NEW HANOVER COUNTY — While many jobs have been deemed nonessential and businesses have closed due to Covid-19, local governments must continue to function during these times — but so much of local government depends on public meetings.
From special use permits for new developments to hearing public comment at a City Council meeting, things are changing, so how is local government adapting while ensuring the public remains involved in local governance?
In the City of Wilmington, most of the municipal boards and commissions have canceled all meetings for the month of April.
“Out of concern for our board and commission members, applicants, city staff and interested citizens, and consistent with State and Federal directives all board and commission meetings involving land use and development, including the Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, Historic Preservation Commission, and Subdivision Review Board have been canceled through the end of April,” according to the City of Wilmington.
City of Wilmington spokesman Dylan Lee said these meetings will hopefully resume in May.
“While all Development Services public meetings have been canceled in April, we plan to resume these meetings in May. (Planning Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Board of Adjustment, Subdivision Review Board). We are still working out the details on each and will announce schedule/location/technology platform as we get the details,” Lee said.
However, news recently showed predictive models suggesting the time spent social distancing might need to be up to two months in order to help slow the spread of the virus.
The Wilmington City Council has used technology to broadcast its meetings for years and an archive of all meetings can be found online, however, due to social distancing recommendations, some of these meetings are being conducted remotely now.
When it comes to development in Wilmington, things might be slowing down due to the virus but they have not stopped. With new development often comes the need for community meetings, but during these times, that is not always possible.
“There are other required public meetings that some developers must have prior to submitting a case to some of these boards. These meetings are the responsibility of the developer,” Lee said.
Recommendations have been made by the city’s staff as to how developers should move forward with these meetings.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared an emergency on the local, state, and federal levels. In keeping with federal and state directives, as well as city health and safety standards adopted for consistency, the City of Wilmington discourages applicants from conducting in-person community meetings required for conditional district rezonings (City Code §18-228) or special use permits (City Code §18-82) during the period of emergency declaration(s).
“For community outreach during the declaration of emergency, planning staff recommends the following:
- Include a contact phone number and email address with your mailed notice to allow for direct contact between you and affected property owners.
- An online meeting invitation be included with the notice inviting property owners to take part in an online discussion about the project (e.g. Zoom, Skype, TeamViewer, etc.).
- A full description of the project, including proposed site plans and elevations”
