At a Monday meeting, Board of Commissioners Chairman Paul Helms asked the board to approve a series of recommendations designed to “help move this important planning project forward.”
The board’s action will have the effect of boosting a proposal that has been stalled several months because of questions advanced by several of the 11 municipalities. Most of these questions address funding concerns.
Helms’ recommendations takes into account the fact that five municipalities in the southern part of the county are funding the development of a Southern Moore County thoroughfare plan contracted through the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Helms said that these towns have already contributed toward a thoroughfare plan and added that data provided for this plan should be useful in developing the county plan.
“If we charge these municipalities, they will be paying double,” Helms said. “I think it would be wise to use what they’ve already paid for.”
Helms talked about the issue with elected officials in several towns before deciding on his recommendation.
Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Pinehurst, Whispering Pines and Taylortown have agreed to pay additional funds for DOT to provide a special study encompassing the highway needs in the southern end of the county. This plan is known as the Southern Moore Thoroughfare Plan.
But the county has been pushing for an independent study of transportation needs throughout the county. This plan would encompass all unincorporated areas as well as the smaller towns.
Seven Lakes, the largest unincorporated development in the county, has already expressed interest in joining the plan. The Seven Lakes Civic Group last year submitted a $1,500 check to be included.
Commissioner Michael Holden wanted to know if this would mean returning the payment made by Seven Lakes. It does.
And the board agreed that another large private development, Woodlake, should be invited to participate.
“I think the county would be more in control that way,” Helms said of his proposal to pay the full cost.
In addition to agreeing to full payment, his proposal calls for formation of a transportation committee composed of two representatives from each municipality, as well as from the county and from Seven Lakes and Woodlake.
Helms also proposed that one representative from each community should meet with county officials in the near future to review the scope of the study and make recommendations for fine-tuning.
Holden said he agreed with Helms’ idea but suggested that the committee’s duties should be spelled out in more detail.
County Planning Director Nancy Roy agreed to prepare a list of guidelines for the committee and said she would probably follow a format similar to the one used so successfully with development of the countywide land-use plan four years ago. She will also notify the municipalities and Seven Lakes about the changed plan and ask them to appoint committee representatives.
“I will also ask Woodlake if they would like a seat at the table,” Roy said.
Helms pointed out that the county has already earmarked $37,500 in this year’s budget to pay half of the estimated $75,000 cost. He suggested that the county set aside a similar sum for the 2002-03 budget.
Although it may be necessary to renegotiate the cost, Helms said there are indications that the price will remain in the same range.
The concept of an independent transportation study emerged from the Moore County Planning Board, which faced difficulty in developing a countywide thoroughfare plan that would meet the varying needs of different communities. The Planning Board proposed that the county hire a private consultant to devise a plan that would benefit the towns as well as the county and avoid conflicting highway developments.
One proposal covered by this concept is a search for innovative traffic solutions that could reduce the need for costly road projects.
The consultant would also be asked to recommend road widenings, parkways, bypasses and other creative projects that would provide overall transportation benefits to the county.
Covered by the study would be an analysis of land-use plans and existing zoning classifications for major corridors, such as U.S. 1, N.C. 24-27, N.C. 22, N.C. 211, and U.S. 15-501. An analysis of N.C. 5 is currently in the scope of services but was recently contracted to a private consultant by DOT.
The Moore County consultant will be asked to recommend future land-use considerations based on traffic analysis of the major corridors, to make an analysis of future planned road improvements that will affect county traffic patterns, and conduct an origination/destination survey of N.C. 211 from Seven Lakes to the Pinehurst Traffic Circle.
The consultant’s plan, if adopted by the county, would be turned over to NCDOT for inclusion in the Transportation Improvement Plan.
In other business during the Monday meeting, the commissioners:
n Authorized the Tax Department to advertise tax liens on real property for which 2001 taxes have not been paid. The advertisement will appear March 6.
n Called a public hearing to consider a request by Judy Rowland for conditional use district rezoning on property that fronts on Blues Siding Road and N.C. 22, changing the zoning from Residential Agricultural-40 to RA-CUD.
