 Entry by Bill Cochrane The Southern Pines Planning Board held their March meeting beginning at 7:00 P.M. in the Douglass Community Center on Pennsylvania Ave. Only four of the Board members were present, and Vice Chair Gerard Ridzon presided. The sole item on the agenda was a public hearing on the Morganton Park South master plan proposal. Planning Director Bart Nukols presented an overview of the proposal after which the Board asked the applicants to make their presentation. There were a great many questions raised about the master plan of this current development phase and about the overall development "vision" for the entire property, north and south of Morganton Road. I was very troubled by the aggressive attempts to redesign the development to include a "public meeting or event area". This amounts to confiscatory behavior on the part of the Board as does the 800 foot "buffer zone" on both sides of Morganton Road specified in the Morganton Road overlay plan. This is an outrageous confiscation of private property by the Town of Southern Pines. Even the Board members agreed that seizure (my word, but that's exactly what enforcement of such a buffer would be) of property such as this was unreasonable and doesn't make good sense. Nevertheless, the Board held this unreasonable buffer requirement over the developers' heads, essentially as blackmail to force agreement with other Board demands. I was also greatly troubled by the repeated assertions of how valuable this property was to the Town. Valuable to the Town? These words, the way they were delivered, and the entire tone came across as a very socialistic -- even communistic -- view of the matter. Who owns this property, the Town or those who hold the deed(s) and who are spending their own treasure to develop this property? The assertion of how valuable this property is to the "Town" conveys a very collectivist mentality. I am not pleased whatsoever. As for the demand that the property owner produce an overall "vision" or "master plan" for all of his property, not just this phase, I was not surprised to hear the applicant state a fear of becoming "locked in" to some tentative, general "vision" that will probably drastically change with time and future conditions. The Town is placing too many obstacles and regulations in the way of private property rights and good sound business decisions. This must change. The Morganton Park South proposal is a very attractive and quality plan for a shopping area as part of a continuing mixed-use development of the idle land remaining along Morganton Road. The applicant has, as he describes in the video, already made a number of major concessions to the Town. I believe this will be a fine addition to Southern Pines, and I hope our Town Council will "rein in" the Planning Board in the interest of private property rights, healthy growth, and quality development. No confiscatory behavior should be tolerated. A copy of the proposed master plan for this phase of the Morganton Park South development may be found here.
 The Southern Pines Planning Board held their January meeting in the Douglass Community Center beginning at 7:00 P.M. The acting chairman, Michael Martin, expressed the appreciation of the Board and Town for the service of outgoing Board members. He then welcomed the new incoming members to the Board, Wanda Little and John McLaughlin. Next the elections of chairman and vice-chair were conducted. Congratulations to Michael Martin on his election to the position of Chair and to Gerard Ridzon on his election to Vice-Chair. Next, the Board held a public hearing and considered the conditional zoning application of the Sandhills Classical Christian School. The Board was initially consistent with its positions in the January 22 Agenda Meeting. However, soon the Board began to desire to overly control the longevity and operation of the school by discussing limiting the duration of their recommended zoning to only two years. Thankfully, John McLaughlin wisely and astutely cautioned the Board that they were being overly zealous and that such restrictions would prove deathy intolerable to a business proposition such as the one before the Board. At this point the applicant spoke up and agreed, pointing out that their planned renovations would amount to a six figure investment, and this would not be prudent with only a two year assurance of operation. Thank you, thank you, Mr. McLaughlin for being a voice of reason and reality! Finally, after exhausting discussions, the Board approved sending a positive recommendation for conditional rezoning to the Town Council. Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board held their Agenda meeting in the Boyd Room at 180 SW Broad Street beginning at 5:30 P.M. Two new Planning Board members introduced themselves, John McLaughlin and Wanda Little. Following this, the Board took up a conditional zoning request for a school to locate within the currently vacant building previously occupied by CenturyLink at the corner of N Leak Street and W Pennsylvania Ave. Questions were identified which the applicant should be prepared to answer at the regular meeting of the Planning Board on Thursday, January 24. Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board held their regular August meeting at the Douglass Community Center on Pennsylvania Avenue in Southern Pines beginning at 7:00 P.M. on August 23, 2012. The meeting was a lengthy one, lasting for about three hours. Four proposals were heard by the Board with public hearings for each. The agenda may be found here. The first item is the request by Longhorn Steakhouse for permission to build a patio outside their restaurant on US Highway 15-501 to accommodate patio dining for their customers. The proposed patio would have intruded no further into the "buffer' zone between that business and the highway than does the patio at Mellow Mushroom or Longhorn's parking lot. The buildings along this stretch of US 15-501 were constructed long before the current town ordinances and are "grandfathered". The proposed patio would have caused no harm and would be consistent with the surrounding businesses. But the Planning Board chose to allow only a patio about half the proposed size, which will be too small to be effective for patio dining. I suppose the Longhorn restaurant can look over at Mellow Mushroom and down the street toward Panera Bread and always wish they had the same privileges. Oh.... that's right, Panera is in Aberdeen.... The last item on the agenda brought the most discussion and public response. The Bell family has planned to sell their Knollwood property and proposed rezoning to a Planned Unit Development status. Their representatives presented the high level plans for the property to the Planning Board. The rezoning application PUD report for the property can be found here. The staff report for the PUD application can be found here. Most speakers during the public hearing spoke in favor of the rezoning request, including adjacent property owners and a representative from the Southern Pines Business Association. I was so proud to hear the Business Association representative speak of the benefits to downtown Southern Pines from the additional visitors, residents, and businesses which would locate in the PUD. The few speakers who opposed the rezoning request did not offer one single concrete tangible reason why the request should be refused. They tried to distract with irrelevant issues, make unsubstantiated claims of harm to the environment, play on fears, and argue on emotions. Their pleas to impose unnecessary "environmental impact studies" and "economic impact studies" are clearly and merely attempts to delay and to impose arbitrary and useless economic barriers on the Bell family. The Planning Board had committed to close this meeting by 10:00 P.M.; therefore, at that time the Board voted to keep the public hearing open until the September Board meeting. At that meeting, the Board will first ask their questions of the development's representatives after which additional speakers from the public will be permitted to provide input. My own comments are that this is a very good proposal and planned use of this property. The Bell Family is cooperating closely with the town staff, boards of council, and Town Council. Those who spoke against this PUD are the same ones who always oppose development. They have exhausted their credibility already. This PUD must be approved to continue the economic health and prosperity of both the community and the town government. Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board held their regular meeting beginning at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, July 19, at the Douglass Community Center on Pennsylvania Avenue. This was a fairly short (about 37 minutes) meeting which focused on a single issue: Change to town ordinances to bring consistency to development rules on both the north and south sides of Morganton Road. The Board considered a revision which had been proposed by the Town Council and approved it with further revisions. The revised proposed ordinance change now goes back to the Town Council for their consideration. Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board held its June meeting at the Douglass Community Center beginning at 7:00 PM and ending at 7:32 PM. The sole item on the agenda was the consideration of revision of the highway corridor sign ordinance triggered by the Lone Star Restaurant application. The Lone Star Restaurant petititioned for an allowance of a sign over their main entrance from their parking lot -- which would also allow greater visibility to southbound traffic on US 15-501 -- of the same or comparable size to the sign allowed on their street-front side.
This was the main topic of discussion at the May Planning Board meeting as well. The Staff brought two proposals for a modified sign ordinance for the highway corridor -- one authored by the Southern Pines Staff and the other written by the Town's lawyer. After much discussion, the Planning Board arrived at a "medium" between the two proposals and the desires of the Lone Star Restaurant representative.
In my opinion the Planning Board did arrive at a reasonable and logical compromise solution which makes rational sense for all businesses in the area. For a while, I had my doubts that the Board would come to such a reasonable conclusion, but they did, and for that they deserve commendation. Thank you, Planning Board!
Bill Cochrane
 What happened last night! The Southern Pines Planning Board held a public hearing at the Douglass Community Center on April 19 for two applications for property development.
The first, involving construction of four multi-family units in Southern Pines, went fairly well except for some obsessing over landscaping and trees by certain Board members -- almost to the point of hilarity.
The second, involving construction of a commercial site on a lot on US-15-501, did not go well. The Board engaged in what seemed to me to be rather heavy-handed behavior, and the petitioner ultimately withdrew his petition for now. The Board Members essentially told the petitioner that he could not develop (i.e. use) his property until all of the owners of nearby properties in the same area decided what THEY want to do -- and then the Board wishes to consider all properties as an "integrated plan".
This is despotism! I do not understand how a local government can deny legitimate petitions and place a property owner in bondage to other people. The petitioner has already spent thousands of his own dollars on engineering, survey, architectural, and landscaping plan costs, on petition work with other government agencies, and with financing arrangements -- and the Board tells him to wait years until nearby property owners decide what they wish to do with their properties. Outrageous!! Tyrannical!!
I was extremely disappointed in this Planning Board and in the actions of several of its members. In previous towns, I was usually irate because the planning and zoning boards were loaded with developers and always stepped on the people to favor any proposed development (i.e. Charlotte and Atlanta). Here, the Planning Board is in dire need of some developers to balance the biased obsessions against developers. I urge the Town Council to take steps in future appointments to achieve a better balance of views and goals on this appointed board. Something must be done before more meetings like this occur.
Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board met in the Boyd Room at 180 SW Broad Street on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. A quorum being present, the Chair began the meeting precisely at 5:30 P.M. as scheduled. After reviewing one application which will be heard at the Regular Meeting on Thursday, March 22, the Board continued its review of the NAICS codes from their February 16 meeting. Approved NAICS industry codes will be recommended to the Southern Pines Town Council as "pre-approved" for permitting in those areas zoned "Industrial" within the Southern Pines Town jurisdiction. The Board, for all practical purposes, concluded its review of the NAICS codes. My opinion is that the Board should be commended for expanding the types of businesses which will be granted "automatic" approval to locate within the areas which the Town has zoned "Industrial". However, my opinion is still that the Planning Board has been overly restrictive in its review. The Board members readily excluded codes which they did not understand but which sounded "dirty" or "undesirable" simply from the code name. The Board members excluded types of businesses in order to avoid "dilution" of the other business districts. The Board seemed to be applying an anachronistic definition of "industry" which might have been appropriate in the early 20th century -- that of heavy manufacturing, heavy industrial, and heavy equipment of the kind that used to be stereotypical of the old "rust belt". Ole timey manufacturing is gone from this country -- moved overseas where the regulatory obstacles and tax burdens are not as onerous and where such industry with its job base and tax base is heartily welcomed. Such businesses will not be coming to Southern Pines. The nature of "industry" has changed drastically in this nation, and the spectrum of businesses in this day and age are much different that a few decades past. Southern Pines desperately needs new businesses to offer more jobs and careers, particularly to our youthful generations. Rather than being exclusionary, the Board would benefit the Town by applying a different standard. If the business does no real harm by locating in an industrial zone, why force it into downtown or into a higher priced area simply because it doesn't fit the "traditional" concept of "industrial"? Now, as expressed by Board members in this meeting and in the February 16 meeting, the fact that the Board excluded the codes does not mean that a prospective business cannot petition the Board and Council for "conditional" approval. Such a business can. But I would point out that forcing a prospective business to do so is an impediment and a discouragement. It may make the difference between a business choosing to simply go somewhere else more "inviting" and "welcoming". There is no implied assurance that this or a future Planning Board or this or a future Town Council will be receptive to a business petition. So, (from the perspective of a business) why not simply select another town or unincorporated area which does not require expensive and time-consuming submissions, hearings, and "conditions"? I suggest that the Town of Southern Pines should make itself as welcoming as possible to attract desirable businesses and growth. Don't fall back on bureaucratic red tape to patch over Board biases. Whatever "dilution" might be -- however that term may be defined -- if it does no quantifiable harm for a business to locate in an "industrial" area, why preclude it? Bill Cochrane
 The consultant for the Town of Southern Pines, Planning Works, conducted a public hearing in the early evening of Monday, March 5, 2012. There was some confusion about the start time of the meeting. Some public notices stated that the meeting would begin at 6:00 P.M. Others stated the start time as 5:30 P.M. So, since a few people showed up at 5:30, the consultants "started an early conversation" with them to hear their input.
Two of these were elderly ladies who wanted to oppose any new development in downtown Southern Pines. They want to "preserve" the town just as it is. The other gentleman was disgruntled about a number of things having to do with the way the Town Council handles applications.
The remainder of the meeting was mostly a one-way presentation by the consultants to "inform" those present how the consultant will approach drafting the new UDO. General information only about the subject. Nothing controversial.
The consultant involved audience members in three vignettes which portrayed cases where other towns/counties had failed to propery hear and handle development requests. Other than being humorous, these were more of a Delphi technique to make the audience "feel involved" and to accept the consultant's plans as "their own".
Nevertheless, I heard nothing to be alarmed about yet in the process. The "proof" will come when the public is given the first draft of the new UDO for review.
Bill Cochrane
 The Southern Pines Planning Board met in the Boyd Room at 180 Broad St. SW at 7:00 P.M. on February 16, 2012. The purpose of the meeting was to review and decide upon which federal NAICS industry codes will be recommended to the Southern Pines Town Council as "pre-approved" for permitting in those areas zoned "Industrial" within the Southern Pines Town jurisdiction.
You can watch the Planning Board decide on codes to include or exclude based on their personal and emotional reactions to the wording of the NAICS index entries. Many times they freely admit that they have no idea what the code covers, but they exclude any that sound "dirty" or "dangerous". And they exclude any which they deem "inappropriate" for an industrial area, even when those uses, or businesses, would do no harm by locating within an industrial setting.
The Board members also talk about how they are just the first layer of regulation and bureaucracy that a company must face when establishing a business location. This discussion should help you understand why so many businesses locate in other countries which do not place so many hurdles and so great a regulatory cost in the way of their business.
Overall, a mundane, probably boring to most, meeting. But it gives a great insight into the way Planning Boards think and how they can discourage -- or encourage -- new business and jobs. Once again Mr. Micheal Martin and Mr. Jim Curly raised voices of rational, moral concern. The economy of Southern Pines is struggling -- along with the economies of our nation and the entire world -- so we need to be much more welcoming to businesses and jobs. The more rational and prudent voices on the Planning Board should receive our support and the support of the Council over the more emotional and ideological voices.
Bill Cochrane
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