MINUTES

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

COUNTY OF HENDERSON MAY 3, 2001

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners met for a special called meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the Commissioners= Conference Room of the Henderson County Office Building at 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Those present were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chair Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady Hawkins, Commissioner Don Ward, Commissioner Charlie Messer, County Manager David E. Nicholson, County Attorney Angela S. Beeker, and Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.

Also present were: Public Information Officer Chris S. Coulson, Assistant County Attorney Jennifer O. Jackson, Planning Director Karen C. Smith, and Fire Marshal/Emergency Management Coordinator Rocky Hyder.

CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME

Chairman Moyer called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. and welcomed those in attendance, stating this is a workshop on Open Use, the third one. He asked Jennifer Jackson to review with the Board the documents that were distributed for this meeting.

Review of Documents

Jennifer Jackson informed the Board that the following documents were distributed for their review:

$ an agenda

$ a chart AOpen Use Regulation - Proposed Text Amendments@

$ a list of the Henderson County Schools, including the private schools

$ a list of AFacilities with DEHNR Air Quality Permits - Title V (Class A) Category@

$ EPA information on AWhat Makes a Waste Hazardous?@

$ Information on the Large Quantity Generators of Hazardous Waste(General Handler Report)

$ a list of Mountains and Ridges that are Part of Protected Mountain Ridges in Henderson County, NC

$ a letter from Adelene Williams Barley, an owner of property in the area (who could not attend this meeting)

Review of Board Direction from April 26, 2001

Jennifer Jackson reviewed the chart entitled AOpen Use Regulation - Proposed Text Amendments@ with the Board, concentrating on changes that were discussed at the April 26 meeting.

Separation from Schools

In reviewing separation from schools, there was much discussion and it was decided that it would be measured from the center of the school property to the edge of the principal use property. There must be 2 mile separation. The Board reviewed a colored map which had all the schools marked.

Separation from Health Care Facilities

For health care facilities it was decided that there should be 2 mile separation from health care facilities for Mining and Extraction Operations, Asphalt Plant, Incinerator, Slaughtering Plant, and Amusement Park with 2 mile separation for Motor Sports Facility with the text the same as the Board suggested for schools.

Residential Density

Angela Beeker reminded the Board that there was much time spent at the last workshop discussing residential density and changing the way that it is thought of from just a pure number of units to a number of units per acre. Staff had drafted a definition and a formula which Ms. Beeker reviewed with the Board.

Protected Mountain Ridges

Currently all regulated uses are prohibited on Protected Mountain Ridges. The list of protected mountain ridges was reviewed.

Karen Smith stated that as written in the Zoning Ordinance, in Henderson County anything that is 500 feet or more above an adjacent valley floor is a protected mountain ridge. The regulated part of the protected mountain ridge is the top 100 feet.

Following discussion, Chairman Moyer made the motion to leave protected mountain ridges as it currently is in the draft. A vote was taken which passed three to two with Commissioners Ward and Hawkins voting nay.

Heavy Industry

David Nicholson reviewed the heavy industry definition with the Board:

Heavy Industry - any industrial use establishment that:

1. is required to obtain from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources a category Title V air quality permit, or

2. is a significant industrial user as defined in Section 200-32.1A; provided however, any significant industrial user that discharges into a publicly owned or operated wastewater treatment system is exempt from this subpart (2); or

3. is an extremely hazardous facility as defined in Section 200-32.1A; or

4. is a large quantity generator of hazardous waste (as that term is defined by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources).

Specifically excluded from this definition are those establishments that are not extremely hazardous facilities that operate in an enclosed building(s) or structure(s) having a total gross floor area of less than 30,000 square feet.

Following much discussion on this issue, it was the Board=s decision to drop #1 and #2 from the definition but keep #3 and #4 as part of the definition of heavy industry.

The Board asked staff to create a new draft with all the suggested changes. Staff will get the new draft to the Board prior to the scheduled public hearing.

Mr. Nicholson reminded the Board that they wanted to revisit the chart following their discussion of heavy industry. The Board reviewed the chart entitled AOpen Use Regulation - Proposed Chart with Revisions@ regarding separation from health care facilities for heavy industry and decided that it should be 2 mile.

Public Hearing on Open Use

Chairman Moyer reminded everyone that a public hearing is scheduled on this issue on May 15 at 7:00 p.m. The original draft plus a supplement (chart with changes) will be ready for distribution for the public for the public hearing.

New Business

Ms. Beeker wished to address some other issues:

Pre-existing non-conforming uses or expansion of those or new facilities. For example - chip mills - there is a threshold set in the definition of 100,000 tons of wood chips per year. If you have a new facility that has come into the county that wants to produce less than that, they are not required to get a permit. If they later decide that they wish to produce that much or more, how does the Board want that to be handled in the open use district. She asked the Board to think about this so they can discuss it at a later date.

She also reminded the Board that if they adopt open use, they would need to repeal some of our existing ordinances, such as the motor sports facilities ordinance and the junkyard ordinance. Some of those would require a public hearing.

Back up materials

Commissioner Gordon asked that staff try very hard to distribute back up materials to the Commissioners ahead of time, it is very difficult to review and digest all this material in a meeting without having seen it ahead of time and impossible to read it all at a meeting.

Commissioner Hawkins agreed as well as Chairman Moyer. David Nicholson reminded the Board that they have been meeting so frequently on this issue that it has been very difficult for staff to revise the documents with such a short turn around time. This has been a major project, especially with the Board meeting so frequently. Mr. Nicholson thanked staff for the wonderful job they have done on this project.

ADJOURN

Commissioner Ward made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:47 a.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Attest:

Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer, Chairman