BC 2005 12 19 REGULAR - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

December 19, 2005 - Regular Meeting Page 441 and Subdivision Ordinances. He reported several public drop-in sessions were held last week to review the proposed ordinance. Mr. Marshall also addressed the following topics: formulas used to calculate capacity and student generation rates; age restricted communities; phasing schedules; use of high school feeder areas in calculating available school seats; vested rights; and mitigation requirements such as advancement of school adequacy, etc. Further, Mr. Marshall reported the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7 to 2 to recommend the draft ordinance with the motion to approve including the following recommendations: (1) The Core Capacity Calculation for each school be updated annually and that the County and School Boards have discussions regarding what should and should not be considered capacity for the purposes of this ordinance. (2) That a statistical model be developed to better predict the number of school aged children expected from different housing unit types. Once developed, this model should be updated annually. (3) The 1996 Capital Costs study by Tischler and Associates should be updated as soon as possible and that it should be updated every 5 years there after. (4) Set a Level of Service cap where the County would not accept offers of mitigation to address school overcrowding. (5) Require that project timing be made part of all consent agreements. Recommendations from the public drop-in sessions were as follows: (1) Find better ways to predict student populations and student generation rates; and (2) Present these amendments to both Boards of Education. At 10:23 p.m., Chairman Carruth opened the public hearing on the C05- 07 (ZT) and C05-02 (ST) to revise the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. The public hearing notice was published in THE INDEPENDENT TRIBUNE on December 9 and 18, 2005. Marlynn Burns stated that failure to properly implement an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) will stress schools and run the risk of destroying neighborhood schools and creating a busing situation. She asked the Board to consider the following: (1) Update data every two or three years and determine how much it costs to create new schools seats; (2) Use elementary schools as school feeder area; (3) Zoning Administrator should be independent of planning subdivisions in order to avoid the appearance a conflict of interest; and (4) Lack of legal remedy if construction is delayed or size of school is decreased. Finally, Ms. Burns asked that the Board delay a vote until after the first of the year to give more time to educate the public on the issue. Tom Doran asked that the decision on the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) be postponed for a short time. He commented on events in the Odell Community and cited concern about the approval of three subdivisions in that area. Mr. Doran encouraged Board Members to talk with school principals regarding school overcrowding. Larry Marlow, a resident of the Odell community, stated he attended the Concord Planning and Zoning Commission meeting earlier in the week where several new developments containing hundreds of new homes were approved. He said students from these new developments would attend the Harris Road/Odell schools, if they ever get built. Mr. Marlow expressed concern about the roads in the area and asked Board Members to help the Odell community or he stated the kids will suffer. with there being no one else to address the Board, Chairman Carruth closed the public hearing at 10:45 p.m. At the request of Chairman Carruth, Mr. Marshall responded to several issues raised during the public hearing. He also reported the sections of the APFO addressing police, fire and emergency medical services will be presented in the future. After discussion, the Board agreed to hold a joint meeting with the Cabarrus County Board of Education and the Kannapolis City Board of Education to review the proposed Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.