ORD-2008-012 - Orange Co Zoning Ordinance -Buckhorn Rd Associates LLC Rezoning

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services to the area. We are and we have been making an investment in the Southeast Pump Station just off Mebane-Oaks Road. I just spoke to our City Manager, and he tells me that it's going to have a capacity of a million gallons, far larger than anything needed here. We anticipate that this is going to be large enough to handle all future development between Mebane-Oaks and Buckhorn Road, as it might development over the next 20 years or so. We are in a position to do that, and we do have adequate facilities and adequate capacity to take care of both of those needs. I think that this presentation is one of the most comprehensive that I've ever heard in the time that I have served as Mayor. I would urge the committee, and I know this is a volatile situation that you're into, and it's not going to be decided tonight; but I would urge both of the committees to approve the request and that you do all you can to assist in the implementation of the project. We feel in our direction that it's a good thing. I think it's going to be good for the neighborhood, I think it's going to be good for both communities and both counties. I look forward to being one of the customers in that part of the County. I offer my support for the applicant tonight. Allan Rosen: I affirm that I have been sworn in. I want to start off by saying, generally speaking, that I am definitely in favor of economic development. As a taxpayer in Orange County since 1994, I think it's fair to say that the timeline that Craig Benedict presented with this being an economic development district in 1994, a water and sewer agreement in 2001, I think it's fair to say that this project is at least seven years too late, perhaps more than that. If it does happen to go forward, I hope the County officials will be modest in their taking credit for it, because it's really been a long time coming. I also think the elected officials need to show some leadership to build some bridges with the adjacent community members. I think it's good that the applicant definitely has the roots, I think that's to their credit; I think the work that they have done definitely speaks well of their efforts, probably better than the industry standard, although it will be a challenge. I would like to mention tonight, that if it does go forward, I have particular concerns with the application. One, with respect to the social equity dimension of sustainability. You know, 1.14 million square feet of non-residential space and 200 residential units that seem to me to be a pretty unsustainable ratio. I don't know if it is on this 140-acre parcel or adjacent parcels, but speaking as a former member of the General Housing Advisory Board, I think additional housing would be good and would certainly make a more sustainable project. Also, to the extent that before the property ages out, commercially speaking, which a lot of developments eventually do, if climate change issues really impact our land use patterns, if the cost of fuel really impacts our land use patterns, I think it should be incumbent upon the applicant during this approval stage to submit sort of a plan B site plan, so that if the property needs to be re-zoned, due to sort of these outside factors, which really call for concentrated development, there should be an alternative site plan that emphasizes a definite pedestrian- friendly street grid; vertically mixed use buildings, including residential; the ability to infill the currently planned parking lots with buildings in a way that integrate with apedestrian-friendly street grid; the minimization of wide roads. Those are my concerns and I certainly think that as the County moves forward with the comprehensive plan update that there will be a synergistic impact between this project and the comprehensive plan update, particularly with respect to bringing the aspect of housing into the sustainability equation. Thank you. Sally Goerner: I have been sworn in. I'm an engineer and a systems theorist and a 25-year resident of Orange County. I'm also the Director of the Integral Science Institute, an international scientific consulting firm. I just spent six years researching and writing a book on the causes of long-term economic vitality and its implications for current economic development theory and what the alternatives are. I can shorten my speech to say that I agree wholeheartedly with what Mike Collins said earlier. So a lot of what I will say is in support of many of the kinds of things that he was talking about in terms of the benefits of developing local