Town of Seven Devils

Planning Board Minutes

Regular Meeting

November 19, 2007

 

Call to Order

 

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Chairman David Hooper. Other members present were Vice Chairman Bob Haugh, Loren Williams, Butch McLean, Mike Tarlton and Sarah Manning.  Absent and excused was George Ehlinger.  Also present was Town Manager Brad Lambert and Zoning Administrator Don Fulkerson.  Town Clerk Karen Daniels recorded the minutes.

 

Adopt Agenda

 

Vice Chairman Bob Haugh made a motion to adopt the agenda.  Member Manning seconded the motion.  The members agreed unanimously.  

 

Approval of Minutes of October 15, 2007 Regular Meeting and October 18, 2007 Continuation Meeting.

 

Chairman Hooper requested on Page 3 of the October 15, 2007 minutes the last sentence in the first paragraph be changed to read (After discussion the Board agreed to wait until they hear more from the Town Council).  Member Tarlton noted he was absent at the October 18, 2007 Continuation Meeting.   The Town Clerk was requested to make these corrections.   

 

Member Manning made a motion to approve the October 15, 2007 Regular Meeting minutes and the October 18, 2007 Continuation Meeting minutes as amended.  Member Tarlton seconded the motion.  The members agreed unanimously.    

 

Citizen Comments

 

Richard DeMott, Alpine Drive stated he felt there were items on the agenda that required serious consideration and he felt the Board should do some serious deliberation and wait on these until legal issues were resolved.  Bob Dodson, Moonlight Trail stated he agrees with Mr. DeMott's suggestion.  

 

Administrative Comments – Don Fulkerson

 

None

 

Old Business

 

  1. Discussion and possible action on zoning for High Quality Water Area (HQW) within a mile of the Watauga River – Bob Haugh – Vice Chairman Haugh stated after the October 18th discussion with Corey Basinger from the North Carolina Department of Water Quality (DENR), a recommendation was made to contact the appropriate person with Watauga County to have them visit Seven Devils to see how the County is dealing with this, interacting with the State and how it applies to Seven Devils.  After discussion, the Board agreed for Vice Chairman Haugh to see if he can line up Joe Furman with Watauga County Planning and Inspections to come to the next Planning Board meeting. – OPEN -  

 

  1. Committee Report – Recreation Plan for Seven Devils – Loren Williams – Member Williams said Erik Rabinowitz Assistant Professor of Recreation Management from ASU and one of his students had been present and they had a productive meeting today.  Loren stated they distributed information the committee members had collected on recreation possibilities in Seven Devils.  He said they had reviewed the "Draft Questionair of a Resident Survey of Recreational Needs" prepared by the Recreation Management Group at ASU and did some extensive revisions on the questionair.  Loren stated at the end of their discussion Erik and his student agreed they would put together a new draft which Loren will distribute to the committee.  The committee agreed to meet again on Wednesday, November 28th at 8:30 am to review the new version of the questionnaire.  Loren said the committee feels a need to maximize the returns from the questionnaire to get as much input as possible from the citizens and residents of Seven Devils.  Erik, his colleagues and Brad have agreed to spend time thinking about ways to maximize the return of the questionnaire.  - OPEN –

 

  1. Discussion and possible action – modifying Zoning Ordinance to create team work with the Town and Hawksnest – Don Fulkerson – Zoning Administrator Fulkerson stated members of the Town Council are present and have recommended we wait on this until related legal issues are resolved.   The Board agreed to table this issue until a future date. – OPEN -

 

New Business

 

  1. Discussion and possible action on modification to Driveway Ordinance requiring repair of right-of-way after driveway addition – David Hooper - Chairman Hooper stated this is an issue that was brought up by Kathy Copley and asked Kathy to address this issue.  Member Copley stated at a Public Works meeting there was discussion regarding how to best protect the Right of Way  (ROW) requiring builders to return the ROW to its original width where it has been cut (as for a driveway).  The Zoning Administrator stated he is not aware of any problems and he feels the current regulations are sufficient.  He said sometimes construction roads dig into road banks and that is ok on a temporary basis but, when the job is finished we require the road bank be restored to its original condition and not erode.  After discussion the Board agreed to leave the Driveway Ordinance as is and for construction to be evaluated by the Zoning Administrator on a case by case basis. –CLOSED-   

 

  1. No more Laurel Drive addresses – David Hooper – Chairman Hooper stated this issue was brought to my attention by Tom Bookstaver.  He then asked Tom to address the issue. Tom stated this is an issue he had discussed with Elaine Griffith of Watauga County 911.  He said they were talking about different roads in Seven Devils and she mentioned that every community in Watauga County has Laurel addresses.  This can become a large cause of confusion in the event the police or fire department is dispatched.   Since Seven Devils does not have a house on Laurel, Elaine suggested changing the name of the road.  The Town Manager stated it would be up to the Town Council to change the name but he doesn't think it would be a problem with the Post Office and he will check into this.  – OPEN -

 

Board Member Comments

 

None

 

At 6:00 pm Member Williams made a motion to adjourn.  Member McLean seconded the motion.  The members agreed unanimously.

 

 

 

 

 

______________________                            ____________________________

David Hooper, Chairman                                Karen E. Daniels, Town Clerk