The Southern Shores Town Council had one of its busier meetings last week:
- Approving a Town budget of $12,795,709 for fiscal year 2024-25, which starts July 1;
- Learning from a N.C. State professor a multitude of facts about Eurasian milfoil, before authorizing the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality to survey Southern Shores canals for presence of the invasive weed;
- Discussing proposed changes to the Town Zoning Ordinance that would establish design standards for the commercial district; and
- Re-appointing two full members and two alternate members of the Planning Board to new three-year terms.
The one agenda topic the Town Council did not reach June 4 was affordable housing because Planning Board Alternate Michael Zehner, a professional planner who was going to initiate a Town “conversation,” could not attend the meeting. Mr. Zehner’s presentation was rescheduled to the Council’s July 2 meeting.
Police Chief David Kole also reported that a background check was then in process for a new officer and that Senior Patrol Officer Christopher L. Simpson had been promoted to sergeant.
The next Town Council meeting will be July 2, 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center. Mayor Elizabeth Morey announced that she will hold a Mayor’s chat on Wed., July 17, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., in the Pitts Center.
For background on the June 4 meeting agenda topics, see The Beacon, 6/2/24. For the meeting agenda and background materials, see:
EURASIAN MILFOIL 101
At the invitation of Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, Professor Rob Richardson, the Dept. of Crop Science at N.C. State University, appeared via Zoom, to give a thorough and comprehensive presentation about Eurasian milfoil, an invasive weed that typically grows in shallow waterways.
It was all you would ever want to know—and then some.
Dr. Richardson, who is the Aquatic and Non-Cropland Weed Scientist at N.C. State, covered what Eurasian milfoil is and where it is found in the United States; how to control milfoil, which grows from seeds in sediment into matted infestations, so it does not block the use of waterways; and how to eradicate milfoil, if that is a goal.
The Professor characterized Eurasian milfoil, which is typically found in the Northeast and Midwest and not as far south as North Carolina, as a “weak submersed aquatic perennial.”
During an excellent question-and-answer session with the Town Council after his talk, Dr. Richardson said the presence of the noxious invasive weed in a waterway varies from year-to-year—depending on such factors as water salinity and temperature, rainfall amounts, the effects of storms, waterway shading, and plant disease.
Dr. Richardson explained that there are 15 herbicides available to treat milfoil, and they come in either a granular (pellets) or liquid form. They all use a chemical known as 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), which was an ingredient in Agent Orange, an herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War that caused harm to human beings.
It was not the 2,4-D in Agent Orange that caused the herbicide’s toxicity, Dr. Richardson said in response to a question from the Council. It was the combination of 2,4-D with 2,4,5-T (Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid), whose synthesis produces dioxin, which is highly toxic to animals and humans.
2,4,5-T is no longer used in U.S. herbicides.
At its May meeting, the Town Council considered signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality to enter into a 50-50 cost-sharing milfoil eradication treatment partnership. (See The Beacon, 5/4/24.)
Only three Town Council members attended the May meeting, and they voted not to take any action on milfoil eradication until NCDEQ conducts a territorial survey of the weed in Southern Shores waterways. (See The Beacon, 6/10/24.)
After Dr. Richardon’s presentation last week, the full Council unanimously approved signing a revised MOU with NCDEQ for a $2,000 aquatic vegetation survey to be conducted between June 3 and Aug. 30, when the weed is reproducing. The survey will determine the distribution and extent of Eurasian milfoil in the canals, and the Town will pay $1,000 toward its cost.
Dr. Richardson said a 2,4-D herbicide presents a “very low risk to animals and humans,” but it can damage other plants and, thus, the aquatic habitat. He also said its effects on milfoil last from 18 months to four years.
COMMERCIAL DESIGN STANDARDS
The Town Council spent a considerable amount of time reviewing Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 24-03, which adds a new section to the Zoning Ordinance on “commercial design standards” (Sec. 36-179) and also new definitions intended to limit the “building area,” i.e., the footprint, in the commercial district.
The ZTA introduces the concept of a “finished area ratio,” which it defines as the “finished area divided by the land area,” where “finished area” is the same as heated “living space” (Town Code sec. 36-57) and “land area” means “the net acreage of a lot.” A proposed commercial design standard in ZTA 24-03 limits the “finished area ratio” for all buildings to 0.35.
Because of time constraints, we did not attend the Planning Board’s May 20 meeting, during which members discussed ZTA 24-03, or listen to the meeting videotape. We understand from Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett’s agenda item summary that the Planning Board, by a 3-2 vote, recommended approval of ZTA 24-03 at that meeting, but also “noted,” Mr. Haskett writes, “that the ZTA is for informational purposes, a first pass.” The Board encouraged the Town Council to “consider a larger evaluation or study of the Town’s commercial properties in the commercial corridor.”
You will find ZTA 24-03 on pp. 22-27 in the June 4 meeting packet. It also has a proposed change to the off-street parking requirements in the Town Code (Sec. 36-163) that would allow a business to reduce its required parking by one space for every 20 parking spaces, if it plants a shade tree instead. The idea is to reduce the formation of asphalt deserts.
We will not delve too deeply into Council members’ discussion of ZTA 24-03, which was principally led by Mayor Pro Tem Matt Neal, who is a professional builder.
The Council held a public hearing on the ZTA, but no one from the public spoke.
Mr. Neal questioned the new terminology, in particular, the concept of “maximum finished area ratio,” asking where it came from and commenting that “the term is not taught in school.” Floor area ratio is the term he uses and knows and would prefer to continue using.
Mr. Haskett’s response implied that the term came from Mr. Zehner, who previously served as planning director of Nags Head for about 2 1/2 years.
“I like where [the ZTA is] headed,” Mr. Neal said, “I just don’t think it’s a complete document.”
Councilwoman Paula Sherlock called it an “excellent start.” Councilman Mark Batenic thought the ZTA contained ambiguities and “needs further review” before he could pass it.
Observing that “there’s a lot that needs to be amended” in the ZTA, Mr. Neal suggested forming a consulting group to “blue sky this thing and think about what we want our commercial district to look like.”
Ultimately, the Council unanimously voted to table ZTA 24-03 until its July 2 meeting, at which time we would expect the measure to have been revised to address some of the Council’s concerns.
IN OTHER ACTION:
- The Town Council unanimously approved Mr. Ogburn’s Recommended Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget of $12,795,709, after it held the State-mandated public hearing. No one from the public spoke.
- The Council unanimously approved designation of the flat top cottage at 13 Skyline Road, which the Town owns and partially renovated, as a historic landmark. No one spoke during the public hearing on the historic landmark designation application except Mr. Haskett.
- The Council unanimously approved a FY 2023-24 budget amendment of $264,789, the funds to come from the Town’s Unassigned Fund Balance and to be applied to street improvements at the end of the third year (June 30, 2024) of the Town’s 10-year street improvement plan. The advance will reduce the amount of work funded in the fourth year, which begins July 1.
- The Council unanimously approved reappointing regular Planning Board Members Andy Ward and Robert McClendon and Alternates Michael Zehner and Charles Ries to new three-year terms, beginning July 1, 2024 and expiring June 30, 2027.
In her comments at the end of the meeting, Mayor Morey said the Juniper Trail Culvert Replacement Project will start construction “after the first of the year,” rather than at the end of 2024, as the Town Manager had previously announced.
THE PLANNING BOARD will meet on Monday, June 17, at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center. An agenda has not been posted on the Town website, as of this writing.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/14/24
The Southern Shores Beacon 