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News & Comment About The Issues Facing Oriental.

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fter a rare joint meeting Tuesday night, Oriental’s Town Board and Planning Board came away with an informal blueprint for establishing an Overlay District for upper Broad Street, between North Street and the edge of town.

If eventually passed by the Town Board, the Overlay District would mean that new business buildings less than 25 feet high could have flat roofs so long as they had 8 foot deep porches across at least half of the front, and the rest dedicated to landscaped plantings.

That marked a turnaround for the Overlay District idea which was on the verge of oblivion at the last Town Board meeting. Back then, in early August, the Town Board was gearing up to allow the flat roofs without requiring the tradeoffs. That prompted one Planning Board member to express frustration over what exactly the Town Board wanted, and that in turn led to Tuesday night’s joint gathering of the two boards.

As the two boards spoke across the table, it quickly emerged that a majority of the Town Board, in particular, Kathy Kellam and Nancy Inger, now supported the concepts the Planning Board put forward. It was among the Town Board itself that there was what Commissioner Kellam called, “a philosophical difference” over what the town could require of new buildings.

(Rewind to a Bit of Town History: The idea of requiring porches on business buildings began four years ago when the town arranged for neighborhood committees to share ideas about future growth. The group assigned to the business district of Broad Street reported back that they noted that most existing buildings there had porches and that was a feature that should be continued.)

Fast forward to the debate Tuesday Night: Commissioner Candy Bohmert and Mayor Bill Sage opposed requiring porches, saying businesses would make attractive buildings of their own volition. Planning Board member Bob Milller countered that not establishing rules could lead to more buildings such as the Dollar General under construction just outside of town.

Commissioner Bohmert also said that if the town required porches, it would be a hardship for businesses and that the town could see new businesses setting up just outside of town to avoid the rules. Dave Cox said he thought real estate prices would be a bigger factor. Kathy Kellam said that setting down some standards would help to keep the character of town that attracts visitors and shoppers and their money.

Addressing the mayor’s criticism that the town would be imposing porches on businesses, Kellam said that “citizens should have some say, and the businesses already here have some say, of how we want our town to be.” Other towns that have chosen to “care about how their corridor looks” Kellam said, “have a better economic status than those who say, ‘Come in and do what you want.’”

Ultimately, a compromise was reached among the Town Board. Instead of a full-across-the-front porch, it suggested a porch at least half way across the front. And landscaping, 8 feet deep, to occupy the rest of the front of the building.

The Planning Board then sent this proposal back to the Town Board. A Public Hearing would have to be held before this, Oriental’s first Overlay District plan, could be adopted.

Previous coverage of the Overlay District

Posted Wednesday August 27, 2008 by Melinda Penkava