to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director
Rae Buckley, Housing and Neighborhood Services Senior Planner
subject: Response to Planning Board Petition to Request Financial Support to Hire a Professional Facilitator for the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood
date: September 22, 2008
The purpose of this report is to respond to the Planning Board petition to request that the Council financially support the hiring of a facilitator for the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood.
On June 25, 2008, the Council adopted a resolution to accept the petition to initiate the informational phase, Phase One of the Neighborhood Conservation District Process. The resolution included the instruction to the Planning Board and the Planning Department “to structure the process in a manner that will facilitate a constructive dialogue between the property owners and the neighbors beyond just the Public Information Meeting described in the Land Use Management Ordinance.”
On August 19, 2008, the Planning Board considered the Glen Lennox Neighborhood Conservation District Phase One petition, the petition boundary, and how to structure the informational phase, Phase One of the Neighborhood Conservation District process. In response, the Planning Board approved a resolution that outlined the components of the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood Conservation District Public Information Meeting and also requested “that the Council, as part of the informational phase, financially support the Council’s objective for a facilitated, constructive dialogue between the property owners of the neighborhood in Phase One of the consideration of a Neighborhood Conservation District.” Please see Attachment 1 for a copy of this resolution.
On September 8, the Chair of the Planning Board presented a petition to the Council from the Board to request financial support to hire a professional facilitator for the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood.
As stated in the Planning Board Resolution, the structure of the informational phase, Phase One of the Neighborhood Conservation District process, would include an informational mailing and both a formal Public Information Meeting component that addresses the procedural and informational aspects of developing a Neighborhood Conservation District as well as an informal facilitated discussion(s) component that offers residents and property owners an opportunity to discuss the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood.
On September 4, 2008, the Town mailed a Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood Conservation District Information Packet and Notification of a Public Information Meeting to property owners within the Glen Lennox neighborhood and within 500 feet of the neighborhood. The mailing was also sent to residents of the Glen Lennox apartments.
On September 23, 2008, the Town will hold a Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood Public Information Meeting to provide the residents an opportunity to learn about the Neighborhood Conservation District designation and development process.
To provide the residents of the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood an opportunity to discuss the future of the neighborhood, the Planning Board Resolution requested that the Council, as part of the informational phase, financially support the hiring of a professional facilitator.
We provided the Board with a Facilitated Discussion Proposal from the Dispute Settlement Center of Orange County that estimated the cost to be approximately $10,070 with a contingency for small group facilitators of $40 an hour. Please see Attachment 2 for this proposal.
If the Council agrees to financially support the hiring of a professional facilitator, we would recommend using the Council’s consulting fund. The balance in this fund is currently $100,000. Other uses for this fund that have been discussed include consultant assistance with zoning solutions for Carolina North, Inclusionary Zoning, and a Transit Oriented Development District.
That the Council adopt the attached resolution to hire the Dispute Settlement Center to facilitate a constructive dialogue for the residents and property owners of the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood.