BY DEBBIE PAGE

The Troutman Planning and Zoning Board on Monday recommended a number of changes to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to address incomplete standards or to provide standards for new types of uses coming to the Troutman area.

Randy Farmer was re-elected as board chair and Karen Van Vliet as vice-chair before the board began the evening’s business.

EV CHARGING STATIONS

Tesla wants to bring a dozen Level 3 “Supercharger” electric vehicle charging (EVC) stations to the Exxon station at Exit 42. Installer Dewberry Engineers approached the town for direction since the town’s UDO does not address this relatively new type of facility.

Town Planner Lynne Hair noted that electric vehicles are increasingly popular, with sales growing 26 percent in the past two years in top auto markets. Approximately 851,000 new passenger EVs were registered in March 2022, 60 percent more than the year before, thus triggering the need for increased charging facilities.

Level 1 charging is a slow 120 volt (household outlet) process, only adding 3 to 5 miles per hour. Level 2 charging reaches 208 to 240 volts, allowing for a 12 to 80 mile per hour charge. In contrast, the lightning-fast Level 3 EV stations (400 to 900 volts) charge from 3 to 20 miles per minute.

Tesla Superchargers are part of a proprietary charging network, installed by Tesla, that can only be used to charge Tesla vehicles.

Hair suggested that the town allow only level 1 and 2 EV charging stations in residential areas, with level 3 chargers, which can fully charge a Tesla’s battery in 30 to 40 minutes, being allowed only in commercial and industrial zoning areas.

The UDO standards specify that EVC station parking spaces be included to determine minimum parking in new development and cannot reduce the required number of parking spaces if added to existing development.

EVC stations in residential developments should be available only to residents and guests, not the general public.

EVC stations also cannot impede vehicle or pedestrian traffic, fire lanes, or site access, can be a maximum of nine feet tall, and must be screened by a fence, berm, evergreen shrubbery or a combination thereof.

Finally, all town, electrical and building permits must be obtained to construct an EVC station.

Some board members were concerned that the EVCs would only serve Teslas, but Hair pointed out Tesla was paying for the stations.

Dewberry Representatives Lucas Phillips and Taylor Davoren also noted that Telsa had recently shared its charging technology with other EV manufacturers, who can change their engineering and car production to accommodate Tesla EVC system if they wish. No adapters are currently available to make the Tesla EVC stations universal.

The board voted unanimously to recommend adoption of these EVC standards to allow this project to move forward.

MOBILE FOOD TRUCK VENDORS

To better regulate food trucks, Hair recommended passage of an ordinance change to allow food service establishments (restaurants, ice cream or coffee shops, etc.) to operate an associated permanent food truck at the rear of their premises as an accessory use.

On other types of commercial or industrial premises, food trucks can apply for a temporary use for up to a total of three months at a site with the permission of the property owner. The three-month period can be consecutive or be divided up as the operator desires.

The truck could also move every three months to other sites in own, with the property owner’s permission.

The food truck must be 15 feet from road right of way and not impede traffic sight lines or traffic. No signage is allowed except logos on the truck itself, and any related storage or equipment and garbage must be removed at close of business. All state and local permits must also be in place.

Exemptions from these regulations include temporary food truck usage for eight or less hours at town or fairgrounds events, parties at a residence, or at a church, school, or business event. However, the food trucks must be parked off the street to avoid interfering with traffic.

The board voted 6-1 to adopt the amendment, with Mark Taylor dissenting.

OTHER AMENDMENTS

The board also unanimously recommended text amendments to add requirements for sidewalks along both sides of the street in mixed residential, office institutional, commercial business, highway business, and neighborhood center zoning areas and on one side of the street in suburban and town residential zoning districts.

Hair recommended this change because the current UDO has no mechanism to require sidewalks along the front of residential developments built along NCDOT maintained two-lane roads outside of town limits, such as along Westmoreland or Autumn Leaf Roads.

The board also recommended an amendment to allow certain structures in the front yard setbacks, such as shelters over mailbox or package locker kiosks that all new development is required to have. These kiosks are typically located at the front property line of a designated open space.

This change would also allow construction of bus stop shelters, EVC stations, and other public structures. However, these structures cannot interfere with sight lines at intersections or driveways.

The board also recommended language regulating feather flags in the town’s signage ordinance. The ordinance would be amended to allow one feather flag of up to 14 feet tall as a temporary use for a total of no more than 12 weeks per year, consecutively or divided up as the business desires.

RULES OF PROCEDURES MAY BE AMENDED

The board readopted its current rules of procedures but proposed consideration of several changes at is March meeting.

Tonya Bartlett proposed moving the meeting start time back to 6 p.m. after several meetings lasted until after 11 p.m. this past year.

She also requested that the town attorney be present at all meetings to guide the board on legal questions. However, Hair pointed out that would require a significant additional expense that would require Town Council approval.

Instead, Farmer asked if the attorney could be present for large projects, such as the Wakefield development passed last year.

Bartlett also asked if the board could have closed sessions to discuss projects, but Hair noted that she has never seen a planning board use non-public closed meetings and reminded her that Town Council closed meetings can only occur for a few specific types of discussion, such as personal and legal matters or economic incentives, none of which the planning board considers.

Mark Taylor requested that traffic impact analyses (TIAs) be complete and final before a project’s presentation to the board. Hair said that change could delay projects for many months because of NCDOT’s slow review process.

The UDO requires a TIA but does not specify at what point it is completed.

Instead, Hair suggested using a process such as a memo of understanding, as Mooresville does, that requires the developer to abide by all NCDOT requirements. Hair also noted the Town Council adds adherence to TIA requirements to a project’s conditions before it approves a rezoning request.