Agenda - 02-22-1999 - 1a - Laserfiche WebLink

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09J Lawrence Park is located at the Intersection of US -70 Business and Lawrence Road. Both are shown as minor arterial, which equates to major thoroughfare roads in the Comprehensive Plan. It is roughly + mile from the merge with US -70 By Pass. It is within + mile of Old NC 10 and one mile from NC 86 South. It is also only a few hundred feet from 1 -85 although access to that road is currently a problem. He stated that his point was that the area could hardly be situated better in terms of its transportation facilities. ° Energy use - located less than five minutes commuting time from small -scale commercial uses and five to ten minute commuting time from major commercial uses or an urban area. + Lawrence Park is + mile from the town limits of Hillsborough and clearly qualifies under this particular stipulation. This maximizes benefit to the County from a tax standpoint while concentrating the need for services in a confined space. ° County Public Safety Services - Lawrence Park is located close to these services. School Transportation - It is compact from the perspective of school transportation. Municipal Services - These are being extended at its own expense and will cost $890,000 in tap fees, which arguably should contribute to better facilities and less cost to existing users. It is providing the means to replace the failing septic. systems for a number of residences in the area. Traffic - Most of the traffic would be directed away from existing developed areas. It has direct access to major thoroughfares and will make road improvements along its frontage to lessen impact on existing traffic. He stated that in 1981, the people who pioneered this Comprehensive Plan knew that the area proposed to be Lawrence Park was a logical and appropriate place for moderate density development. In the succeeding years this view has been suspended in the face of numerous amendments to the plan. All of the conditions and circumstances on which this assessment was originally made are still valid. It seemed to him, based on all of the foregoing evaluations, that if growth is to occur in Orange County in a sensible, none - sprawl fashion, and if the County/Es Comprehensive Plan is to be considered relevant and credible, then it is not logical, reasonable, or judicious for the Lawrence Park application not to be approved. He stated that this is a good plan for the surrounding areas for the following reasons: It provides a high - quality neighborhood in the infill of the existing residential neighborhoods. It is of particular advantage to those neighborhoods adjacent to it which are currently experiencing septic failure. It provides upgrades to the existing water system and provides the Town of Hillsborough with $890,000 to apply to other improvements if the Town so determines that they' are needed. It will either enhance or maintain the value of all of the adjacent properties in the area. He then introduced Tom Heaffner, real estate appraiser, to speak to this issue. Mr. Heaffner indicated that the developer asked him to look at the contiguous properties in terms of the potential impact that this,development might have on them. Most of the adjoining properties to the south generally are occupied by mobile or modular homes. Those are the properties that are on Lanning Drive, Lloyd Drive and Jay Circle. Properties adjoining to the east, west and north are made up of a mixture of mobile homes and single family residential properties. As a general rule the majority of the properties that adjoin this proposed subdivision are in a price range that are equal to or less than the probable price range of the houses in this subdivision. The proposed development also provides a 100 -foot landscape buffer around the perimeter of the subdivision. He felt that this additionally served to mitigate any adverse impact that the development might have on adjoining property values. Mr. Krichbaum expressed concern that it is not clear to the public in general what the nature of this development is, what kind of housing will exist in the development, if approved, and the overall concept behind the development. He stated that they would like to explain the development from the inside -out in the hopes of providing better understanding as to what is being proposed. He introduced Scott Murray who is associated with the Lawrence Park planning and development team so that he could provide some information about the basic planning concept and the elements within the community. Mr. Scott Murray, a landscape architect, referred to a color rendering of the plan. He indicated that the first step in planning a community is to look at the adjacent property and the impact it will have on those properties. In looking at Lawrence Park and the surrounding areas. There is clearly a residential area to the north with some higher density residential development to the west and south. The plan that they developed proposes a 100 -foot buffer. Part of the buffer is in existing vegetation. Where there is open field now, it is proposed to plant buffer vegetation that will be allowed to grow back into a natural wooded area. The community that they envision is one that would be pedestrian orientated. The streets are interconnected; there are five -foot sidewalks proposed for both sides of all streets; this provides a very walkable community. This community would provide amenities for neighboring communities as well. The primary land component of this proposed community is that of active recreation. There are several different types of recreation areas proposed for this community and the surrounding neighborhoods. These include small pocket parks of + to + acre, larger playing fields and one large 3 -acre central