contained classrooms to the resources, hiring all the teachers, so we are kept to the same standards.

So that wouldn't impact their acceptance into your school?

No, there's no any discrimination or selection fee. It's open to everybody, everybody who resides in South Carolina. We are not bound geographically, so anybody can attend the school. And also, we are not... any tests, we're actually collecting very minimal amount of information for the enrollment and pre-enrollment. So we're not even asking for like discipline records, special education or anything. So there's no basis for that. It's only after the enrollment.

Thank you. You mentioned, so you have to be a South Carolina resident? Absolutely. Okay. And then my last question, are you providing any transportation or busing services or is it up to parents to carpool their children? Okay.

Are you signing people up?

A lot of growth we've had along Harrisburg Road, especially further south with the future expansion of an elementary and high school, and then next door, the already approved charter school. We're very concerned with traffic along that corridor. It's growing. It's dangerous. So I don't know if that's just another major concern.

I know. Again, we're well aware of all the possible concerns that we understand that bringing a charter school to the community, to any area, that impacts the traffic, it impacts people. So hopefully, again, we are working on providing that positive influence on the community and positive presence. We we actually conducted the DOT study to make sure that the site can be approved So potentially and again, this is your Purview we were not jumping ahead But we are doing our due diligence as well just to make sure that this works this site has 32 acres of land it actually stands in very well away in the back of the road so we can stack. Again, we are working on adding lanes, whatever we need to do to make sure that there is no traffic on Harrisburg Road. And plus, we are trying to stagger it up as well with the starting and the ending time. So the after school program, that's another thing that will help a lot that not all the students are going to be picked up in the morning.

Thank you. I know I had a lot of questions. That's good. That's good. I appreciate the questions.

Before I forget, I've been leading charter schools for the past 20 years at the different facilities in the different areas. And just to make sure that we are bringing the positive and the good influence and the good quality program for the area.

So in the original packet there's an aerial photograph of the property And it just so happens the way it was designed. It sits way off of Harrisburg Road So just the natural roadways in and out that we have now can absorb a lot of vehicles. So the big concern there is kind of mitigated already. But of course, what Natalia said is that DOT will actually come in and say if they want extra lanes put in or extra turn lanes, they'll all comply with that. But right now, as it sits, it could absorb almost the whole enrollment in and out.

Thank you both.

Yes. I would like to address that. Microphone. What I'm reading from what you submitted is the existing internal roadways and driveways on the property can accommodate approximately 158 to 182 vehicles at any given time without impacting Harrisburg Road, and yet your full enrollment is 860. Can you tell me how you're going to get 860 students into 158 cars?

Yes, we can.

Okay.

When we submitted the application, that was the bare minimum numbers that we had before the DOT study. So we have Dan, our architect, who would speak to respond to that question.

Please state your name and address for the record, please.

Dan Henriksen, 7064 Silver Lake Drive in Rockford, Michigan. I'm an architect, and we've been working at charter schools for the last 16 years with Bama USA. That's all we do. so we typically are told what stacking lengths we need from d o t so they wanted thirty six hundred linear feet when we get the eight hundred sixty student enrollment and so the site design that i think was up on the board a while ago illustrates that stacking that we have so as you see the far right we have a double lane that wraps around the outside of the property And that's really where the stacking will occur. But we can stack all the way back to the road if we need to. Typically, you have about 22 feet per car. So we can get about 100 and I think it's like 180 cars stacked. And we can also do staggered pickup and drop off to mitigate that too. Typical length for school this size is usually around 200 or 2,500 lineal feet So this is more than we typically do in other parts of the country I'm not sure why they came up with that rule, but we're gonna do it whatever the SCD ot asks us to do we will do we're also working with other agencies to through that process will come up with the right amount of Left turn lanes right decel lanes.

Whatever is required to have us do I'm Excuse me for being Uncomfortable with that even with 200 students and staggered After-school activities everything with 860 cars even if you have 20 30 40 extra cars out on Harrisburg Road.

That is a lot of know what So there's not going to be 860 cars at a time so What they do is, again, we do this all over the country. They tell us, basically DOT will tell us how many stacking feet they are comfortable with. And so during our preliminary meetings, they talk about 3,500 feet of stacking. So that's what we have on the plan. We have 3,500 roughly stacking feet, which will allow us to have all the traffic off the road and allow us a smooth drop-off pickup. And if we stagger, that even gets better. So we go through this in every municipality we work with. And so as long as we adhere to their rules and what they want us to do, It usually gets approved that way.

Okay, I don't want to badger you, but even, like I said, half that number coming at one time, half that number is 430, and you said you can handle 200 and some. That is still a lot of cars, and I respect the DOT and what they request, but they're not the ones that have to go up and down Harrisburg Road with everything else that's there right now.

Into the microphone, please. Thank you.

The one thing to remember is it's You don't have all those cars show up At the same instant and sit on the property. It's a flow so as people flow in and now It's that it's gonna do it. So the actual math that you're looking at seems like it can't can't happen but as thing as the cars rotate through and It's a natural flow, and that's why the DOT's equation, their linear feed, makes sense. But I agree with you. It seems confusing, like the math doesn't work. But based on their experience, it does.

I'm just going to close with seeing drop off and pick up at Indian Land School. Excuse my grammar, but there ain't no flow. People get there, they get there early, they want to be first in line, and so whoever comes there at the proper time then is out. So, like I said, I don't want to badger you anymore, but I'm talking from experience in Indian land, and it is a nightmare because those people come, they bring something to read, they bring their laptops, whatever, and they are parked there. So, the The math doesn't math because the flow doesn't flow. I think it's universal.

It's universal that we try to, so we set the rule that you cannot come earlier than this time. Just training the parents and make sure that they are not, they're adhering to the rules and they do most of the time. Also wanted to just point out that it's on one kid per car if there are multiple kids. So that's going to be less than 800 cars. So it's, again, per DOT and per our experience, it is, we are able to absorb that traffic. And especially, again, we're working very closely with DOT to make sure that we are not impacting it negatively, that we provide all those lands and we do have the resources and we do have enough land on the property to do that.

I guess my last question, to move on, same topic, but it said that you hope to add a high school. So that's a lot more. In the future, that's a lot more cars you're going to have. I won't go into high school drivers.

If, again, if and when, this is something that as we talk to the parents and community members, they all ask about if it's going to be a high school. So it seems like this is something that is very popular and very much needed. And parents prefer to have that K-12 experience, again, out of convenience as well. just to have all the kids to pick up and drop off at the same time at the same location. So we understand that appeal for that. Having steam, this is a natural progression to that K-12. We do not anticipate that we're going to increase that capacity to, let's say, 2,000, but to have a well-rounded K-12 if needed. So it's not going to be like expanding all the numbers to have as a big, huge program, but rather than to become the feeder for that high school component for people who want to stay with us.

And I'm sorry, I'm saying this for the people who are thinking it, but not saying it. There's no high schooler who's going to ride to school with mom in the car.

Yeah, the upper ones, yes. I've been a principal for high school, for the charter high school for 16 years. So I've dealt with teenagers and drivings and the drop-off and pick-up and all those things. Bless you. And I'm still open to do it. And I'm still open to do it. So that's a lot of devotion.

Absolutely.

In regards to, I know we've already got the... the other charter school that's there and then you're going in here and you've also got the Islamic Center that's directly across the road. We've had a lot of complaints with the traffic on some of, not all the time, but how are you going to coordinate Because I don't know if DOT takes that into consideration. You know, I know that when they're having their high holy events and stuff that I've seen a lot of traffic nightmares in that area. So now you're talking about two schools. And I know some of their stuff is during, it's not always on the weekend. Some of the stuff is during the week. It's just when, since they're a lunar, they go off a lunar calendar, their stuff doesn't fall on the weekends like many other religions do.

This is a very good point. We normally, we are well aware of the surroundings and we work with all the communities and all the community centers, whatever the possible, the congested traffics are or the communal services, we work together with them and we do have enough flexibility to make sure that we can have a different start to that day. We actually contacted the center, Islamic Center, get to know them. They got to know us a little bit. So we're well aware of what they do and we can work together with them.

Well, thank you. Yeah, because I know they're also talking about possibly adding a school on their property.

They actually asked us if we can do it and if we're going to be an Islamic school. It's a nowhere public school, but they are willing to work with us as well.

All right. Thank you. Any other questions? So in attendance... I'm sorry.

No, go ahead. No, please go ahead.

So as far as attendance goes, you said that your current waiting list is all South Carolina residents. Will it always be South Carolina residents or will you expand?

It's only South Carolina residents because we are receiving money from the state from South Carolina. So and I know that we have a couple of people sneaking in and putting their interest in from North Carolina. So we're telling them, I'm sorry, we can't. But we do have everybody from South Carolina. People do understand that.

And did I understand you correctly, if you do decide to go all the way up to K-12, you're not going to expand your enrollment dramatically. It's probably going to be maybe a little more students, but you're not going to have to increase the size. Because if you're going into an existing building and modifying it, you would have to build new buildings if you would expand your enrollment.

Correct. Our main philosophy is that we are staying small enough. that we are not planning to expand and become a big, huge, comprehensive charter school, that, again, we're not drawing from the districts. We understand that, again, everybody has a right to exist. We are priding ourselves, or we are working on, we want to make sure that we know everybody and that we are small enough to cater to the various needs of students.

Yes, sir.

First, I appreciate the questions that the other commissioners asked about the school. They were really fascinating. Your answers were great, and I appreciate the feedback. I want to focus a little more on what Commissioner Tinkelberg started with, which is the future land use for this, and then its zoning. I think one of the things that we see, and I don't want to speak for staff, but from my understanding from the report, is their concern is that the comprehensive plan protects this flu pretty strongly. And there are two areas in there, 2.1 and 2.2, which I both think talk about not rezoning to protect them for economic use. There is a dearth of this type of flu up in this area in northern Lancaster. And so my question, I kind of go back to what I asked Matthew, is schools are permitted under the IMX zoning, which can be in an economic development zone. Why didn't we look at IMX as zoning? Where there's a conditional use for it, you still have to come and get a conditional use permit. It's not by right like it is in institutional. Why didn't we actually look at IMX so that we didn't have to do a comprehensive plan amendment as well?

To be totally honest, we asked what zoning we had to be in, and we followed the lead of the staff. Gotcha.

And then one of the concerns today is I know it's zoned today as light industrial. One of the by right uses of industrial is warehousing and distribution, which requires it to be connected to a road that is not a secondary road. So it has to be an arterial or major road. Thoroughfare which it is currently not in compliance with so we have these competing needs there But I think my bigger concern is that we could leave it as economic development but the way we're changing it would irreparably take that away and change the fluid from a economic development zone to a growth area That's all

Yes. That's the area I was going to go to next. It's very trite, but 40 years ago a friend told me the only thing they're not making any more of is land. And so the more we give away, the more we hinder people who need a place to work. And with the influx of people coming into this area, with job transfers there are going to be trailing spouses who are looking for work, who aren't necessarily going to be white collar and they need a place to work. I was a little bit concerned that we have to vote based on facts, not on what ifs. And it says here that PCI made a conscious effort to minimize the operational impact on surrounding neighborhoods. A future industrial purchaser, however, may not operate with the same level of sensitivity. I mean, we can't go on presumptions that someone is not going to be a good neighbor. That is a little bit concerning. And like I said, Indian land is getting a lot of wonderful things.

They're getting charter schools.

There's nothing wrong with the charter school. And lots of restaurants and businesses on the main drag. But as Commissioner Crandall pointed out, there isn't much land such as this. And when you do have alternatives, and we can't guide you towards anything, but I'm just concerned about the fact that we're losing this land. It's not the 160 area, but there's still not a lot of land being sold for this when people can get more money for their land to sell it to residential and so forth. So I just have a problem with, saying that this is a good idea because the new owner of the light industrial might not be a good neighbor.

Well, it's just one of the pointers. We do provide service and we do provide jobs as well. So it's not that the charter school is not a separate entity or something that is detached and we just take the kids. We provide jobs as well for the teachers, for the peer educators, for maintenance staff, everybody who's going to work on it. So we do provide that stability and the jobs in the area as well.

I think part of our job up here is to look at Lancaster County as a whole and having that big partial right there of the growth area being tied right next to without the residential all around it. I'm like with a couple of the other commissioners. I think it's going to actually not be a beneficial part for Lancaster as a whole because of the future use that could be used there. For the industrial part, as far as the rezoning part, there's not a lot of land, like it's been said before, for light industrial, and I think that's going to be very beneficial for other people that are coming in. especially with the neighborhoods going around. So that's my two cents on it. Thank you.

Anyone else have any questions or comments for the applicant? Thank you. You might have a chance to come up and speak again after we go through public hearing. So we did not have anyone sign up into public hearing. We did not have anyone sign up to speak as part of public hearing, but I did get two, we did get commissioners, we did get several large packages for people who wanted to be heard during the public hearing part. One was an email from a Jim Coates who lives in the area. He is asking to deny or postpone the approval of the proposed rezoning request for the chartered school. He's concerned about traffic and how it's going to impact the neighborhood. Then I have a another package here I it's so small I can't read it even with the glasses but it's it's a I'm assuming miss Mara this was some type of a public poll or vote that was provided by the applicants the applicants okay very good thank you said this is out these is um I'm assuming these were all people that you talked to it looks like they were in the area that were in agreement of the school so we do have a very very long one, two, two and a half page list of people in the area. There was also a community support petition that went out that they had quite a few people sign an agreement for that. Then there was also one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 letters of support, um, for the zoning map amendment and comprehensive plan, uh, amendment. I'm assuming also from various, um, citizens, um, in the area that look like these are all Indian land, um, addresses and such. So, um, have that go on record that there was, um, all of these people did submit, um, as part of, uh, the public hearing. So as I said, we had no one sign up to speak at our meeting at this part right here, so we will now consider ourselves out of public hearing. Would the applicant like to do any follow-up to what I just read? All right, thank you. Commissioners we have before us. I'm gonna start off with just one case. I'll start off with the comprehensive plan We have before us CP 2026 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School. This is for the comprehensive plan amendment staff didn't staff recommend to denial this so do I have a motion to deny I need a motion for to deny CP 2026 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School a comprehensive plan amendment much much did enough The motion is to deny it, so I need to get it first and a second, then we'll have a discussion. And then if you vote for it, you're denying it. If you voted against it, then you're voting for it. I know it's very confusing. So anyway, so I just need a motion to, the motion is to deny this based on planning staff's recommendation, CP 2026, 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School. Okay, but I need a second. Almost second. All right, so we have a first and a second. Do we have any discussion or any more questions about this?

Madam Chairman, I don't know if this is notable or not, but I was looking through the letters that came in, and I was just concerned that the 15 letters are all, I'm showing how old I am now, carbon copies of each other, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm concerned that it says... it's more compatible for a school neighbor than continued industrial operation, including 24-hour activity, truck traffic, and noise. And as Commissioner Crandall has already pointed out, that the truck traffic would not be an issue with light industrial. And so I just wanted to point out the incompatibility with the facts on the letter that has been carbon-copied.

So, yes, like I said, I do appreciate them. They were trying to get as many people as possible to put forth their opinion. So I'm sure we're all guilty of signing one of these form letters and online petitions.

So they're factual, though, when they're submitted.

Yes. Anyway, thank you, ma'am. So any other. Questions or concerned?

Madam Chairman, I do have a question. Do we actually have to put it forth as the affirmative, or can we put it forth as the negative, like in the denial? Because we typically will put it forth as negative,

Well, from the training we had last week, we're having to change up how we do things. So before, when we put up a motion, we just said, I need a motion and a second. So now we have to, in the motion, say whether it is approval or denial. And I have to go through a process based on all the information that was presented to determine, based on everything that was presented, whether it's going to be recommend for approval, recommend for deny. For this one, the staff report recommended denial. So the motion has been made and seconded that it is to deny this. So if you want to vote for it, then you have to vote against this. So is that clear as mud to everyone?

Yes. Can I clarify one thing? Yes. All right. So their light industrial use, from my understanding, does allow them to run trucks there 24 hours a day. It does. What it doesn't, the way it doesn't fit, what I was actually trying to say is Harrisburg Road is actually a secondary road. Light industrial requires it to connect to not a secondary road. It actually, in its current zoning, is incompatible with the roadway that it's serviced by. So that's really what I was saying is it's in a... It's in a condition today that it's actually not compatible with, which isn't the applicant's problem. It's the zoning's problem. We put a light industrial on a road that's a secondary that's not an arterial road or a major thoroughfare. But they can run 24-hour trucks. They can run warehousing and distribution out of there, which is what requires them to have a major arterial road or a major arterial road.

The last part of your sentence was?

Because it's light industrial, because they can do warehousing and distribution, they're required to not have a secondary road. They're required under zoning to have something bigger, which they can't do anything about. That's not on the applicant. It's just the way we zoned it in the county.

Thank you. My concern on that was the actual growth area that is adjacent to that. Right.

Keep in mind, too, that this is right on the South Carolina-North Carolina line where they hop on in Pineville and then are, what, a half mile, a mile from 77. So we'll, you know, take it into consideration.

Okay. So commissioners, we have before us item CP 2026 1016 Ridge Point charter school we have a motion and a second to deny approval of amendment to the comprehensive plan. May we please have a roll call vote?

Yes. I would just like to say that I stand corrected based on Commissioner Crandall's information.

Yes, thank you. Like I said, so if you vote for the motion, you are voting to deny it. If you vote against it, you are voting to approve it. Okay? So roll call vote, please.

Richard Crandall?

Or?

Lynette Henson.

For.

Yuki McHurton. For. Judy Anna Tinklenburg. For. Frances Liu.

For.

Michelle Richards.

For. The motion for the comprehensive plan amendment is denied at a vote of six to zero. All right, so now we have RZ 2026 1016 Bridgepoint Charter School rezoning. Staff also recommended to deny this, so I need a motion to deny the rezoning of this parcel. I'll make a motion to deny it in alignment with staff recommendations. And do I have a second? I'll second that. Any comments or questions before we move on? All right, so the same thing. We're going to have a roll call vote for RZ 2026-1016 Bridgepoint Charter School. Motion is to deny. So if you vote for it, you are denying the rezoning. If you vote against it, you are voting for the rezoning. We have a roll call vote, please.

Richard Crandall.

4.

Lynette Henson. Four. Yokima Keraton. Four. Trudyanna Tinklenburg. Four. Frances Liu. Four. Michelle Richards.

Four. Motion to deny rezoning request passes at a vote of six to zero.

I would also like to make a comment on the record that if we could get a little more representation from the Lancaster County School District on items like this, it would be super helpful.

I agree. The next item on the agenda is RZ20260977, Sistar. Chairman Richards is recusing herself from this case. Staff can begin their presentation as soon as she has left the chambers.

Good evening, commissioners. TODAY I'LL BE PRESENTING TO YOU CASE NUMBER RZ20260977. IT'S A STAR LOCATED AT 1001 LAKEFRONT DRIVE, WHICH IS JUST SOUTH OF POTTER ROAD, AS YOU SEE ON THE ILLUSTRATION UP THERE. THE APPLICANTS ARE TONY AND from rural neighborhood to agricultural residential to allow for a future subdivision and placement of a home for a family member. The current future land designation is rural. This slide here shows site photos of the main artery leading into the property and an eastbound and westbound photo of the thoroughfare, which is part of a road that actually goes along the perimeter of the property. The surrounding districts are rural neighborhood as you can see illustrated in the picture to the left. AR is an agricultural district that is compatible with most districts and you see that there's one parcel that is designated agricultural residential. It's in the vicinity. It is very close to this subject property. This application meets all of the UDO provisions and procedures detailed in Chapter 9, and the details are in your staff report for you to review, and it's titled UDO Provisions and Procedures. This slide concentrates on the future land use, which is rural, as you see in the illustration to the left. A.R. is a permissible zoning in this district and the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan objective GL 1.2 and this application and request meets all the requirements therefore staff approves of this rezoning. The applicant is here if you have any questions and I will take any questions if you have any.

Thank you, Corey.

You're welcome.

Commissioners, do you have any questions for staff? Not right now. No. Okay. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Is the applicant here? Okay. Please come to the dais and state your name and address to the microphone for the record. Lori Sestar.

1001 Lakefront Drive. Thank you. And we're the owner of that property, my husband and I, and we just request rezoning to allow our daughter a place to put a mobile home on our family land. The property's been in the family for many years, and the surrounding properties are also owned by all our family members. The family supports this request and has no objection to our daughter and her family living on the property. My husband and I are getting older and having heard my daughter and her family nearby would provide some valuable assistance and support as our needs increase. And in addition, we just found out she's going to have a baby. And so that would make it even more beneficial for our families to live close. And it's just the cost of living for her to build a house at this time is a lot more than what it would be to have a mobile home on this property. And that's kind of why we were requesting that. And we appreciate what y'all do. And we would just like to ask you to consider this. And thank you for your time.

you commissioners do you have any questions for the applicant so I want to say congratulations that's that's amazing so but my my question is so you want to carve out in the middle of the rural neighborhood and AR

Sir, can you please state your name for the record and your address?

My name is Tony Sistar. I live at 1001 Lakefront Drive in Lancaster. My daughter is—when—we got about 50 acres there my daddy bought years ago. All our family members live there. She's getting what we got when we leave here. So, it's not like we're giving somebody a piece of property and want it rezoned for just a mobile home. No. This is a home for life. Please don't deny her, her family, to live in a safe environment. We live in a safe environment, don't we? Yeah. So that's what we're asking. Give us a chance. Thank you.

Commissioners if I may add there are several mobile homes in the area so it wouldn't be like a mobile home would be out of place there because when I put out the signs for this we kind of navigated through the whole community to see what the lay of the land was like. So this wouldn't be out of place plus it's compatible with the comprehensive.

That's good to know. I appreciate you saying that because I was a little concerned about spot zoning considering that AR is not immediately adjacent.

Well, it It's not immediately adjacent, but I mean, it's in the vicinity. But with them owning so much land, it's going to be, I mean, it's only a half a mile away. With them owning so much land, I mean, maybe that's why it's sort of deceptive.

Can I read you something, and then you tell me if this is an agreement or not? OK. So upon my research, spot zoning is illegal in South Carolina. It's defined as the process of singling out a small parcel of land for the use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area, specifically to the benefit of one property only to the detriment of the others. So what I'm hearing is that the surrounding property owners are OK with this, so it wouldn't be to their detriment. Is that not a true? Understanding because if it isn't that and there is somebody that we would be changing something to their detriment Then we would be go see of spot zoning.

Well personally I just from observing The neighborhood I don't think it'll be a detriment to Any resident that is there? I mean if that were the case I the signs have been there, they would have been here complaining.

Right. Thank you.

You're welcome.

I think from the presentation, RN is what surrounds it on all sides, but within a half mile, there is another AR in there. It is. It's not substantially... Right next to it, by any means.

Okay. This is my district, and I'm very familiar with the property. It's a lot of beautiful rural area out there. I do understand the frustrations of the families that try to put you know, their family, you know, right behind them in a safe environment. I don't think there would be any kind of objection. There are definitely already existing mobile homes there. And I don't think anything would stand out of place. Like I said, it's very much the agriculture area around it.

I'm sorry, Lynette, can you repeat that last part? I didn't hear you.

The agricultural rural area around that and I say it's only 8.5 acres, but whenever they're sitting on like 50-something acres in there, I don't see any detriment to that neighborhood at all.

I have a question from a case before. I don't know if this is the same. Without rezoning, could a modular home be put on this property?

Yeah, either a modular or a manufactured home, mobile home, modular home. Yeah, sure.

So they could still give land to their daughter and put a modular home without us rezoning?

Well, it has to come out of the AR designation because modular home, manufactured home, it all falls under.

The same category?

Yeah. Because it's stick built? But pre-assembled?

Wait, I'm sorry. I need clarification.

Can we hear from the applicant?

They were three mobile homes on this property to begin with when my father bought this piece of property. They are a modular home right beside me, which

That's what we're saying a modular home is acceptable without rezoning Yes, I'm just talking about what is allowed in the zoning so the the without rezoning a modular home would be allowed without doing what, to me, still amounts to spot zoning. Because when someone looks and sees that it's done, people don't see, well, who owns this and who owns that and it's surrounded by family. This fits the description of spot zoning And that's why I struggle with it. Since there is a solution to it without rezoning is where I feel more comfortable. If there wasn't a solution, it would be harder. But I just, again, we field rezoning requests all the time. Not a lot for spot zoning. But it just makes me uncomfortable to take one tract. And once this is rezoned, How many mobile homes could be put on this? I know that the applicant is only asking for one but once it is rezoned How many mobile homes could be put on the eight acres?

In minor subdivision no a minor subdivision is limited to five Lots right one is one lot would be occupied by the existing home want to be occupied by the new mobile home So that would leave three three other homes on eight acres

That's what I'm getting. We have to look not only at what is asked for today, but what

Our decision also means. I do want to make a clarification. The reason why staff does not view this as spot zoning is because both, they're not completely different uses. RN and AR are both rural residential uses of one acre minimum lot size and are very similar. The rule about spot zoning is intended to protect neighborhoods from things like an industry or having, you know, two acres for an industrial use smack in the middle of a neighborhood. That's really what the state was looking at for that. That's why it says completely different use as opposed to just different use. Um, that's, that's where the staff reads that.

And Cory, in your report it says, um, This property is part of a neighboring wooded parcel, location photos. They intend to rezone the entire tract. To that end, a new zoning district is anticipated to be granted under the agricultural residential.

That's just because it aligns with the comprehensive plan. When you look at the information, it aligns. It's compatible.

Naturally, yeah, I don't make the ultimate decision, but I anticipated to be You know to be granted because all the lines I mean, they're not doing anything against against the rules So I'm just confused by this the entire tract Can an applicant not and so here can an applicant ask for part of their land to be rezoned or do they have to? Ask for the entire tract

Well, it would have had to have been subdivided first. But see, they're opting to do the whole eight acres and then subdivide.

The way I'm looking at it right here, as far as like on the map that shows here, and I understand the question that you're asking, and just, you know, looking at it before the meeting today, you know, you're having, it's like a straight shot back, you know, and if it were me, I mean, I would still want my backyard and then have, you know, my family member to have a little space as well, instead of just cutting it off. And then, you know, what are you going to do with the other six acres? So I understand why they asked for it because it would normally draw a red flag. I know we've had people, not necessarily when I was on the commission, but coming and listening, having almost the same exact thing being proposed but not asking for eight acres. They would ask for like 50 acres. That would draw a huge red flag and the way the land is laid out I could understand why instead of asking for two acres.

They're asking for all eight acres Commissioners do you have any other questions for the applicant herself? We now consider ourselves into public hearing. When your name is called, come up to the dais, adjust the microphone as needed. State your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address the Planning Commission, and your time will start after you've stated your name. Would Jody Honeycutt please come forward?

Good evening. I'm Jody Honeycutt. I live at 997 Lakefront Drive. My property is directly adjacent to the property in question. I will be the closest neighbor to my niece should she be able to put her home there. I'm 100% in support of this. My property is a modular home. Modular homes typically have more wood in them than a regular stick-built home and are built in a factory, but it's still the same thing. My home is very, very expensive for us to build. I'm in support of my niece having a more affordable option. I've also looked at and been inside the home that they've chosen. It is very attractive. I'm looking forward, it'll be a great addition to our neighborhood. And like my sister said, we have a new addition coming in January and we're excited to have her as our neighbor too, the baby. But I really support it as the closest neighbor and then all surrounding on the other side of me is family behind. Also, I'm going to point out that the wooded area where they were planning to put the home, behind it, you're not even going to see it from Potter Road. It is so insulated where we are and it's a very small family community. And so I'm very much in support of it and I thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Honeycutt, for your comments. Does the applicant have any other response? Thank you. Oh, okay.

Yeah, I'd just like for y'all to take into consideration, too, that this home will have a brick foundation up under. There will be porches installed on it, just like a regular home. This is just not a trailer facility. We also be taken out from under it and stuff.

It will be a home Thank you, sir That concludes all of the citizens signed up to speak we now consider ourselves out of public hearing Commissioners you have before you are Z 2026. Oh nine seven seven sister. Do I hear a motion? I'll make a motion to approve

Second thank you Any discussion or comments I Just want to say that I am concerned when we make decisions based on family It's really hard when you hear a story Or situation like this with someone who has a daughter and a grandchild on the way but I'm just I'm very concerned about setting precedence and based on family.

Thank you.

OK. So that concludes our discussion. So we have a motion to approve and a second. Can I have a roll call vote, please? Richard Crandall.

4.

Lynette Henson. 4. Yuki McHurton. For. Frances Liu.

Against.

Judy Anna Tinklenburg. For.

Okay, so that passes with a vote of four to one in one recusal.

Yes, please.

This item will now be sent to County Council for final consideration. And this concludes public hearing items and recommendations to council. We'll take a short recess for Ms. Richards to return. Thank y'all. Nice.

Congratulations. Congratulations.

Public hearing items for recommendation for council. I forgot to specifically state it, but TA 2026, 1137, the road acceptance, UDO text amendment, CP 26, and RZ 26, 1016 for the Bridgepoint Charter School and RZ 2026, 09, 77, Sistar, all of those will be sent up to council for final decision. Have to get all this legal stuff in there. So, um, yep. That brings us now we are into public hearing items for recommendations to the Heath Springs Town Council. First item on the agenda is RZ2026-0982 Garcia.

Oops. Good evening again planning commissioners, members of the planning commission.

All right, here we go.

So this property is located off of Rowland Avenue in Heath Springs. The intent is to construct a house on the property. It's currently zoned industrial and the proposed zoning is R15, which is one of Heath Springs residential zoning districts. There are two photos of the subject parcel off of Rowland Avenue, currently sits undeveloped. And on this slide, the left-hand side of the screen is a zoning map of the subject parcel, which is outlined in red at the bottom of the map. The turquoise, this dark green color is the industrial zoning district. And then the proposed R15 zoning district is that bright lime green, which is about 185 feet away from the subject property. Since this is in the town of Heath Springs, our future land use categories do not apply to this matter, and that falls under the standards of the Heath Springs UDOM. So at this time, staff recommends approval of this rezoning proposal, and as Commissioner Richards said before, this does go to Heath Springs Town Council for final approval.

Yes. Do we have any questions for Matthew? Is the applicant here? I don't think so. I think everybody's gone home. All right. So anyone have any questions? All right. Thank you, sir. So the questions will now consider ourselves into public hearing. No one has signed up to speak. So we will consider ourselves out of public hearing. So commissioners, we have before us item number RZ20260982, rezoning for a parcel in Heath Springs. Do I have a motion of approval for item number RZ20260982? Motion to approve. Have a second? Second. All right. This one's quick and easy. So those in favor of the motion to approve, show of hands. Vote passes six to zero. So item number RZ20260982, Garcia Resoning, will be sent up to the Heath Springs Town Council for final approval. Next item on the agenda is our non-hearing items. First item is RNR 2025-1373. N-R-N. I'm sorry, whoa. We're all getting a little tired, aren't we? It's because I was watching MASH last night.

I was watching this afternoon.

The original TV show?

Yeah. Commissioners, you should have for this an amended staff report. For some reason, the first two paragraphs didn't save when I edited them, so I don't know. So anyway, here we are. This is a request by Eric Hines to name a private driveway off of South Potter Road. There's a map there before you showing the parcels. Mr. Heinz owns the two front parcels. He just had it subdivided. He cannot pull a building permit until the private driveway is named since he will be taking access off that private drive. Staff has reviewed the requested name against county records and has noted that the first choice, Compound Way, is sufficiently different from existing names to avoid confusion. You'll see a map of the—in your staff report, there is a diagram detail of the minor subdivision plat that Mr. Heinz submitted, and there's also a photograph here of the driveway. This is the existing driveway, so it's already paved for a length of it and then also graveled. They just have to do a turnaround where they're going to build a house. So e911 addressing has reviewed the name has found no conflicts and the application meets the requirements pursuant to the unified development ordinance staff recommends approval you should also have in your packet the Udo references for procedures for naming a new road and I also included the naming conventions for the different road lengths and

I'm confused, but at least I'm comfortable in that state. On page 244 of 298, I might be totally missing something. It says, staff has reviewed the requested name against county records and has noted the first choice, Quiet Rail Court.

I have an amended staff report that you were given.

It should have been in your side package. Side package. All right.

That's why I amended it is because that paragraph, when I edited it, didn't save.

Oh, that's OK. I just did not find that in all my papers here. Yes. Thank you. Never mind.

All right. You are not. That's why we have. That's why we.

What happened is out of curiosity, was this a different project, Quiet Rail Court?

Because we reuse our staff reports. We take a previous report and we edit it. For the new information.

In the past, there's been something named Quiet Rail Court. Yes. My question was going to be, I just think, thought, I know that EMS and everything weighs in on this. I just thought Quiet Rail Court, for when you have an emergency, was just not a very easy name to be understood. So that's fine. I understand about that.

That was over a year ago, though.

No worries. I'm sorry. I missed the thing. Thank you. Do we have any other questions for staff about this railway naming?

No. All right. Well, then, commissioners, we have before us item number NRN 2025, 1373 Compound Way. Do I have a motion to accept this road name? I'll make a motion to approve. Second. Second. Show of hands in favor to approve. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you, ma'am. Are you doing the next one? Okay, so next item on the agenda is NRN 2025-0309 Knox-Bailey Lane.

Okay, you have before you. The application by Carson Brandy Baker for a group of parcels he just had subdivided. You'll see them outlined in blue. The access that was plotted for it is shown in red on the map. No building permits can be issued until the road is named. The proposed name of the private drive is Knox Bailey Lane. This is a view of the current gravel driveway that begins to access the property. It will have to be extended, resurfaced, and a terminus at the end, a turnaround for emergency vehicles will have to be done at the end of it. E911 addressing has reviewed the name and has found no conflicts with existing names of public and private roads and driveways in the system. Application meets the requirements pursuant to the Unified Development Ordinance and staff recommends approval.

Commissioners, do we have any questions? All right, so we have before us item number NRN20250309 Knox Bailey Lane. Do I have a motion to approve this roadway name? So moved. Second. I have a second. Show of hands to approve. Motion passes 6-2-0. Next item on the agenda. NRN 2026, 1086, new road names, June group.

And Commissioner Richards, I will have new road name certificates for the two previous private driveways. So we can have those at the end. For new road name, application 2026-1086, this comes to us from Sandra Burton at E911 Addressing. These are names submitted via civil plans and preliminary plats, so the application process is a little different. Let me get the right. We have two groups. We do these by group since the application is done by the submission of civil plans or preliminary plats rather than an application by an individual. And these are the road names that have been submitted. The Pinery East is part of Edgewater. That preliminary plat was originally intended to come to you this month, but has been postponed for July or August But because we already had this on the agenda There's no reason to postpone this so and the other is the point which is located in Indian land Both these groups have been vetted by Sandra to make sure that there's no Conflicts with names in the current database. She's found no conflicts and staff recommends approval.

I

I'm sure you have any questions for staff.

How do you pronounce that one, the last? Presque Isle? I don't, yeah.

Presque Isle, it's from the Toledo, Detroit area too. That's why it jumped out at me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry for stepping on your toes, but I saw someone from the North Midwest needs to answer that. Thank you.

All right. Commissioners, we have before us item number NRN 2026, 1086, new rate names, June group. Do I have a motion to approve this group of road names? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Show of hands in favor. Motion passes six to zero. Thank you, ma'am. All right, next item on our agenda is comprehensive plan update.

I believe you guys received an attachment that planning department put together for you. We can thank Jennifer for that. I believe the updates were in blue. Previous updates were in yellow, and it's attached if you review it. Of course, if you have any questions, we're happy to answer those.

I see a lot of yellow and not much blue.

Yeah, you got a little bit of blue in your Lancaster County ones.

Did you pick yellow and blue because you're supporting the Lancaster Bruins, the Lancaster High School Bruins? Sorry.

You know, I was a yellow jacket, so that's hard to say. I was a yellow jacket, Chairperson Richards. I don't know about the Bruins, but I don't know. Jennifer, are you a particular LHS fan?

Blue and gold were also my high school colors, but a high school in New Jersey, so it really wasn't anything to do with that. It was just the next color that came up. There you go. So the yellow was Allison's report from last year, and when I made the addendums to it, I just chose a different color. Okay.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head for that one. Yeah, you've got a handful in Lancaster County. There's a couple in the Panhandle area, and you've got a couple in Greater Lancaster.

Yellow is what were changes to last year's report, and then if you see the blue below it, that's for this year's update, correct?

Yes. Okay, thank you. So yeah, you've got a handful in Lancaster County.

I don't recommend that we sit here and all read this and ask questions. Why don't we all take it home and read it? And if we have any questions, we can do it in others at the next meeting.

Are you suggesting we should sit down?

You can read it however you choose. Why don't we just add it as a line item at the next one?

As other for next meeting. It's time to study it.

Because I don't think we want to, I mean, y'all don't want to sit here while we go through all this, right?

Well, you said it.

I mean. Not me. Yeah.

If it will help you, I actually typed up a one-pager for myself. I'm happy to, if you'll hold for one moment, I'm happy to shoot a copy if you'd like that.

Thank you.

Not a problem at all. If you'll give me $10. If you'll give me $5. Absolutely. I know.

Nice. Why are you

by Kirsten's making those copies for you. I just wanted to, um, so on the comp plan update, I know that we just stopped. We just updated that and got it adopted. And I know that Alison Harding promised a yearly update, not, you know, typically we don't do those updates, but for every five years. Um, but when you guys asked me, we went and found and Jennifer, um, was able to help me put piece all these things together that she had because although you know staffing change and that type things and we do have you know emails and stuff but a lot of times if we don't have shared files that are shared or some sort but Jennifer put this together not sure how that'll go next year what the next planning director may or may not do I just wanted to you give this to you so that you'll have it. And also let everyone know that Friday, Jennifer will be leaving and moving to our economic and development department.

Congratulations. I know, I know.

You can vote against it. Congratulations. Congratulations. She's going to be definitely, definitely. I've worked with her, even though I'm in the zoning department. We weren't played in a zone in the same department, but Jennifer has always been a great resource to myself and to everyone else. And, um, she's been a constant. So, um, it's going to be really hard to, um, But she's just a phone call, and I know where she works, so I'll just drive over there. And economic and development. She's still with the county, so we're still very fortunate that she's there. But I just wanted you guys to know that and to go on record to saying what a fabulous person she is and a great worker she is.

I have to ask the important question. Did you tell my dad that when he was here tonight? No, I did not.

Oh. I did. I did. Okay. She did. I mean, you know. Well, their gain is, I just wanted to say their gain is definitely our loss.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you for all your help.

Any idea about planning anything for next month's meeting? Do you know any big things coming up next month to decide whether or not we need to have a workshop?

Well, you didn't schedule for next month because it's July 4th, so you naturally didn't have one. I'm happy if you'd like to host one. Of course, we're happy to schedule it. I won't be here that week, so you would be putting it on.

I wanna understand about impact study fees and where we are with that process.

Yeah, sure. So we did have the kickoff meeting with Tischler Vice to kind of establish the county team for that. We are in the process of potentially scheduling maybe for a workshop or a planning commission meeting to have Tischler Vice come in and maybe go over their methodology, like what they'll be looking at, how they'll be conducting that. But we're trying to look at that as like a joint effort maybe with council, but we have a couple of things we need to work out. But the kickoff meeting was had.

I'm new to all of this, and I don't expect an exact figure. I don't even expect a kind of fuzzy figure, but fuzzy, fuzzy. How long does it usually take a company to digest everything that they have to and come up with a number?

That's a great question. I wish I could answer it for you. I do too. And I don't have a direct answer for you. What he did provide, because our kickoff meeting was with Carson Bice of Tischler Bice. Okay. So what he did provide to us is that his expectation was that it wouldn't take as long because the last impact fee study was conducted in 2021. And so they have access to a lot of the information already. And so rather than it coming out of brand new and having to look at everything brand new, they kind of get to use what's already there and make assessments based on that. And that a part of their data collection is actually already available to them from the website. So they're not actually waiting on us to produce documents. And so he was positive that it would, that would help with the process.

okay as long is fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy they gave no indication of how long this project that they've been tasked with could take I mean I'm assuming they're experts at this and have lots of timelines to look back on?

It's not a question that came up. We were looking at methodology and how to make sure that that's clearly communicated so we know what to expect when they're done. And I think that speaks to part of the reason why we were looking for that maybe joint sort of Explanation or meeting with with Council and Planning Commission. We are looking to to kind of navigate that I think there are a couple of complexities We have to look at and doing that so that has not been confirmed at this moment But that would likely be one of the things he would cover at that at that meeting Okay, you're not gonna like this and I don't mean to be disrespectful But the moratorium the first nine months sure is ending in August

and then the three-month extension is November. I just, I can't believe that, I mean, I believe that he didn't say, we are looking at getting these results back to you in time for the first deadline of the moratorium or the second. I mean, that's what we're staring in the face, that we have to have this information.

We don't need that for the new UDO. The UDO can be written to accommodate

future impact oh no no i mean if they don't have the impact feedback to us by the time the moratorium ends august we connect they can extend it three months but if they don't have it by november that's why i'm trying to get an idea does i mean i'm totally out of my element to do these things take three months six months nine months two years yeah Is there any way we can find out sooner than whenever we might get together how long they would project this is going to take? They know exactly what they have to do. You said they have some of the information. I'm just kind of gobsmacked that one of the things that was not covered is we will have this to you before the second moratorium deadline comes up. Because if the deadline is November, I don't know when they actually would have to have it to act on it by November. You don't have to act on the impact fees by the end of the moratorium.

They're not related.

I think what you're driving at is that you would like the impact fees to be in place for the UDO rewrite so that when the moratorium lifts, that those impact fees are in place so that those that begin applying are held to those impact fees. So I think I understand what you're driving at. However, I don't have an answer from him because it was not guidance he provided. What I am happy to do is touch base and shoot an email with Shannon and the Deputy County Administrator to Tischler-Bice and see if he has a general understanding of his timeline. Of course, at this point, data collection has not started. So I do want to make, I do want to offer that to you, but happy to follow up with Carson and see if he can give maybe a general timeline of what, and what he's assessed to this point without starting data collection, what he expects his timeline to be.

Is there a period of performance in the statement of work from them? Like do they have an actual here's a start and end date in the statement of work that they submitted?

So we were just, we actually had a meeting with them the other week because of the contract being that we've had a lot of different staffing change so who was head in that project so the contract has just recently been awarded to them and one of the reasons why I wanted them to meet with both Planning Commission and County Council is so that they have a clear understanding of what they need to do and what we're supposed to do and so I know I don't know if it's a 12-month contract but we can get whatever the contract says but I know The utmost of importance is having a meeting with, whether it be together, separate or whatnot, so that they know what they're tasked to do and then staff is understanding what we're to provide to them. Because we were, a lot of us were not in when it was decided that we would get a consultant.

And again, I'm sorry, I feel uncomfortable even asking this because I don't mean to be rude, but I know the contract started in March and runs for a year until next March. And this is mid-June and no data collection has started? So there are extensions allowed in that original contract. So you are correct. We don't want an extension. We want this done by November, and we're talking about a contract. I think that, I don't know if what Commissioner Crandall was asking is, is there a deadline of when we expect them to produce something?

I was just asking if there's anything in the statement of work that they actually signed. It sounds like it's a year, I think is what I just heard you say.

Yes, it started March of 26 and ends March of 27.

But that's not necessarily their delivery schedule. I was just curious.

Right, right. I'm just concerned that if there's no number when the moratorium comes off and people come in to build, how do we know, how do they know what they're going to be looking at if they have a thousand home subdivision are they looking at a million dollars or are they looking at a hundred million dollars and i'm i'm just concerned said this is so far out of my wheelhouse i'm not trying to tell anybody how to do this looking at any contractor any business i just was so alarmed that it was awarded in march And we're still talking about a workshop of chit-chatting with the Planning Commission. I feel an urgency that I just may be totally unfounded.

Whatever the study is and whatever we decide, that impact fee will have to have a new ordinance. So the ordinance that was originally approved in 2021, the impact fees, there were so many of those that were exempt from those fees. So that is why the new study is going to be done and use that collection to of additional collection, but they will have to, we will have to do a new ordinance in order to collect things. So if the moratorium's lifted and we don't have that ordinance in place, those people will be, just like with everyone, they'll be exempt from any impact. Absolutely. We haven't established it yet.

I think... I'm sorry. I think that's the concern is, you know, we're tasked with this and it seems like there's a lack of urgency of getting it to where we actually can hold the developers responsible for those impact fees. And then also while we're writing the UDL, we're pushing that through, you know, we keep several of us keep bringing up concurrency, which has also not been implemented yet. So when you don't have impact fees and we don't have concurrency, we're really not holding the developer accountable at all. So I think that Commissioner Liu's frustration is the lack of urgency when we see great need because people stand before us talking about the lack of infrastructure. And this is our way to hold the developer accountable. And it seems that we're just spending wills Okay, thank you.

I mean, staff wants that urgency as well because when we're, those many hours that we're away, I mean, with the consultant, then we're away from actually doing the other things. We want them and we want to lead them on the right path so we don't have to come back and regroup and if, you know, staff changes, Someone should just be able to walk in and march forward and not have to recreate the wheel. So we're committed to doing that and move forward with that.

So I have a quick question then. You mentioned that there would need to be a new ordinance in conjunction with the impact fees once that's approved. So is somebody working on that ordinance at the same time where they're collecting data? Or does that happen after we get the data and then they start writing that? Or can we save time and efficiency by spearheading that simultaneously?

We have the prior ordinances that were done for impact fees as a template. It's not difficult to write the ordinance for it. That's good news. As the existing institutional memory, I do want to say one thing. We have several ways to hold developers accountable in the interim between UDO and impact fees. What we did five years ago was, if Council did not exempt them, we wrote it into development agreement we came to a separate agreement as to fees they would pay or we can also write in a little more complex way we can write the development agreement so that they pay this to start with and if impact fees are implemented it will be adjusted over a period of years until they meet the impact fees. So there's several ways to address it. We used all of those tools, all of those options five years ago when we went through this. We have options. There are ways to get the money on the table when we're dealing with developers.

Thank you for explaining that. It does make me feel better because I'm picturing November. We all know that every developer has his eye on the calendar right now. And if they see where we are. They're smelling blood in the water that November 10th or whatever it is that you're going to have to pass out tickets to online for everyone to get their project on the books. And that's where, what scares me so much. I appreciate that information.

So we do have tools and they have been implemented fairly recently. And we have, we have our, you know, template of what we did five years ago to assist us. And, So that project took about a year to produce their reports and then another few months to get the ordinance passed. If we already have data from five years ago as a base, I'm assuming it's gonna take less than a year, but you never wanna assume. We all know what that means.

I'm just stunned and I don't know if, I leave this to you, Madam Chair. Do we want to ask if they can give us any idea of how long it will take them?

Well, I just, cause I've, I've been through processes like this before. It's once they have a clear scope of work and what they're going to do, they'll be able to give us a timeline. So I'm probably probably the next meeting or next big meeting. So it will be sooner than later. We'll have a timeline. So I think they're still in the defining their scope of work, defining who needs to provide what and everything like that. And so they'll give us a timeline. So I know I'm like you, I'm like, I wanna get this done. But also as Jennifer said, The last two development agreements that went through here had language in them.

Yeah, we already have started doing that. Correct. With development agreements to make room for future impact fees. Yes.

So that it doesn't come in cold. You can imagine the fight that's going to be in these negotiations. What is the impact fee now, about $11,000?

It varies depending on the region.

100 to 10K, we're among friends. And hoping to get something like Fort Mill or York County, $32,000. I mean, that's a lot to write into a development agreement that right now it's 10K, but if this gets passed, we're going to come after you for 32.

And something to keep in mind is one of the reasons we were asking for impact fees for the rest of the county was because we can institute it even if we do it at a low rate. Once it's in place, then we can make adjustments as time goes on. So we don't necessarily have to ask for the whole world on day one. We wanted the framework in place so that it can grow as growth happens in the southern part of the county. I did want to talk about next month's agenda you had mentioned. What we currently are showing, and the application deadline has passed, so we shouldn't have anything else unless an emergency comes up. We have two new road name applications, both for private, well, one's private driveway and one's a group from civil plans. We have conditional use for a used car lot, and we have, what's the other one? I had it all lined up in my head and then I started talking. We have one other.

Welcome to my world.

It's not, I don't think it's a rezoning. It is a rezoning. Okay, yeah. No, it's a preliminary plat.

It's one of the, yeah. We don't have any rezonings next month.

It's a preliminary plat. So we have one preliminary plat, one conditional use, and two new road names. Okay. She insists that it's a rezoning. I'm going to go with her because I'm not going to be here.

Nice. Yes.

Okay. What area of the county is it in?

The rezoning?

It's on the north end. Okay.

It's where? On the north end in the panhandle.

Sorry, I have to... Jennifer's a little bit taller than I am apparently. I need to... Yeah, it's in the panhandle.

All right. All right, so make sure, just wanted to hear in the record that under other for next month's agenda, we'll have a line item that if any of us have any questions about the comprehensive plan update, that we can voice them then. And so that should be it. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Oops, I'm sorry, yes.

I know this is, I'm sorry, staff, but since, well, I guess we are going to, are we going to have a workshop?

We never have a July workshop because it always falls the week of 4th of July. So we never have one on the agenda.

We do not have a workshop. I need to have this. sent to me, delivered to me. I cannot do the job that I'm supposed to do as a commissioner and do my homework just on my laptop. I don't have a tablet or whatever. So it means if I'm going to study everything I should study, I am locked at my laptop. I don't have a printer. And even if I did, I wouldn't print out 300 pages. So for me to do the job that I should be doing and studying and marking up and it's hell to get the highlighter off my computer screen. I need to have a printed packet. Thank you, Commissioner Cronin. They used to say, you know, a blonde has used your computer because there's white out on the screen. I'm so sorry. And but what can we do? I know sometimes the supposedly, not supposedly, I've heard that once a week Andy comes out our way. Is there any way or how can we get this imprinted?

We make them available. We can print it out for you if you want to pick it up. We used to send them. The Postal Service does not deliver in less than a week now. So there is not much point once we publish it. It would take more than a week to get, we had one for Judy Anna, we sent it to Judy Anna and it showed, it came back to us a month later. Had never been, it was addressed correctly and they just never delivered it. So.

Perhaps Commissioners Crandall, Tinklenburg and I can take turns picking up three sets and distributing them in the panhandle. I just don't want to do a 40 mile round trip to pick up But I wanna do a good job, I wanna study it.

We can work on that, yeah. Okay, anything else? Motion to adjourn? Make a motion. Second? Second. All in favor? Meeting adjourned.