The Greenville Board of Adjustment met on June 22, 2023, at 6:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting included approval of previous minutes, a decision on an old business special use permit, two public hearings for new business, announcements, and adjournment. Attorney Phillips provided procedural guidance on quasi-judicial hearings.
All right. The meeting now come to order. Welcome to the June twenty-second, twenty twenty-three meeting of the City of Greenville Board of Adjustment. Mrs. Clerk, can you give us a roll call, please? Sharon Evans. Chris Leely. Here. Ann Bellis. Here. Hunt McKinnon. Here. Nathan Cullen. Here. Ryan Purdle. Here. Daniel World. Here. Tiny Foreman. We have forum. Thank you, Mrs. Clerk. Attorney Phillips. Uh yes. Good evening. Uh uh, Mr. Chair and members of the board. Uh, the vo all the present, all the members present tonight are voting members. When we get to item number five, uh subsect or section five number three. I will discuss the voting uh on that issue when we get to that. However, uh, for purposes of all other matters, all pr all members present are voting members. And would you like for me to go ahead and read the please go ahead and do a read. Yes. The following applies to all evidentiary matters for consideration by the board tonight. As stated on pages two and three of the meeting handout available to the public, the evidence to be considered by the Board of Adjustment is as follows. The Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial body that makes a decision concerning an application, petition, or appeal based on the evidence presented by those in favor as well as those in opposition. The members of the Board of Adjustment are laypersons, and as such, the rules of evidence that are followed in a court are relaxed for cases heard before this body. Statements by a person such as, in my opinion, the application will create a traffic hazard is not an admissible opinion and may not be considered by the board. However, such an opinion may be admissible if it is made by an expert or a person who is qualified to give opinions concerning traffic hazards, is making a presentation to the board concerning his or her investigation and the basis for his or her conclusion in the report. A lay person can give an opinion, but he or she must also present facts to show how the proposal affects his or her piece of property specifically and not just in a general way. A statement that another person who is not present and not testifying either supports or doesn't support the petitioner or application is hearsay and is not admissible. The same rule applies to both the applicant and those in opposition. Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes 160D 109, 160D 406, and Section 4 of the Board of Adjustments Rules of Procedure. No member of the Board of Adjustment shall participate in either the discussion or vote on any special use permit, variance, or appeal from an administrative officer's decision in any manner that would violate the affected person's constitutional right to a fair and impartial decision maker. Prohibited conflicts include but are not limited to a member having a fixed opinion prior to hearing the matter and not willing to consider changing his or her mind, an undisclosed ex parte communications with the person before the board, any witnesses, staff, or other board members. Decisions on either a request for recusal by a member or objections by a person appearing before the board shall be decided by a simple majority vote. No board member shall take part in the hearing, consideration or determination of any matter in which the board member is involved or has a financial or personal interest. Personal interest shall be defined as having a family member involved in the project under consideration, a neighborhood association involvement where a board member is on the governing body of such association or where the board member is involved in a conflict or dispute with the applicant on a matter unrelated to the application. If a board member has a comp has such a conflict, he shall declare the conflict and request to be excused from voting on the issue. A majority vote of the remaining members present shall be required to excuse the member.