Town of North Topsail Beach
Planning Board Minutes
March 8, 2007 at 7:00 pm 

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PRESENT:

MIKE YAWN-CHAIRMAN, SUE TUMAN, DON MARTIN, GUNNAR MATTHEWS, GARY ROWLAND, THOMAS BEST- FIRE CHIEF, RANDALL MOUDY-BUILDING INSPECTOR, DEBORAH HILL- ZONING ADMINISTRATOR, TERRIE WOODLE- PERMIT TECH/ RECORDING SECRETARY

NOT PRESENT: PAUL DORAZIO, GERALD RIGGLEMAN

I.  CALL TO ORDER:

Mr. Yawn called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the North Topsail Beach meeting room.  Mr. Yawn stated that we need to have Approval of Agenda added to the Agenda.  He has been requested to move the activities relative to bridges to the top of the Agenda.

Mr. Martin made a motion to approve the agenda as amended.  Mrs. Tuman seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.

II. DISCUSSION

1. POLICY & PROCEDURES: PRIVATE BRIDGES 

Mr. Best, Fire Chief for North Topsail Beach introduced Amanda Glen, an Engineer with DOT Bridge Maintenance, Joe Blair, over sees construction of bridges and Chad Kimes-Engineer.

 Mr. Yawn stated that the Town of North Topsail Beach is a barrier island and we have valuable land that developers want to build private bridges to small islands in the Town’s jurisdiction and we have concerns about the quality and the fire apparatus getting over to the islands so we are trying to draft up some procedures to use as far as the construction standards and maintenance the bridges should have.  Mr. Yawn stated even in the event of a hurricane what post hurricane steps should we take to make sure the bridge is sound.  He stated that we have two private bridges already. 

Mr. Yawn asked if DOT had experience with other Towns that have private bridges and what they do.  Mr. Blair stated that they don’t usually get involved in private bridges.  Mr. Yawn asked if any other Towns are using DOT standards that they are aware of.  Mr. Blair stated that Figure Eight Island is the only one that they know of and he is not sure if it is done to DOT standards.  Mr. Blair suggested contacting Figure Eight Island. 

Mr. Yawn stated that our intent here is to be as stringent on a private developer building a bridge as DOT would if it were a public bridge.

Mr. Blair stated that the company that is approved to do the job should have the actual design standard that is used and will meet the certain weight criteria in accordance with the AASTO standard specifications.  He also asked who is going to accept the responsibility for it once it is constructed and what is the maintenance schedule going to be.  Mr. Yawn stated that those are all issues we have had discussions on and the Town doesn’t want to accept responsibility because it is a private bridge on a private road.  We want to make that the responsibility of the owner of the bridge and we can do that through our Ordinances or Regulations.

Mr. Rowland stated that if there is a frequency of inspections that would be depending on a lot of factors not the least of which is the material that the bridge is made out of, that is why we are looking to the DOT to find out what your requirements are and we in turn will adopt those requirements as our own and place the responsibility upon the people that build the bridge.  Mr. Yawn stated that we know that a four lane highway over a high rise bridge has different standards than a two lane bridge over a ten foot creek and we think we are going to have to have different standards also depending on how long the bridge is. 

Ms. Glen stated that Federal Highway requires that they inspect their bridges every two years unless they are critical.  She stated that their moveable spans are inspected every year.  She stated that there are three different types of inspections crews which are the top side inspection crew, underwater inspection crew and those are both done every two years and if it is a bridge that has to be inspected annually we have a special team that does the whole bridge annually.  Mr. Rowland asked if we could get a copy of the specs.  Ms. Glen stated that they aren’t really specs; the inspectors have to be trained, there is a course given by federal highway that is called Inspections for in service bridges.  She stated that she would see if she could locate one of the books so the Town would have some guidelines to go by.  She stated that in any case who ever assumes the responsibility of the bridge once it is built will have to have someone that is certified to do the inspections.  Mr. Yawn asked if it was a certified engineer or is there a specific bridge certification.  Ms. Glen stated that there is a specific course that the DOT Inspectors take that is given by Federal DOT.  She stated that these inspectors are all in house but there are consultants out there to get in touch with.  Mrs. Tuman asked if these classes are open to people outside of DOT.  Ms. Glen stated that since it is a Federal class it is open. 

Mr. Yawn asked if there were any standards for post hurricane inspections or post disaster inspections.  Ms. Glen stated that if a bridge goes totally under water we require an inspection by our certified inspectors, if the bridge does not go totally underwater the inspectors just do a visual inspection. 

Mrs. Tuman asked about wooden bridges, since DOT does not do any more wooden bridges does the Town need not allow any wooden bridges.  Ms. Glen stated that they see a lot of decay in wooden bridges and that would be up to the Town.  Mr. Yawn asked if DOT had different standards if the bridge crosses a real body of water or a navigable body of water or if it just over marsh.  Ms. Glen stated that the only thing that would make a difference would be the height limit.

Mr. Blair stated that he would try and get a copy of the AASHTO Standards, and they could get the Town a copy of the inspection schedules and someone from the Town would need to talk to their instructor, he asked for the name and number of who would contact the instructor.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

Mr. Martin made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Mr. Rowland seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.

2. LAND USE PLAN COMMITTEE SCHEDULE:

Mr. Yawn stated that Landin Holland from Holland and Associates has a conflict with the third Monday of the month.  The Land Use Members decided on the third Tuesday starting with March 20, 2007.  (This was later changed back to the third Monday of the month.)

3. ZONING MAP:

Mr. Yawn stated that the Board of Aldermen approved the Zoning Map at their March 1, 2007 meeting.  Ms. Hill stated that she would like to note for public comment that had it not been for Holland & Associate’s patience and professionalism  we would still be working on the Zoning Map.  She thanked them and acknowledged all their efforts.  Mr. Rowland suggested a letter of appreciation for Holland & Associates, have the Town Manager to send it and have it signed by the Mayor and the Planning Board Chairman Mr. Yawn.

REZONING SCHEDULE:

Mr. Yawn stated that we have a few properties to rezone and one is Property (5) CON-D which is the Island off of 23^rd Ave. with the wooden bridge.  Ms. Hill asked if this property is going to be rezoned to CON-D.  Mr. Yawn stated yes, that is what the Board of Aldermen wants the Planning Board to do.  He stated that Ms. Hill would have to notify the owner and the adjacent property owners and advertise it in the newspaper.  Mr. Yawn stated that the second piece of property on the list is the back of Otha Herring’s property.  He stated that he would ask the Board of Aldermen at their next meeting in April to consider rezoning properties 11 and 19.

Mrs. Tuman made a motion to proceed on rezoning properties number 5 and the back of Otha Herring and that the Board of Aldermen consider for rezoning properties 11 and 19.  Mr. Rowland seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.

4. PLANNING BOARD MEMBER & TERMS AS APPROVED BY THE BOA          

ON MARCH 1, 2007:

Ms. Hill stated that she put the Planning Board members and terms in the Planning Board packet just for their information.

5.  DEVELOPMENT REQUEST BY CHARLIE GREGORY:

Ms. Hill stated that for informational purposes only she included a second letter of request by Charlie Gregory.  She stated that since we meet once a month, the more that she keeps the Planning Board informed on different issues, the better prepared the Planning Board will be when the issues do come up.

6. SECTION 7-271. “SUBDIVISION” DEFINED:

Ms. Hill stated that on March 7, 2007 she met with the Mayor, Aldermen Farley and Handy, the Town Manager and the Town Attorney to discuss the problems caused by illegal subdivisions.  They agreed to sanction her actions of requiring and approved variance prior to permit approval for illegally subdivided lots.  Attorney Kilroy offered to have a paralegal research recorded subdivisions from the past nine years to help determine how many lots we’re dealing with, how many have been sold and developed and not developed and neither sold, nor developed.  Based upon the information provided by the paralegal, the Town Leadership may decide that additional action may be warranted.  Appropriate responses may include: 1) Revoke subdivision plat approval, as a subdivision never qualified for exemption due to non-compliance with Zoning Ordinance. 2) Withhold building permits for illegally subdivided lots.     3) Grandfather, if the Town leadership decides that it does not have the time, energy or money to fight lawsuits. 4) Other options to be provided.

Mr. Yawn asked that if he came to the Zoning Officer with a Sub Standard Lot that was done post Town Corporation and he wanted to build something on it would I have to go through the Board of Adjustment.  Ms. Hill stated that you will have to get a Variance and go through the Board of Adjustment because that is an intensification of a non conforming use on a non conforming lot.

III. OTHER BUSINESS:

A.     STAFF REPORTS:

1.  BOARDWALK VILLAS STIE PLAN REVIEW:

Ms. Hill stated that this is a two step process, preliminary review and a final review of the site plan.  She stated that in a preliminary review what she does is go through and make notes of what has been done and what needs to be done.  She stated that she will be sending the Project Manager Tim Price a memo outlining the requirements that need to be met prior to her bringing the site plan to the Planning Board.  She stated that when she does bring the site plan to the Planning Board there will be a staff report that states all of the conditions per the Ordinance have been met; staff recommends the Planning Board’s approval and recommends it to be sent to the Board of Aldermen. 

2. CLARIFICATION OF CODE ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS:

Ms. Hill stated that there was some discussion with the Board of Aldermen in regards to the wetlands.  She stated that she received a phone call from one of the reporters and phone calls from the media to the staff members she works for in State and Federal Agencies  which are the Army Corps of Engineers, DWQ and Division of Coastal Management. She stated that the message that the Army Corps of Engineers received was that North Topsail Beach is not getting support from them.  She stated that she wasn’t sure if it was a misunderstanding between the parties involved or if the media had misunderstood.  She stated that Jon Giles with CAMA, Brad Shaver with the Army Corps of Engineers and Joanne Steenhuis with DWQ have been very responsive with helping her learn their end of it and taking the time out of their day to come and help her out.  She stated that at no time did she ever say that she was not getting a response or help from any of those agencies.

Mr. Rowland asked if it was sourced back to Ms. Hill.  Ms. Hill stated that in her conversations with Jon Giles, Brad Shaver and Joanne Steenhuis, they had all let her know that their bosses had been contacted by the media.  Brad Shavers comment to Ms. Hill was that the message his boss got was that North Topsail Beach had not received support from the Army Corps of Engineers.  Ms. Hill stated that she is not sure where all of this came from.  Ms. Hill stated that when she was contacted by the reporters she told them that she did not want to discuss the specifics because it was counter productive to what we are trying to accomplish which is public awareness, working with the contractors and developers to do business the right way and to provide for growth and development as well as protect the environment in accordance with the regulations and the Town Ordinance.

Mr. Rowland asked if this was an FYI for the board.  Ms. Hill stated that this is a matter for public record because she is very irritated that individuals have gone out of their way to help her and their bosses have received the message that North Topsail Beach is not receiving support.  Mr. Yawn asked where that came from.  Ms. Hill stated that she did not know, but for the record it is not true and she wants it on the record that it is not the case.

IV. PUBLIC FORUM:

No one from the Public had any comments.

V.                 ADJOURNMENT:

Mr. Martin made a motion to adjourn.  Mr. Rowland seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.

The Planning Board Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.  March 8^th, 2007.  Minutes prepared and submitted by Terrie Woodle Permit Tech/ Recording Secretary.