Planning Board Seeks Public Comment
said board chair Bill Rich.
All six board members and Ocracoke Island commissioner Darlene Styron attended the March meeting, where they continued to discuss how businesses operated from kiosks, food trucks, and wheeled carts fit into the Ocracoke Development Ordinance.
"We don't want to do anything without the consensus of the public," said Rich. The board wants to hear from "as many people at possible at the April meeting" before they make their decision.
Ocracoke residents Norman Miller and David Johnson also attended the March meeting and participated in the discussion.
An Associate Professor of Geography at State University of New York in Geneseo, Dr. Jennifer Rogalsky vacations on Ocracoke. As is so often the case, the island has found a place in her heart. Rogalsky offered her students an opportunity to examine development on Ocracoke, and they eagerly took on the "service and learning opportunity," she wrote in an email.
Three teams, of 4-5 students each, are examining Pop-Up businesses, residential trailers and the Ocracoke Development Ordinance as a whole. In addition to looking at the pertinent issues on Ocracoke, each group is researching relevant case studies in other communities, both coastal and inland.
The SUNY students will present their findings to the planning board by the end of April. The reports will be a tremendous, invaluable resource, said Rich. We are "so fortunate to be able to compare ourselves to other communities around the country that are guided by development ordinances," he said.
The board has no strict timeline for making their recommendations about Pop-Ups to the Hyde County Commissioners. They decided at the last meeting to seek out public comment and read the SUNY reports before making any decisions.
The board members are Bill Rich, Keith Parker-Lowe, vice chair, Jennifer Esham Winstead, BJ Oelschlegel, Tom Pahl, and Amy Srail Johnson. They hope to hear your thoughts and encourage attendance at their next public meeting, scheduled for Thursday, April 12, at the Ocracoke Community Center at 5:30 p.m.
