On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Commissioners met to hold a public hearing on the schedule of updating property tax values throughout the county and to discuss language changes to land use rules.
What’s new?
- Commissioners Sally Greene and Anna Richards presented a resolution calling on the Board for the county’s support in ending the death penalty in North Carolina.
- “Be it resolved that the Orange County Board of Commissioners calls on the governor of North Carolina to use his broad clemency power to commute North Carolina's 136 death sentences to prison terms, therefore ensuring that these outdated and unfair sentences are never carried out,” the resolution read.
- The Orange County BOC previously renounced the death penalty in 2015, Board Chair Jamezetta Bedford said.
- Members of the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP) spoke to the board, highlighting ties between the death penalty’s origin and racism.
- “The modern death penalty as we know it, is rooted in our past of racism and white supremacy, and for many who might not know, Orange County itself is no stranger to this,” NCCADP Community Engagement Coordinator Nick Courmon said.
- The board discussed a presentation of the Greene Tract Master Plan.
- “There’s a compromise with getting enough affordable housing and transportation ways, and I think we've done a good job doing it and better than in the past,” Commissioner Jean Hamilton said.
- The plan includes mixed-income housing with options for seniors and veterans, 22-acres of jointly-owned preserve property, network transportation facilities, recreation opportunities, makers-space and a 16-acre public school.
- In September, the Town of Chapel Hill and the Town of Carrboro contracted the UNC School of Government Development Finance Initiative to conduct a financial analysis of the Master Plan.
- The zoning of the Master Plan still has to be approved by the Town of Chapel Hill.
What’s changed?
- Planning and Inspections Director Cy Stober presented changes to “overly complex” language within the Unified Development Ordinance regarding landscaping, buffers and tree protection.
- “This is so much clearer than what you had before, and really helps give the landscape architects and the developers a lot of clarity on what they need to submit to us,” Stober said.
- The text amendments also allow for regulation of new types of vegetation within the UDO.
- The changes follow the recent ruling in Arter v. Orange County that requires clear policies.
What decisions were made?
- The Board approved the Greene Tract Master Plan.
- The Board voted to approve changes to clarify the UDO in regards to landscaping policies.
- The Board unanimously approved a proposal to restructure the appraising of property taxes in Orange County. Adoption of the Schedule of Rules, Standards and Values, or the toolbox of appraisal system content, including calculation tables and code for determining tax values, will be Oct. 15.
- The schedule of values will provide the procedure for determining tax value, as well as a guide to keeping all properties in Orange County equitably assessed. The next reevaluation is in 2025 according to the Orange County website.
- Nov. 15 will be the last day residents can appeal the schedule of values to the N.C. Property Tax Commission and reappraisal is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2025.
What’s next?
- Next week, the Board will have a work session and a joint meeting with the fire department, both set for Oct. 8 beginning at 7 p.m.
