PITTSBORO — The town’s board of commissioners approved a new future land use plan and adopted a system development fee at its regular meeting Monday evening.
The land use plan was discussed during a public hearing, where acting Planning Director Janie Phelps introduced the item to the board.
“This has been a lot of discussions, meetings, but they’ve all been very profitable,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of input from the community through surveys … the community was involved.”
The last time the land use plan was updated was in 2012. Because Pittsboro looks different than when the plan was last considered, town staff felt it was important to return to it and see what needed to be changed.
Jake Petrosky is the director of Stewart, the engineering firm contracted to draft a land use plan for Pittsboro. He gave a presentation on what the proposed land use plan looks like and what changes have been made since 2012. Petrosky went into detail on how public input helped to shape the land use plan draft, which helped to create four priorities to consider when adopting the plan.
“The priorities that we heard from the survey folks were the improvement of utilities and infrastructure, environmental protection and conservation, preservation of character and growth management,” he said.
The proposed land use plan will have four main components: land use and housing, downtown, infrastructure, and natural resources conservation. Petrosky said each component has a list of priorities the board can use when granting zoning requests. By using those priorities suggested by the public, the board can make sure Pittsboro matches the vision they and the residents want to see.
Commissioner Kyle Shipp said he’s glad to see the updated land use plan, as one of the main reasons he ran for office was to create a new plan.
“I think the important thing to remember … is that it (the future land use plan) is abstract,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to have it, to update it and to continue to look for updates.”
Commissioner Jay Farrell thanked Phelps and her staff for the work they completed and how it will help future boards legislate down the road.
“This one is much better and easier to maneuver,” he said. “I thank y’all very much.”
The board also adopted a new system development fee (SDF) to be a combined value of $11,000 to tap into both the town’s water and sewer systems. The move came after multiple public hearings on the item.
SDFs are one-time payments made by developers to municipalities during construction to connect to water and sewer systems. The fees help pay for the connection, as well as to fund projects the town will need to take on to improve existing infrastructure to handle more residents using town facilities.
Engineering firm Freese and Nichols conducted a study to help determine the maximum SDF Pittsboro could charge per service unit. Currently, the town charges $4,200 to tap into the water and wastewater system. Freese and Nichols calculated Pittsboro could charge up to $39,000 per service unit, more than nine times the current fee.
Interim Town Manager Kent Jackson presented the board with two models for the SDF: a high option and a low option. The high option would have the SDF set to $26,353.50 per service unit while the low option would cost $10,638 per service unit.
“We were trying to examine and flesh out as many different perspectives and considerations as we could,” Jackson said.
Shipp said he thought the town should aim lower when it comes to establishing a SDF because it will help make them competitive with surrounding communities like Apex, Sanford and Fuquay-Varina.
“Even at $10,638, that’s higher than almost everywhere around us,” he said. “So if somebody is looking to build a new development or bring a new grocery store, and they’re looking between Pittsboro and Fuquay, what we decide tonight could be the tipping factor for that.”
Jackson explained because of the N.C. General Assembly passed the SDF bill stating municipalities had to review SDFs every five years five years ago, many jurisdictions surrounding Pittsboro are set to reexamine and, most likely, increase their SDFs.
“It’s been accurately and well stated that that comparison doesn’t have bearings on the fee that we set,” he said. “There may be benefit to sharing information, being very aware of what others are doing.”
Reporter Taylor Heeden can be reached at theeden@chathamnr.com.