Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the town election and planning commission meeting. This is our this board is comprised of town residents who are approved by the town council and serve without pay. This is our regular meeting monthly meeting scheduled to at town hall at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. This meeting is broadcast live on the town election's YouTube channel. Speakers must sign in before 8:00 a.m. on the signin sheet posted at the door. Speakers will be called to the podium off the list collected. Please state your name and address and speak into the microphone. Speakers are limited to three minutes and a timer will be set. I am Frank Barry, the chairman of the town election and planning commission. Other planning commission members present are Good morning Jared Harelson. Good morning. I'm Brian A. Good morning Sam Hendricks. Morning Rosco. Good morning. I'm Jamie Fe. Good morning. I'm Joe Robertson. Good morning, JT Stevenson. Good morning, Betsy McCall. At this time, I'll ask um Miss Fe as she would pray for us. Let us pray. Gracious God, we invite you into our discussions today. Unite our hearts and guide our conversation with wisdom and patience. Help us to seek solutions that honor you and benefit everyone involved. Where there is differences, bring understanding. Where there is tension, bring peace. In your name we pray. Amen. If you would please stand and join me in the pledge of 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. The meeting will now come to order. Thank you ladies for a fine breakfast

you prepared for us this morning. Um we have no deletions to the agenda. Next item is approval of the minutes for February's 18th work session and February 19th planning commission meeting. Motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? All in favor please raise your right hand. It is unanimous. Public hearing amendments to chapter 156 landscaping and tree ordinance. Jessica. Um, do we have any? We don't have anybody. Okay. I was going to do that after you. Oh, I was Do you want me to read my item now or for Well, I guess we're going to new business because there is no public here. Yeah. Okay. So, yes. Okay. Over the last few months, the planning commission in collaboration with staff, community stakeholders, and town council has proposed amendments to the town's landscaping and tree ordinance. Key updates include enhancing requirements for buffers and scenic corridors in both commercial and residential areas, aligning with the county of Lexington's le landscape standards, strengthening protection for trophy trees year in development, providing administrative relief for hardships preventing the required tree planting, managing tree pruning practices by utility companies to ensure proper care. The amendments also aim to modernize the ordinance to align with current procedures and the South Carolina Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994. To finalize this process, the planning commission needs to make final recommendation to town council to adopt these proposed amendments to this ordinance. So in your packet um from last time, the only areas that are highlighted are the things that we had in our last work session discussion about this. So, I think it was just

cleaning up the scenic corridors, taking out um scenic corridor 3, removing the option for reduction because you all wanted that to go before um board of zoning appeals on a case-by case basis, and then adding the language for the landscaping areas in front of subdivisions to have that option and to allow for final inspection to not take place until final plat and allowing the landscaping to be part of the bond um to ensure that there's proper utilities on site to ensure the plants survive um but you know during this phasing of the subdivision. So okay I want to thank all the commission members for the late night we had one night uh discussing this and for your time as we've worked through this for the last three months to send this recommendation to council. So with that said, do I have a motion? Motion to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second. Do we have any disc further discussion on this? I got a question. No changes. I'm all in favor of 378 uh utility companies cutting all those trees and all that stuff. This traction loads and all that kind of stuff. Is that something be done to that or what? There's supposed to be some something going on with the traffic through there. Am I not where we're going to be taking that we've already talked to the company and they're going to they're going to take those trees out, but we were going to see I think there's something going on with some traffic um adjustments through there. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that's right. That we're working with the utility companies and through this process and the stakeholder meetings. Um Shannon, our landscape reviewer, has forged a

relationship with the locals that handle that. Um and they are in communications quite frequently now. So there is a plan moving forward and they are in communication with us about that. We're working on that. Yeah. Okay. So we have a motion second. Any anybody have any other question for staff? All right. All in favor, please raise your right hand. It is unanimous. That concludes our new business. Um Mr. Chairman, if if if you don't mind, back to the public hearing part. Um, although there's no one here, I think you still need to open the public hearing and close it on the record and state there's no nobody here to provide public comment. It was kind of just skipped over. So, it's just a formality. If you could um go back and Okay. open it and close it. All right. Sign in. Well, we'll go back and open the public hearing. And there was no one signed up to speak. Correct. That sheet will be entered into the minutes for as record as well. Right. Okay. So, if no one here, we'll close the public hearing. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. All right. Last item is for information only. Jessica, town council reviewed the planning commission's recommendation for sign ordinance amendments during the January 21st work session. They instructed staff to conduct additional research regarding temporary signage and requested that the small business advisory committee review the issue and provide recommendations. Staff has provided you with the research report on temporary signage as well as the small business advisory committee's recommendation. Please review these materials over the next month in preparation for discussion at the April

planning commission meeting. All righty. Does anyone else have anything they like to add to this morning's meeting from the commission? Mr. KS, Mr. Smith, do you all have anything you'd like to add? Speak. All right. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. With all in favor, please raise your right hand. Is unanimous. Thank you for watching the town election and planning commission in action. This meeting is held at town hall at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. Please note that we are a quasa judicial board and cannot partake in communications about agenda items. If you have additional questions or concerns after this meeting, please contact the municipal clerk. A recording of this meeting will be view can be viewed online at the town of Lexington YouTube channel. On behalf of the town of Lexon planning commission and staff, I wish you a good day.