Cleveland, NC 7/6/2020 Zoning - Smoke, Church, and Food Trucks

The zoning board of Cleveland, NC met tonight 7-6-2020 which was a week delay of the scheduled time. There were 18 officials and town residents at the meeting which is a large group for the area, and those attending wore face masks in compliance with coronavirus regulations.

Air Curtain Burner Got the Thumbs Up

Most business was reviewed and discussed with follow up required; however, an air burner system was approved. The air burner request had been to town council and referred back to zoning for consideration. By unanimous vote, the zoning board voted to recommend the approval of the air curtain burner as proposed.

The land owners who requested installing the burner noted that such systems are more environmentally friendly than the current grinder system. One land owner (who would be operating the burner) said that he lives at Lake Norman and would not have a problem with having the burner next to his house there.

Local residents who owned and lived on land next to the land where the burner would be running expressed concerns. Pollution was the main issue raised, and residents worried about the impact on air and water.

One resident said the upcoming addition of the burner was causing questions by potential buyers of her property which is for sale.

Another resident noted that her father-in-law who is 92-years-old enjoys having his windows open and being outside, and she said that she hated to see him spend his last days or years without being able to enjoy his property. She mentioned smoke specifically. One of the men who would run the burner said that there would less smoke than for a campfire, but he did add that there would be a smell of burning.

When the vote came in,  one resident who expressed concerns during the meeting said: "I think it was decided before we got here. I heard you say you couldn't wait to see it (the burner)." It really was not clear who the comment was directed at or if it was general.

Other Items on the Agenda

Other items on the agenda did not reach a vote including a request to build a garage on a currently vacant lot at Hill n Dale development, a request to have an office in a local church, and rules/regulations regarding food trucks which has been a trending topic in Cleveland for several months.

A Garage/Storage Building on an Empty Lot

A current resident of Hill and Dale requested to build a garage/storage building on a second lot he owns at the development. The building would be for personal use only, but current zoning does not allow for such a structure on a lot. He said he has tools and no room to actually use them with his current space.

Some of the concerns which were brought up by another resident of the housing development were that the original plans did not allow for an outbuilding to stand alone on a lot (although no HMO etc. was ever set up), that junker cars and other unsightly items might clutter around such a building, and that if the owner of the garage were to sell the land, it would be impossible to say how the next owner might use the property.

After some discussion, the resident who plans to build the storage structure was asked to return with more detailed plans including exactly where the building would be placed on the property, how an entrance/driveway would look, and some ideas about potential landscaping to help blend the lot in with others in the development.

The neighbor who opposed having a storage structure on the lot, because it could impact the value of lots and future use of lots would be able to further develop his case as well pending the review of more materials by the man with the extra lot.

Sharing Church Space

Another request involved  using a church with property both in town limits and in the mile zoning area for an office space. A member of the congregation plans to start a home care business. She needs office space only for the business but would not specifically conduct business at the church. The church was fine with sharing a small amount of space for an office which would mainly be for business files to help out the resident and to support a local business.

Zoning board members decided to do some more research on the topic. Currently churches can't be used for business which would rule out the office space, but it could be possible to consider on a case by case basis for conditional usage. The key would be to set up an exception so that it would not be a problem in the future.

Food Trucks are Likely Coming

Town board members discussed food trucks at a couple of meetings this year and had asked zoning to look at the details on such a change in town rules. The main questions at this time has to do with hours of operation and fees to be charged.

There was some discussion about hours of operation. Food trucks might appeal to Freighliner workers with a second shift. That might require later hours than would be typical in the area. Otherwise, board members thought trucks would likely just come in and out for short periods of time but that times should be specified. There were concerns about just leaving it open.

Zoning board members talked about yearly fees and event fees, and all members seemed to think there should be two types of permits. Questions revolved around how to structure the different types of usage and what fair fees might be. Having food trucks come in would involve some costs to the town, but the fees would need to be appropriate for a town the size of Cleveland.

Board members felt that it was likely that the food truck questions could be sorted out at the next meeting. Then, the food truck question would go back to the town board of Cleveland.