Town Planning Commission OKs New Comp Plan

By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave

March 9, 2015

The Cape Charles Planning Commission met March 3 at the Civic Center, and on the agenda was a review of the changes to the Comprehensive Plan, as well as discussion of a new Tourist Zone.

Comprehensive Plans need to be revised every five years, and going back to 2013, the Planning Commission, under the guidance and tutelage of Elaine Meil, executive director of the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, gamely tackled the revision process. It is important to note that this was not a complete rewrite of the 2009 version; the process involved reviewing the 2009 plan, and then making any changes or updates that are more relevant to where the town is now versus five years ago.

Despite retaining the spirit of the 2009 version, there were still several changes, and citizens may wish to take the time to review them. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the changes and sent on to Town Council for review in April.

The draft Comp Plan is available on the Town’s website (CLICK). Here are some highlights:

Housing

An analysis of the Town’s 2010 Census data shows that 41% of Town households are cost burdened. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines cost burdened households as families who pay more than 30% of their income for all of their housing expenses including utilities. The largest cost burdened group are households who own a home with a mortgage (76), renters (56), and households who own a home without a mortgage (38). The Town needs to be concerned.

Transportation

Mason Avenue and Bay Avenue street improvements should be evaluated and include addition of bicycle lanes, reverse angle parking and aesthetic improvements to promote safety and increase parking spaces. Improvements to the Town’s sidewalks and multi-use paths are also needed to support alternative means of transportation such as walking, biking, and golf cart usage, which are expected to be used more frequently as the population increases.

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Historic Town Entrance Corridor Overlay District

Northampton County has created a new zone designating designated this area as Town Edge and recommends this area as “future growth” for the County. The 2014 Northampton County draft zoning ordinance proposes three zones in this area: Agriculture (A), and three Residential zones (RM, R-3, R-5). Cape Charles desires to protect this corridor from commercial development while allowing the deployment of services such as water and sewer. Cape Charles desires to protect the view shed.

Land Use and Community Character

New land development along Route 13 and particularly along Routes 184 and 642 is of great concern to the Town. The rural character of these roadways should be preserved and protected. (Note: there is no mention of the Town’s plans regarding the Public Service Authority’s desire to run pipe to Route 13 to promote development there).

Library Expansion

Councilwoman Joan Natali was absent from the meeting, but her statements regarding the Comp Plan were read into the record. Natali’s biggest issue had to do with removing language that would include future plans to upgrade the Library, specifically providing handicap access to the second floor. This was a surprise to Commissioner Dan Burke, who exclaimed, “I thought we agreed to take this out.” Chairman Dennis McCoy agreed — “So did I; that’s why I had it read in so we can discuss it.” Commissioner Andy Buchholz then said, “I agree with Joan!”

Taken aback, Burke put on his glasses and began shuffling through his notes. “Are we taking this out or not? We just bought a new library,” he said. Buchholz answered, “I think Joan is right. If the Town grows out, the Library will need to be expanded. It is a law to have to provide handicap access.”

“But it seems like we just spent a lot of (tax money) on the new library,” said Burke.

“We’re talking about the future, we’re looking 15 or 20 years out,” countered Buchholz.

McCoy then asked Burke if he wanted to make a motion to remove the language regarding the library. Burke, shaking his head at having to make a motion to remove language that the Commission had previously agreed to remove, made the motion anyhow. It was not seconded by another member, and Natali’s wish to leave language regarding expanding the library was left in.

But as Commissioner Mike Strub later stated in regard to a new welcome center, most people — especially the younger generation — more and more are just leveraging their smart phones, tablets, and computers when it comes to finding information or data. Technology and the Internet have been very disruptive to many cherished institutions, suggesting the need for reconsideration of future expanded funding for things such as a library. It might be found more practical to provide broadband Internet without charge to town residents.

Tourism Zone

The commission again took up the creation of a Tourism Zone in Cape Charles. Tourism zones are generally designed to attract more investment by offering qualified businesses incentives usually in the form of a reduction or waiver of taxes, performance grants on tax revenue generation from meals, lodging, admissions, local sales, capital improvements (machinery and tools), or even a reduction or waiver of permit fees and/or water and sewer availability. According to State code, any city, county, or town may establish one or more tourism zones, and may grant tax incentives and provide certain regulatory flexibility in a tourism zone. The tax incentives may be for up to 20 years and may include reduction of permit fees, user fees, and any type of gross receipts tax.

Establishment of a tourism zone shall not preclude the area from also being designated as an enterprise zone, or,  in the case of Cape Charles, a Technology Zone. Commissioner Buchholz asked, “Is there any way we can reduce the $25,000 capital improvement limit to make it worthwhile for the shops? Most of the smaller shops probably won’t hit the $25k number. For capital expenditure, only the yacht center may be able to use it.”

“$25,000 doesn’t sound like a lot,” responded Burke. “My kitchen renovation almost cost that much.”

“This needs more work before we can send it to Town Council,” said Vice Chairman Strub, and the Commission agreed to put off any decision until a later date.

As a final note, Commissioner Sandra Salopek offered, “This is a way to help the little guy.”

Newly hired Town Planner Larry DiRe warned of the dangers of tourism zone incentives. “Be careful of what we are getting into. How much can we (the Town) really afford to give back?” he cautioned. The Town Council needs to be aware of the potential costs and “the fiscal implication of the numbers — there needs to be a procedure to determine how much it will cost, to manage money coming in and how much will eventually go out.”

Just before adjournment, Commissioner Salopek broached the topic of a welcome center in town, because some people had questioned her about it. Currently, the Cape Charles Museum co-functions as the welcome center, but apparently there are some folks that would like a welcome center proper. Town Clerk Libby Hume informed the Commission that the plans for the new Art Walk include continuing to use the museum as the official town welcome center.

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