This is a reminder that a special meeting of the NCC Council's Economic Development Sub-Committee is scheduled for 7PM on Thursday evening in the Gilliam Building at 77 Reads Way.
The meeting is being touted as a forum to discuss "Smart Growth" with Erik Aulestia of the land planning firm, Torti Gallas. The agenda includes a question and answer session with the speaker as well as an opportunity for general public comment. This will be an excellent chance for the community to solicit the expert's opinion on how far our county government has strayed from Smart Growth by uncoupling mass transit from density and (Workforce Housing and Redevelopment) allowing for high density in rural lands devoid of infrastructure.
This sub-committee has had a very sporadic meeting schedule over the last few years (rather odd in this dire economic climate, don't you think?). Right now, there are no minutes available for this committee posted on the county's web site. I received the minutes for Oct. 2009 and April 2010 by email today. The June 2010 minutes are not available to the public since they have yet to be approved.
The October minutes' items included a BRAC update by Karl Kalbacher, a presentation by Mark Kleinschmidt of the NCC Chamber of Commerce recommending changes to the UDC to foster economic growth and development, Dave Culver's prepared response to these suggestions and Marian Stewart stating her "continued opposition to development and the feeling of being unheard on balance of busines"s/development vs. the public sentiment".
The April minutes noted that zoning maps were distributed by Lisa Diller (probably Federal Stimulus Recovery Zone maps but it is not at all clear). Dave Culver and Karl Kalbacher were on hand to answer questions about the comprehensive plan, zoning and economic development goals. Richard Beck represented the Citizens for Responsible Growth in expressing concern about the manipulation by developers of ordinances passed by council such as mixed use and redevelopment.
Betsy Gardner said that it was a goal for the office to put an archive of all council minutes online. GOOD!
Jim Parks has archived his Delaforum posts and it is now very easy to retrieve detailed reporting on the county meetings he attended over the last ten years.
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to what Jim reported about the NCC Economic Development sub-committee meeting back in Oct. 2009
http://www.delaforum.com/2009/Oct%20-%20Dec/ARTICLES/County%20Chamber%20(10-28).htm
"Kleinschmidt said the chamber of commerce wants to see seven specific "updates" made to the development code:
• Promote mixed-use development by amending the definition of what is acceptable, allowing as few as two uses to be considered mixed use.
• 'Update' density standards by reducing the open-space requirement and increasing floor-area ratios in areas other than those zoned residential.
• Expand redevelopment of marginal and blighted sites by more "reasonable" renovation and demolition ratios.
• Shorten the approval process for development plans by eliminating the "uncertain timetable" for approvals by participating regulatory agencies. Shorten the approval process for rezonings by not limiting County Council approval votes to just three times a year. (That proposal appears to have been satisfied by some of the provisions of the two-step process ordinance which Culver cited.)
• Standardize interpretations of the development code and provide that, when there is uncertainty about code provisions, the Department of Land Use interpret it "in favor of the applicant."
• 'Update' definitions of steep slopes and riparian buffers to make the requirements more liberal.
• Include economic-impact statements in plans for major commercial development and rezoning proposals."