Pittsboro board weighs climate action priorities, directs staff to pursue community engagement and coordination with regional partners

At a Town of Pittsboro board workshop, members discussed priorities for a draft Climate Action Plan, focusing on stormwater standards, the town's energy mix, downtown walkability, tree preservation and actions the town can take in the near term.

Board members and staff said the plan should be practical and actionable for a community expecting rapid growth, and agreed staff should coordinate with regional partners and begin stakeholder outreach rather than immediately setting a townwide net-zero target.

Board members said the town faces near-term challenges from development and increasingly intense storms and that the plan should emphasize flood control, compact development and measures that benefit residents directly. Staff described several lines of work already underway, including pursuing legislative language to allow larger stormwater design standards in some cases and seeking more detailed data on the local electricity generation mix from Duke Energy.

Staff said the town is reviewing peer plans and intends to tailor a plan for Pittsboro that complements Chatham County’s work and the Central Pines Regional Council’s guidance. Staff recommended a mix of outreach methods — two to three in-person events at county gatherings and a community survey — and proposed establishing an action team of staff and board members to convert policy ideas into implementable tasks.

On stormwater, staff noted the town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires post‑construction runoff not to exceed pre‑development levels; current engineering practice commonly uses 10‑year design standards but staff described pursuing statutory changes that would allow municipalities to use 25‑year standards for flood control in some circumstances. A staff speaker summarized: "The post runoff rate cannot exceed the pre," and described the town’s review process for stormwater calculations and devices.

On energy, staff reported difficulty obtaining precise, town‑level electricity mix data from utilities. Staff provided regional Duke Energy 2023 figures (nuclear 54.3%, natural gas 30.2%, coal 10.8%, solar 1.8%, hydro/other/biomass making up the remainder), and said a more local breakdown for Pittsboro or Chatham County had not yet been obtained. Board members said the town’s energy priorities should follow where the electricity supply is clearest — for example, if most local power is carbon‑free, electric vehicles may be a higher-impact policy than building‑only measures.

Board members repeatedly emphasized that Pittsboro is on the cusp of rapid growth and that a climate plan should both guide municipal operations and set policies to shape future development. Several commissioners urged focusing on measures that will reduce household costs over time — like walkable, transit‑oriented development and building efficiency — and on preserving trees and open space as part of resilience planning.

Staff described possible near‑term, staff‑led actions: identify grant opportunities, pursue EV charger sites near the town circle, continue sidewalk and walkability investments, and draft a vision statement reflecting equity and fiscal prudence. The board directed staff to incorporate the comments from the meeting into a draft vision and to begin stakeholder mapping and community engagement in coordination with Central Pines and Chatham County.

The board agreed to keep broader net‑zero targets in the plan's vision but not to set a townwide numerical net‑zero deadline before staff and regional partners can compile a baseline emissions inventory. Staff noted past attempts to develop county‑level greenhouse gas inventories have encountered data limitations and that Central Pines and the county may assist with quantification.

Board members said the climate action work should be both strategic and feasible: a plan detailed enough for action and grant applications but focused on items the town can implement or meaningfully influence.

The workshop closed with staff agreeing to collect the meeting's “sound bites,” draft a vision statement, start stakeholder outreach and return a more detailed draft plan for further board review.