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The Public Hearing on scaling back condo construction by reducing density in Oriental (and related hearings on reducing the footprints of buildings and impervious surface in the MU and MU1 neighborhoods) drew about 45 people to Town Hall Tuesday night.

The Town Board voted to continue its public hearing on reducing density until Monday October 23rd. At that time the board will also take comment on recalculating other factors such as impervious surface, and volume which could also be encouraging and enabling condo development.

That delay on taking action leaves the town with its existing 14-units-per-acre density for at least another month.

Two commissioners tried to address that.

Town Commissioner Warren Johnson suggested a temporary measure Tuesday night that would have prevented more condos from being proposed at that density.

Warren Johnson proposed that the town temporarily adopt the standard that Pamlico County passed a few months ago which limits condos and other multi-unit development to 1 unit per acre at the waterfront and 4 units per acre elsewhere in the county. (It is that new rule that many predict will prompt developers to seek to put more condos in towns such as Oriental with their weaker rules.) Warren Johnson’s proposal would have Oriental abiding by that stricter county rule until the town could work out the finer details of its own. (Perhaps ultimately a compromise between Oriental’s current lax rule and the county’s stricter one.)

Commissioner Nancy Inger voted along with Warren Johnson for that measure that would have given the town that breathing room.

Commissioners Al Herlands, Barbara Venturi and Candy Bohmert voted against it.

About 45 people had turned out for the public hearing. Developers were represented, and the message was that reducing the density would ‘devalue’ their property. One realtor asked that the board make no changes to the GMO. One developer spoke of seeking compensation from the town. There were claims made that property values would be harmed.

Advocates for changing the rules noted that the 213 condo units had been approved or built in town in the past year, 28 more are in the pipeline. (Oriental’s population is 875 in the last census) The advocates for finetuning the density regulations — to say 5,000 square feet per unit – said the town would suffer with a rush of condo construction if nothing were done.

Some who spoke against taking action Tuesday night said that reducing density alone wasn’t the way to approach it, and that a complicated formula on maximum volume along with setbacks and allowing less impervious surface on a site is another way to avoid large blocks of condo units.

The board took no action but ‘continued’ the hearing to another date at which point the town Board will hear still more input. Commissioner Barb Venturi recommended that the hearing happen before the next town board meeting (on Election Day November 7) That way, the town board might have time to develop a plan on whatever action it is that they will take.

Barb Venturi also proposed that a new subject of public hearing be added for the 23rd: whether to limit the number of stories a building may have, an approach that could also reduce if not the number of units per acre, at least the towering, blocky presence they impose on a street scape.

Perhaps a new rule in that regard can be drawn up in time for the November Town Board meeting. And perhaps the Town Board can come to some agreement — or at least, let’s be frank, a 3-2 majority vote — on a reworking of the figures about how much volume a condo can take up, and imprevious surface and how many per lot. But candidly speaking, such a formula is complicated and one fears that it could take longer than a month to sort out.

And then where would we be? Still without anything in place to prevent the current pace of the condo-ization of Oriental.

It was however, density reduction, that was the point of the hearing and Planning Board member Bob Miller’s work of the past few months. And for a reason. Addressing impervious surfaces, volume is all very nice, but alone can’t do the job. Reducing density is a key component in reducing condo growth. Bob Miller’s early plan that got through the planning board may have gone too far with its call to have 9,000 square feet for the first unit and 8,000 for the subsequent ones. And it appeared that at least some of the opposition Tuesday night to making a change was grounded in reaction to that plan.

But in the coming weeks, one hopes that a compromise solution, a 5,000-square feet-of-land-for-every-unit-you-build will be considered. The 5,000 for the first unit/ 5,000 for any subsequent unit has the benefit of being easily understood. It is fair, in that it keeps with Oriental’s traditional allowance of building a single family home on these relatively small lots. And at 8.5 units per acre, it is a meet-you-halfway compromise between the county’s 4 per acre and the town’s current 14 per acre.

Applying that in all of the zones — R2, R3, MU and MU1 — where condos and town homes can now be packed in, would provide both a stopgap measure if approved in Novmeber and a long-term foundation on which to build Oriental’s multi-unit growth policy.

Your views on the issue can be stated on any of this at the Public Hearing on October 23 or in the meantime by directly contacting your commissioners.

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Later in the meeting, the Town Board set public hearings for Special Use Permits for three projects that would put 25 more condos in town. Those hearings will be held at the November 7th meeting.

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In other action, the Town Board appointed two men to the Planning Board. Dave Cox and William Marlowe.

Bill Marlowe described himself in his letter to the board as a ‘recent “full time” resident’ of town and former owner of a consulting firm in Pennsylvania “which performed engineering services for five municipalities”.

Dave Cox is a retired Naval officer with a background in strategic planning. He has lived in town for almost a year and has been a frequent attendee of Town Board and Planning Board meetings.

Also in the running for the Planning Board had been Roger Cordes and Kathy Kellam. Kellam had finished 6th in last November’s Town Board race, falling two dozen vote shy of a seat on the Town Board. It was Kellam’s petition drive to reduce the height limit in town in the spring of 2005 — and the then-Town Board’s rejection of it — that turned public sentiment toward taking more steps to rein in development. At least three of the current Town Board members campaigned on that issue which was brought to the fore by Kellam.

The Town Board has had two opportunities — in June and now in October — to appoint Kellam to the Planning Board. And twice now, the majority of the board — which had signed her petition and which camapigned on issues in line with those Kellam raised — has turned its back on her and not given the town her voice on the Planning Board.

Here’s how the voting went:

Bill Marlowe received the votes of all of the commissioners: Candy Bohmert, Al Herlands, Nancy Inger, Warren Johnson and Barb Venturi
Dave Cox received the votes of three — Al Herlands, Barb Venturi and Candy Bohmert
Roger Cordes received a vote from Nancy Inger
Kathy Kellam received a vote from Warren Johnson

Posted Wednesday October 4, 2006 by Melinda Penkava

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