Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. At 6 p.m., I'd like to call the meeting to order. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Town of Leland Planning Board meeting. Please note that the public may videotape these proceedings at any time. At this time, I'd like to remind everyone to please place their cell phones on vibrate or turn them off so we do not disturb the business of tonight's meeting. First item of business, everybody would stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. 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 Bless you Item number three of the approval of agenda does anyone have any amendments to the agenda mr. Whitney I No, not the agenda. Not the agenda, okay. May I have a motion to approve the agenda as stated? So moved. Do I have a second?

Second.

Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Agenda's carried. Number four, approval of minutes. Does anyone have any amendments to the minutes?

I have one comment on the meeting minutes of June 3rd. I was not attending the meeting. I was out of town. So I would move that the minutes be approved as amended.

I have a motion. Do I have a second for that?

Second.

Any discussion? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Minutes are approved. Item number five, public comment. At this time, do we have anyone who signed up? Okay, then we can go from there. Yeah, anyone is signed up to speak during the public comment prior to the start of the meeting may come forward. After all the speakers who have signed up or finished, anyone who did not sign up but wishes to provide public comment will have an opportunity to speak. We've had no one sign up at this point in time. Is there anybody else who has wishes to speak at this time? All right, seeing none. At that point, I think we can move on to the presentation, item number six, quarterly update for the Leland 2045 comprehensive plan. Ms. Thurston will now present the update.

Thank you, Chairman, members of the Planning Board. I appreciate the opportunity to update you on the Leland 2045 plan. As you know, we do these updates quarterly to keep you abreast of the progress that we're making towards implementation of this plan. These updates will help connect back the work that staff is doing to the Leland 2045 plan and show you what themes we're advancing through the organization. So there are six main themes that make up the comprehensive plan. I'll go over those briefly because most of you have seen these before. We tie these back, we tie each action item back to one of these themes. But you'll note that many of the action items support more than one theme at the same time. And so as we go through these updates to look at what was done and how that fits into the town's broader goals, we'll tie them back to the predominant theme and any related themes that are applicable. So first we have the Westgate area mobility and safety improvements. You'll recall from the last quarterly update that we put in the teardrop roundabout and finished some pedestrian improvements in that area. This update is referring to some sidewalk improvements on the north side of Westgate that improves three high visibility crosswalks. ADA compliant curb ramps, updated pavement markings, and just general pedestrian improvements there. This connects back to Leland 2045 by improving pedestrian safety, multimodal access, traffic flow, and infrastructure reliability in one of the town's busiest commercial areas. The next item that we have is the extension of Founders Drive from Settlers Village to Woodland Drive. This fills in a gap in the local street network, improving connectivity between neighborhoods, and providing additional access from that neighborhood. This ties back to the Leland 2045 emphasis on connected development, multimodal access, you'll see the sidewalks that were installed as part of this improvement, and generally resilient infrastructure. Not as much fun as, well, Founders Park is way more fun than Founders Drive extension, if you haven't been out there. Founders Park serves as a central place for recreation, events, and community gathering. The amphitheater has so far supported several concerts and public programs, and the splash pad has already proven to be an extremely popular family-friendly amenity. Leland 2045 is about quality of life, investing in public spaces that support recreation, health, and community life. Back in June, Town Council authorized the design build of a boardwalk and dock by Intercoastal Marine. Sturgeon Creek Park is planned as Leland's second public water access, with Cypress Cove Park being the first. And this supports the Leland 2045 goal of providing water access to natural resources, promoting outdoor recreation, and continuing long-term investment in parks and open space. I hope you were here along with about 3,000 other people for the Leland and Bloom Festival on May 16th. There were several food trucks, art vendors, farmers, environmental stewardship organizations, and live music. This event supports local economy by giving visibility to local businesses and organizations. And it shows how long-term planning goals translate into real community experiences. So this is what I was talking about, how each of the action items for this quarterly update has a primary theme with the big circle. And then you'll see the supporting circles on the bottom showing other themes that it relates to, maybe not quite as directly. So you'll see the infrastructure projects also support safety and connectivity. Park and water access supports livability and infrastructure that supports community life. Leland and Bloom supports local activity, placemaking, and community identity. And this just demonstrates how Leland 2045 is an integrated framework for connecting town projects, partnerships, and public investments to long-term goals. These updates are intended to show progress over time and reinforce the comprehensive plan as an active implementation document. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about any of these items or the Leland 2045 plan in general.

Does anyone have any questions?

I have a couple of comments to make. I journeyed over to the concert two weeks ago. And it was a wonderful experience for a lot of folks that were there. I think I did miss the grand opening, but I heard that was also a big hit. And I think that you might be able to get one of those yellow-green dots up there under the Founders Park, because I think it's gonna become a headliner place for other communities. to come to Leland and to participate in those concerts that were there. I believe there's one tomorrow night. And the only thing that I've heard is that the parking is somewhat of an issue. It's too popular. It's like Yogi would say, nobody goes there. anymore because it's so popular. But I think that I'm sure the town is looking at certain options to deal with the parking concerns. I understand there is some kind of a shuttle, I think, that there's coming from the high school here. And I think there needs to be... maybe some better communication in the town information to let people know that there are other options available for parking and to make it a community-wide event. So I applaud the town for its work on the Founders Park, and I think it's a great amenity for the entire community.

Thank you, and certainly I agree that it's going to, it's already a regional draw and it will hopefully continue that way. Your point about the parking, thank you for that too. There is parking available at the high school and a shuttle to run people back and forth. And our communications team does a really good job explaining that on Instagram and other social media outlets like Facebook. So I guess they say like and subscribe or whatever. to stay up to date on what's going on and how best to get there.

Thank you. I'll be there tomorrow night early.

Excellent. Are there any other questions or comments?

Not seeing any, I will have to say I think this is an excellent update and there is a lot of progress.

And it's really good to see. Thank you very much. Thank you. I think we have another, we have an introduction.

Good afternoon, everybody. I just wanted to introduce our next speaker, Drew Demela, since this will be his first time presenting before you all. He's been with the town for a couple months now, but he's originally from North Salem, New York. He got his undergraduate in sports management from Sunny Cortland, and later he earned his Juris Doctor, his JD, from Elizabeth Hobb School of Law. He moved down to North Carolina and initially started working with the town of Oak Island doing some code enforcement and slowly before leaving there kind of transitioned over to more planning activities before he joined us as a planner one. Currently he does anything from commercial development review, subdivision reviews, permitting, and helping out with a lot of other processes like annexations and things like that. We're very happy to have Drew. He's been a great team member from the start, and we're really excited to have him grow with us with the town. So without further ado.

Thank you for the introduction. Good evening. My name is Drew DeMella, and I'm here to present the zoning map amendment for Brunswick County Tax Partial ID shown on the screen.

Excuse me one second, Drew. Does anyone have any conflicts of interest or disclosure statements to make on this item?

No.

Okay. Seeing none, then we're ready to proceed. And this is a rezoning request to amend the U.S. Highway 17 overlay district. Go right ahead.

This slide addresses some of the points of consideration in their alignment with the North Carolina general statute. In summary, the planning board will be evaluating whether the proposed zoning map amendment aligns with and advances the goals and vision in the adopted plan, as well as whether the proposed zoning map amendment is appropriate for the area. This table shows the public notification schedule. Although there is no statutory requirement for planning board notification, town goes above and beyond by providing notice through several different channels. To provide you with some background of the rezoning application, it was submitted by Branch Columbia Leland Associates. The subject parcel is currently classified as a shopping center located on 16.79 acres. The following slides will include maps to help orient yourselves on where the property is located. This vicinity map shows where the site is in relation to the area. For reference, it is across the street from the villages at Brunswick Forest, as well as the Brunswick Forest neighborhood. This aerial map shows the developed land of the subject site, Leland Village, formerly known as Savannah Branch, and the surrounding areas. This map shows the existing zoning district. The site is currently within a commercially zoned district and that underlying designation will remain unchanged with the adoption of the overlay. The C2 zoning across the corridor, also a commercial district, further reflects the area's existing commercial character. This next map shows the U.S. Highway 17 overlay district as a whole. For those unfamiliar, an overlay district is an additional layer of zoning that establishes supplemental regulations within a specific area. In this case, the overlay provides corridor-oriented standards for businesses along Highway 17. This map shows a more magnified view of the U.S. Highway 17 district in relation to the site. And this final map illustrates how the U.S. Highway 17 overlay district would appear with the subject site incorporated into the district. I included this comparison table to highlight allowable signage under the site's current zoning and the proposed U.S. Highway 17 overlay district. The primary differences highlighted in bold is that the overlay district does not limit the total number of wall signs, provided that they meet the applicable dimensional requirements, which I will discuss next. This table compares the maximum allowable sign area under the site's current C1 zoning versus the U.S. Highway 17 Overlay District. The key differences are highlighted in bold. There are two notable differences. First, the Overlay District allows significantly more sign area for ground signs within combined development. Second, wall signage is calculated differently. Under C1, wall signage is limited to 55 square feet, whereas under the Overlay District, the allowable sign area is tied to the size of the building. As a result, a larger sign can accommodate more total wall signage. I'll provide a brief example on how signage is calculated within the US Highway 17 Overlay District using this example shown on the screen. First, you'll need to calculate the linear feet of the building perimeter. In this instance, it is 400 linear feet. Next, it will be 75% of that, which equates to 300 square feet. That is a total allowable signage on the building. Now you are capped off at 10% of the wall, of a singular wall. So with this calculation, that is roughly 200 square feet. So you are permitted to have 200 square feet on one wall. Whereas if this same building was in the C1 zoning district, you'd only be permitted to have 55 square feet. This last table compares the maximum sign heights allowed in each zoning district. The key differences highlighted in bold apply to ground signs. Individual business signs can be two feet taller in the overlay district while the combined development signs can reach 28 feet compared to just eight feet in the C1 zoning district. Transitioning into our consistency with the town adopted plans, the proposed rezoning aligns with the Leland 2045's vision for a livable, diverse, and connected neighborhood that accommodates growth, as the overlay district would provide a greater flexibility for development and signage along the major commercial corridor. The applicant had a presentation prepared, but is unable to present this evening due to an illness. Okay.

If I could interrupt you for a second, I failed to mention exactly how this procedure goes. This is a public hearing. So we've heard now from staff, and you mentioned that the applicant is not here at the moment. No, sir. So we then would hear comments from any members of the public that have signed up to speak, first from anyone in support of the proposal, then from anyone in opposition to the proposal. And public comment is limited to three minutes per person. After all public comment, staff will complete the presentation immediately. and the board will deliberate. So therefore, if there is no applicant presentation at this time, anyone who has signed up prior to the start of this meeting to speak directly about the action today may come up and speak. And after all registered speakers have finished, anyone did not sign up but wishes to provide comment will have an opportunity to speak. Do we have anyone signed up?

No, sir.

We don't. Is there anyone out in the audience that even though they didn't sign up, wishes to say something? All right. Seeing none. That's in support or in opposition. Okay then, I guess we're probably ready for deliberation.

Yes, so staff recommends approval and suggests a motion to recommend council approve the zoning map amendment presented. So in front of you are four potential determinations regarding the rezoning request. Thank you for your time.

So before we go into questions, everyone here has received a document which shows you all the options we have available to us. In case you have any questions, please refer to that. And so at this point in time via our deliberation, does anyone have any comments or questions they'd like to make?

I have a question about the height. So if I'm understanding this correctly, that a ground sign can be as high as 28 feet?

Yeah, in combined development, and that is to emphasize the ability to see the sign as they are driving on a commercial road.

I was just trying to visualize 28 feet versus eight feet, which is interesting. And I guess I'm asking this for a purely selfish reason, because the entrance to this new development is directly across the street from where I live. And it's really interesting to be able to drive out and have one visual, and then when the signs go up, you drive out and you have another visual. So we will not have any control over how high the sign will be.

We do not have any control other than the fact that there is a cap of 28 feet in that zoning district.

Okay.

Okay. It's still limited in total area so that if it may be 828 feet high, but it can't go away the ground, right? There's a formula that says that it has to be what 200 square feet or or some maybe I'm wrong in the number but 210 210.

Yeah, so you are capped at 210 square feet of the sign itself. That is just the height that can go up to 28 feet if it's

That proportion?

Yes, sir. Whatever is proportionally able to fit in that 210 square footage.

Did I miss it on how many ground signs they may have? One per frontage.

That is the same delineation from C1 to US Highway 17 overlay district. That is not changing regarding this determination.

That's one sign per each. If they are broken up into multiple shops, for example, each one can have one sign.

That is for individual businesses, yes, sir.

Right. But something like, let's say in the case of Publix, which is a much bigger business, they still are limited by the same formulas.

Yes, sir.

As the other one, but only one per... Business.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Would that then a sign on Publix be considered a wall sign?

Do you mind repeating that? I apologize.

Would that, would that, what Mr. Whitney was just talking about, would that be considered a wall sign like where it says Lowe's or Publix on there? Would that be considered a wall sign?

Wall signs are only if they are affixed to the building itself.

Correct. As I understand it, though, there's no maximum, if that's correct, on this one. Wall signs under C1 is one per building frontage. Now it's no maximum. Is that correct?

That is correct. However, based off of this calculation, that is the determination for the amount that can be placed. There's no cumulative number that can be placed. However, there's a square foot maximum that can be placed.

Could you go back to showing us the area that is being included in this? Okay, the site. So there really would be, what would be considered frontage? Just 17?

Yes, sir. Okay.

How about the road coming up on the, was it King's Way or King's Bridge or whatever it's called? Yeah.

On the left side or the right side of the site? Yeah, I believe it's Leland Village Road.

Yeah, well, the extension of Brunswick Forest. I think it's King something or other. King's Bridge or? It's probably King's Bridge. So as that road comes up past the site, that's considered frontage?

On the picture we're looking at now, I think Mr. Whitney is requesting, is it not just the 17, but would it also include the blue line on the right-hand side, which would be the access into this area? Is that a frontage?

So it could be considered frontage. It all depends how the layout of the building and everything else is on there. Now, mind you, that Kingsbridge, it's no longer that name, but it's only known as Kingsbridge. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. That is not included as part of this U.S. Highway overlay district request. So that would not be able to essentially do an 8-foot or 28-foot sign in regards to that. So... Going back to a question regarding individual business can have a ground sign versus a 28-foot combined development sign. If you're on a combined development sign, then you are not able to have a individual sign itself. So you either have one or the other. And then each parcel can only have one ground sign in regards to that. So let's say Publix chose to have its own ground sign on that parcel. no other business would be able to have that. So typically they work together in terms of saying, Hey, let's all have a combined development sign to have that. So it won't have a plethora of individuals, Brown signs plus a large 28 foot high sign.

Does the town get to have ability to suggest or demand where a 28 foot ground sign would be located?

That is completely up to the discretion of the applicant. As long as it is out of the designated site triangle.

Other questions?

Understanding that this is a zoning request and we're not supposed to talk specifics, but to use an example, this would be similar to, I think if you go back to So when we're talking about the area of Lowe's Home Improvement, that's something that's come in front of us recently. We would be talking similar to where Chick-fil-A has a sign on their building but doesn't have signage in the same sign where Lowe's Home Improvement does, that meets that example, right? If they have a sign on the building, it's not necessarily going to be on the larger sign.

Mm-hmm.

If... So in that specific example, everyone is going to be allowed to have wall signs, any business, all right? That's taken by its tenant space, all right? So Chick-fil-A does have a wall sign. Now, mind you, Chick-fil-A does also have a ground sign, but they're also not part of the Leland Town Center development. But to use that example, the Leland Town Center, that will give you an example of a size sign that would be permitted across at this location here. And then if you've noticed, All the other tenants have their own small combined development signs on those inville will say strip mall parcels, right? So like the Starbucks and the firehouse subs, they have their own smaller one that's allowed on that parcel, but they are not allowed to be back onto that larger combined development sign. So that space is probably reserved more so for those properties that are more behind that don't necessarily have the road fringes on US Highway 17. So again, each individual business will be permitted to have a wall sign based upon the calculations that are on the screen that Drew had presented to you, but there may be some limitations on what ground signs they would be allowed, whether to have one individually or to be on that combined development sign.

Okay, so I think I agree with you, Barbara. It's kind of hard visualizing signage, but I think that's not necessarily what They will build, but is it an example of something that could be built?

That's correct. Yeah, the parameters, the 210 square feet for that entire sign, and the maximum height is 28. It could be lower. It could be smaller than square footage. It all depends on what the developer wants in terms of that.

Okay. Other questions or comments?

No.

My only other comment would be that having been in the retail business for quite a while, I find this, frankly, to be rather typical that you'll find in many new developments. That's my own personal opinion. So then at this point, would anyone like to make a motion?

I'll make a motion to recommend Council approve the proposed rezoning to include the subject parcel within U.S. Highway 17 Overlay District as presented by staff. Do I have a second?

Second.

Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Seeing none, it's carried. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. DeMille.

Thank you. I appreciate your time.

Item eight, discussion topics. Mr. Andrea will now begin the discussion.

Thanks good evening planning board members I see you back in June in your agenda packet you receive the draft of article four for the unified development ordinance that we're working on this is the article that includes the zoning map in the zoning districts that the town would have on adoption of the you do. July, we did not have a meeting, so this is on the topic for discussion tonight. Just wanted to go over at a high level what this article includes, some of the rationale behind it. Generally speaking, as I mentioned, this sets out all of the zoning districts that would be included in the UDO, so some of those we currently have, some of them would be new zoning districts. This article also would create what we call legacy districts. We have a couple zoning districts that essentially we would want to retire as far as them being an option to be applied to properties moving forward after the adoption of the UDO. Specifically, those include the multifamily district, C1, 2, and 3, which are our three commercial districts, and the residential manufacturer home district. So essentially any property that's zoned with any of these districts could stay zoned, that zoning district, they could still do what is allowed under the current regulations, but no, new application of the zoning districts would apply moving forward. Part of the reason for that is that we're in an interesting time trying to write this ordinance and update our development regulations with some of the constraints at the state statute level. And so it's easier just to say, you can have what you have now, but moving forward, here are your new options. This is a way to not create nonconformities, but also to allow for us to have updated development standards applicable to new zoning districts moving forward. Any zoning district moving forward would be at the option of sort of at the behest of the property owner through a rezoning request or through the application of an initial zoning at the time a property is annexed into the town. Similarly, the residential manufactured home district, we would like to offer that manufactured homes be allowed in some of the lower density residential districts and not have a zoning district specific to residential manufactured homes. We currently have three zoning districts that are strictly for residential purposes, R6, R15, and R20. We'd like to fill in the gaps with four new residential districts. Between the three existing and the four new ones, we would have a pretty comprehensive suite of residential zoning districts that could be chosen from. This would offer a of variation as far as the densities that would be allowed. Also with the UDO, all density would always be administered through performance standards. So currently right now, the only performance based way we control density is in the R6 zoning district. What that means is that in R6 there's an option to say you can have up to seven units an acre, seven units an acre, and the dimensional standards are relaxed or don't exist, versus in an R15 or R20, the mandate is that you have a 15,000 square foot or 20,000 square foot lot size minimum. So moving away from that sort of old way to manage density and moving towards the option for performance-based density in all zoning districts, what that offers is more flexibility in site design, which can provide benefits in putting areas that are either in the flood zone or maybe have some environmental constraints, not forcing development or not forcing private property to include those areas and instead offering a neighborhood to be sort of designed around those areas and that those areas become common space and or preserved open spaces. With all of these zoning districts, the residential and the commercial districts, We are writing into the ordinance some guidance for what classifications from the Leland 2045 plan would be most appropriate for these districts. Uh, the idea there is that when the 2045 plan was written, it was written in a way to identify areas of the town with both on one end of the potential development spectrum spectrum of hey, it should probably just be left alone due to its environmental constraints all the way up to areas that are identified as the most. the areas with the highest development potential. And so those are the areas that we want to see used to their highest and best use. What that can help us do is combat the effects of sprawl. It can help us maximize a return on public investment on things like streets, public utilities, and infrastructure. So if we can target density and higher intensity development into areas that we've identified in the land use plan as appropriate for those areas, It alleviates pressure on development for areas that were identified as maybe have some constraints or maybe should be left alone from a development perspective. I talked about retiring the three commercial districts. What we would do in their place is to essentially establish three new commercial districts tailored based on the both the size and the intensity of the non-residential development. So the idea there is to locate smaller scale, more neighborhood scale uses closer to residential areas versus things like a shopping center probably should be more carefully thought out about where they're located. So again, three non-residential districts to replace the ones that would be retired. Also wanted to mention this article would include the flex code districts. We went through a pretty long and involved effort into evaluating our flex code over the past couple of years. Don't anticipate any major changes to that, but because they are zoning districts, we want to include them into this chapter versus in a standalone chapter as they are now in the code of ordinances. We also would include the conservation district, And then finally, the U.S. Highway Overlay District, which was the subject of the case before this discussion item, we would propose to essentially get rid of that and write the allowances for the sign codes that would come about as part of being included in that overlay district to just be allowed instead of having individual properties have to come and request this rezoning to be included into this special overlay district to be able to get those special sign regulations. With that, what kind of comments do you have or questions that I may be able to answer?

I would just like to know or have an example of a neighborhood business service versus a community business and service? Because to me, it's kind of close there. So do you have any examples, current examples in Leland?

In Leland, maybe not so much, but more hypothetical examples, if that's okay. I would consider a neighborhood business to be more like your corner coffee shop. Whereas instead, a community business may be, still may be a coffee shop, but it is probably larger in scale. And it may have some ancillary service. Maybe they roast their own beans or offer, maybe they have a restaurant associated with it. So things that are more neighborhood oriented, I think you can think about that there are things that you might involve or include in your day-to-day activities.

How would live work situations fit into this?

The actual uses that are allowed in each of these zoning districts are going to be part of the upcoming chapter that we're still working on, Article 5. When we talk about live work, there's kind of two things that can be talked about there. One being either a home occupation or one being a place where someone could live in their business, so to speak. The home occupation has actually been made pretty easy for us because there was some statutes passed recently that gave some some mandatory guidance on how local jurisdictions should approach home occupations. So we'll essentially mimic that. As far as the ability to live in a residential unit, that's something that we still would need to work through. Glad to take any feedback if there's any thoughts that you may have as we're thinking about that.

So next question is, do you have an example of a legacy district in Leland?

No, there's not any legacy districts currently in Leland. This is something that's little bit unique it has been done in at least one other place but again the idea is that say it in a different way that I said it earlier we are in a position where we run the risk of running afoul of the down zoning law if we try to make changes to these existing districts that would create non-conformities and so This is the way around that issue. So there aren't any legacy districts in the town currently.

I just have one last thing. It has to do with the flex code districts. I guess my question is, why are there so many? Because you have rural, suburban, general urban, general urban open, urban center, urban core. I mean, are they truly that specific in nature?

They are. They all serve a unique purpose. In the flex code, those districts are associated with the rural to urban transect spectrum. I could invite Mr. Watts up here and he could probably talk for an hour if you all wanted to hear about that. But they all have some very unique and different allowances and restrictions which ultimately collectively get to this idea of the rural to urban transect spectrum.

And they could be in close proximity to each other?

They generally are. So with those individual transects, I'll use the Gateway District, the area around here as an example. Most of those, not all those in this case in the Gateway District, but there's the applicability of those transects kind of moving out from an urban core in the Gateway District. So there is, within any new flex code area, There has to be a certain allocation that's thought about as far as how many, what acreage and in what proximity these different transects work together.

I think my take on that was flex code is specific and that's a recent update that we've undertaken and from my reading of this, I think we're moving more towards that specificity instead of broader zoning.

That's a great way to look at it. So with the spectrum of residential zoning districts that we're proposing, it gives us that predictability as something that's coming in to know what the range of density is going to need to be developed on a particular property. So it's in some ways similar to the transects.

Other questions? A follow-up on the live work. You say that you're working on something with that. Just a thought is that you've got here minimums and maximums as units in residential. And when someone begins to live work, past experience I've seen, there's a tendency if it works, if that is a successful kind of idea, they can grow off each other. And I just question how is that going to fit within your minimum maximums? If you see, I'm not suggesting you have an answer to that now, but something to think about because it's like success breeds success. And so you may have one which has a minimum number of units and suddenly you have more people who want to do things. And I'm just, just something to think about if it's going to grow into something. I don't know if it will or won't.

Sure. Sure. If I'm, Thinking of live work units in the same way that you are, I would imagine those being more in the non-residential districts where these... Oh, good. I agree. I agree.

Fine. Because I was thinking since it's got the live component, it might be split into the residential.

Right.

Makes sense.

One other thing. Could you speak to the conditional zoning and having that as part of each of these as well?

Yes, thanks for pointing that out. We do have a conditional zoning process now. Conditional zoning process is somewhat rare. I think this Board has seen a few. That's a process where an applicant proposes to change the zoning district but is proposing to change it in a way that is conditioned based on a site plan and sometimes some additional conditions that may accompany their proposal. Every zoning district that we offer, we also want to offer the conditional counterpart to that. And so the benefit there is that it provides even more specificity than we're kind of building into this UDO in so far as to provide a site plan or a sketch of the subdivision or whatever the proposal may be. So this article also includes that and sort of authorizes that as an option.

Any other comments or questions?

Thank you. Okay, thanks very much. We're getting into the next couple of chapters, which are pretty complicated, so bear with us as we continue to work on those. When we feel that they're ready to come to you, we'll bring them to you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That was item eight. Item nine, old and new business. Does anyone have any old or new business they wish to bring up and discuss? Seeing none. Can I speak to some new business real quick? Oh, of course.

Yeah. So we had a meeting, planning staff and the clerk's office today and talk about some potential educational and training opportunities for the planning board. Before we offer any suggestions for something you guys may want to do, we want to hear from you. So hopefully we can take some opportunity this week. And I'm just going to send an email out here to within the next week or so to ask what type of things you wanna learn about, whether it's our processes or anything zoning related or anything that might benefit you as a planning board member. So please consider that and we'll follow back up with you regarding that based upon your answers.

Great, thank you. Any other new or old business? Seeing none, then planning staff to present the monthly reports.

So I'll give you a little update what's going on here. So on July and August town council meetings, there wasn't any applications that you had any actions on or recommendations on. I just want to pass that forward. However, just for some sneak preview, there was some movement with some annexations. If you did not recall the general statute, sorry, the the state has provided us some annexation powers again. So we have started the initial process to bring in some of those properties into the town that started last town council meeting how your role fits into the annexation process. You will be able to provide us a recommendation for the initial zoning before it goes to town council. So not necessarily the annexation itself, but what would be the best appropriate zoning district after an application from the parcel owner as well as planning staff's recommendation. So something to be aware of the next couple meetings, the next few months will be coming towards you. Going to some numbers, we'll go into June and July since we didn't have a meeting last month. We had June building permits 242. We had 77 single family homes and townhouses permits as well. The second one was the mechanical change out, which can be expected with the temperatures going on. We had just short of 3,000 inspections and the value of construction was $27,714,000 plus. In July, a little bit higher in our permits with 285, excuse me, with 113 single family residential homes and townhome permits with 50 mechanical change outs.

Excuse me.

Total inspections were a little bit higher as well with over 3,200. Value construction was very similar to the month before, just over, just short of 28 million. Um, give you some highlights on some recently approved plans. These are obviously plans that you have seen through the T R C approval. There was definitely more plans than I'm going to say, but I'm not going through the minor modifications or slight modifications you've seen from approvals. So the Taco Bell off a new point in front of Walmart was approved. Um, the 1500 800 I'm sorry, 15,800 mixed use retail building that's off of Westgate Drive next to the self self self storage business was also approved. And the 20,000 plus square foot retail and office space off of Old Regent Way next to the custom home furniture outlet was also approved.

So those are some recent approvals that have gone through the planning staff.

Other than that, that's pretty much all I have. All the other reports, including the transportation report, is in your packet. Any questions or comments, I'd be glad to try to address any.

You mentioned the ability to do annexations. Could you briefly mention what kind of limitations, if any, have been put on that?

Sure. If I recall correctly, it's everything that any property that the town of Leland owns, or it's also any applications that we have received prior to July 1st of this year that are no more than $3 million. Three miles. I'm getting confused from the previous language, but there's a geographical limitation of how far we can go. But the application had to have been received prior to that July 1st adoption date. So those are pretty much the limitations that we have. So we can't.

After July 1st.

We cannot annex those properties at this time.

Thank you. Other questions?

Yes. The property there next to Lowe's that was a sports center, it seems like it's closed. Is there any discussions about what's going to happen with that property?

Are you talking about Lowe's Hardware?

I think you're talking about O2 Fitness.

I am not aware of any new businesses going in there at this point.

Any other applications?

Okay. Unaware.

People have asked questions.

Yeah. I don't know the status on that.

Okay.

Anything else? And item 11 is adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting?

So moved. Do I have a second?

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Then the next regular meeting of the planning board will be held September 22nd at 6 p.m. right here. Thank you.