Planning Board Special Meeting

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The recommendation carried 7-1, Smith opposed, and the consistency statement finding the ordinance consistent with all ten goals of Plan Chatham carried 7-1 on the same split.

The board spent the meeting voting its concerns into a list. Unanimously: that the commissioners consider the extra staff the ordinance will need to administer, that the county have the enforcement mechanisms to protect open space in perpetuity, that cross references point to specific sections rather than whole chapters, that notice provisions be strengthened to encourage use of social media, and that the sliding scale density be looked at more closely.

The split votes are the interesting ones. Making climate change a guiding force in the design principles passed 6-2, with Mayer and Andrews opposed; a member noted climate change appears nowhere in the design principles though it runs through Plan Chatham. Building a mechanism to protect the county if parts of the ordinance are preempted by state law passed 5-3, over objections that the legislature changes land use law every year and that whatever the county reverted to might be unlawful too. That concern proved well founded within eight weeks. Allowing footpaths in riparian areas under six conditions passed 5-3, and raising an open space incentive threshold passed 6-2.

The September special meeting minutes were approved 7-0, with the vice chair not voting as she had been absent.

How the votes went

The ordinance was recommended for approval 7-1, Smith opposed, and its consistency statement 7-1. Among the attached recommendations: additional staff 8-0, open space enforcement 8-0, cross-reference clarity 8-0, notice provisions 8-0, sliding scale density 8-0; climate change in the design principles 6-2; a severability safeguard 5-3; riparian footpaths 5-3. The agenda 8-0 and the September minutes 7-0.

From the published minutes.