WILMINGTON — The coronavirus has caused life as many people know it to come to a standstill, but — after weeks without meetings — the City of Wilmington’s Planning Commission is heading back to work.
However, things will not be business as usual just yet and questions remain regarding how exactly the Planning Commission will conduct public hearings during a time when the state government has banned mass gatherings.
Public hearings are generally required for the majority of requests that pass through the Planning Commission. Sometimes these hearings are brief and only the applicant speaks in favor of their request, and the public hearing portion is closed. Other times, neighbors can show out in force, protesting particular requests or projects.
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These public hearings are one of the few ways residents and neighbors can ensure their voices are heard by decisionmakers — so how exactly is the city planning on including the public in its upcoming meeting?
Planning Director for the City of Wilmington Glenn Harbeck explained how the city made its decisions when it came to moving forward with the Planning Commission meetings, and the method of public input.
The City of Wilmington is just one of a couple of cities statewide that Harbeck is aware of that is still allowing public, in-person, input during meetings (as far as he knew, Charlotte and Wilmington are the only two cities doing so). Although the situation is not ideal, Harbeck admitted, the city is working to ensure residents have a chance to have their voices heard.
Public meetings in the coronavirus era
The Planning Commission meeting will take place at the Wilmington Convention Center at 6 p.m., the public is invited to attend, however, the city is asking residents to consider watching the meeting online instead. So why is the meeting being held at the Wilmington Convention Center? To accommodate residents who want to be heard.
“We canceled all meetings in April and we decided not to have meetings in Council Chambers because we can’t accommodate people in person very well in Council Chambers or the Harrelson Room,” Harbeck said.
For those who are interested in attending in person, the city has set up several different rooms at the convention center to accommodate the public while respecting social distancing guidelines. Safety is a top priority for the city and the different rooms will allow those interested in speaking a chance to do so safely, he said.
The use of technology will help residents wishing to speak and watch the meeting in person. Each room or ”salon,’ as the city calls them, will be set up with a video conference setup for the public to observe the meeting. When it comes time for public comment each person will use a podium set up in the hallway which will be sanitized after every individual uses it.
A nurse will also be at the building taking people’s temperatures before allowing them access to the convention center, if they have a fever, they will not be permitted to enter the building.
Strict time limits
Planning Commission meetings have been known to run long in the past, but that won’t likely be the case on Wednesday. That’s because according to the city, time restrictions will be strictly enforced during the meeting.
“Public comments will be limited to a maximum of 10 minutes total for members of the public speaking in support of an application and a maximum of 10 minutes total time for members of the public speaking in opposition to an application. Once the 10 minute period has expired no further comments will be allowed and anyone waiting to speak will not be allowed to do so. For this reason, all members of the public are encouraged to submit any comments online prior to the deadline,” according to the Planning Commission’s agenda.
While these time limits are typically in place regardless of Covid-19, Harbeck acknowledged the chair of the board has the ability to allow interested parties to exceed the time limit.
The city has decided to move forward with legislative requests (rezonings etc), they have postponed quasijudicial matters like special use permits until at least July, Harbeck said. That’s because the rules and regulations for these types of requests are much more strict and are conducted much like a court hearing.
So why not just cancel the Planning Commission meetings until restrictions on public gatherings are lifted? It’s all about trying to keep the region moving forward economically as best as the city can, according to Harbeck.
“We’ve got to figure out those parts of our economy that can go forward in this crisis. Growth in our area is a major part of our economy. The two largest parts of our local economy when you look at the statistics is probably tourism, number one, and growth and development number two,” Harbeck said.
Another important thing to think about is the fact that the longer these meetings are delayed the more items will be lumped together on upcoming agendas. This can cause meetings to run extremely late which could also impact public participation in the future.
Harbeck admits that the current method is not a perfect method for public participation, but it is worth looking into how the city can use this technology in the future. Eventually, the public comment portion of meetings will likely be back to normal, but Harbeck said that using some of the technology used during Covid-19 could find its way to future meetings.
What’s on the agenda?
There are several items on the commission’s agenda for May 6 including two rezoning requests, seven conditional district rezonings, and a text amendment that will allow laundromats in mixed-use districts.
Of the requests, there are a few that have drawn the attention of the public more than others.
Item number two is a request from Jason Swain to allow for the construction of a new carwash on Eastwood Road on property adjacent to Lidl. It might seem like a significant request, however, the fact of the matter is that when the property was granted conditional zoning district status in 2015 developers offered a look at what neighbors could expect to go on the property.
Originally planned to be retail and office space, a car wash is significantly different than what was proposed.
Another request that will have an impact on a major intersection in Wilmington is item 10.
The rezoning request would rezone 1.89 acres of land off Gordon Road and Market Street which is currently zoned residential. If the applicants get their way, the property would be rezoned to residential business, allowing commercial uses on the property.
While this is a fairly common type of rezoning, one thing that stands out for the request is the impact on traffic this request will have. The roads are already overburdened operating at a level of service F — the worst a road can be graded.
If approved, the traffic impact analysis shows daily trips going from 28 a day to 2,082 — a 7,000%+ increase.
