Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />51 <br />11 <br />development corridor. He owns property within this corridor. He said that two and a half years <br />ago, the County Commissioners, along with the Economic Development Department, committed <br />that by June 2010, 5,000 new commercial jobs and $45 million of new commercial tax base would <br />be created. Nothing has happened yet. He said that it was reported in the State of the County <br />meeting in the spring that there had been 915 new commercial jobs created and $45 million in <br />new commercial tax base. He found out later that this was not true, but that it was referring to <br />Meadowmont. He said that the developer of Meadowmont told him that Orange County had <br />nothing to do with this growth. He said that 1 -85 runs through Durham, Orange, and Alamance <br />Counties, and in the past 20 months, Durham County has created in excess of 2,500 new <br />commercial jobs and has added $545 million of new commercial tax base. Alamance County has <br />created some $200 -300 million in new commercial tax base and hundreds of jobs. Orange <br />County property tax has increased 524% in the last 20 years. The property tax has increased <br />every year for 19 straight years. He said that Orange County has an image that has to be <br />overcome. He asked the County Commissioners what they intended to do about it. <br />Sam Lasris lives in Cedar Grove. He spoke on behalf of the Orange Unified <br />Transportation Board. He said that it has come to the attention of the OUTB that the <br />Durham/Chapel Hill / Carrboro MPO is going to release socioeconomic data and projections that <br />will be used for regional transportation planning for the years 2005 -2035. It is anticipated that this <br />data will be released after the meeting on September 12"'. He formally requested that this data be <br />included in the profile element. <br />James Carnahan lives on 122 Oak Street, Carrboro. He is a board member of The Village <br />Project, but he said that the comments he was going to make were his own. He distributed a <br />handout. The column on the right includes his suggested wording of the draft goals. He said that <br />he is particularly interested in the concept of sustainability. He agreed with Marty Mandell that <br />clarity of the sustainability goal is very important. He said that it is important to talk about the <br />outcomes of growth and development rather than use a phrase like "sustainable growth" or <br />"sustainable development". He thinks that the goal is that the outcome of all activities is <br />ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable. He thinks that the language should reflect <br />this and avoid the ambiguity of "sustainable growth" or "sustainable development°. He said that a <br />couple of the elements did not have over - arching goals, and he thought that it was important for <br />consistency that they did, so he created them. He asked the County Commissioners to consider <br />the amended language of the goals, which is in bold italics. <br />Laura Blackmon made reference to the Economic Development overarching goal and said <br />that the staff is looking at the definition of economic development. She would like for the <br />Economic Development Commission to look at this again and perhaps broaden the definition. <br />Patrick McDonough lives at 105 Fidelity Street, Carrboro. He said that he thinks that the <br />fundamental question before the Board is where growth goes. He thinks that the County has <br />been great at deciding where growth will not go, but not so great at deciding where it will go. He <br />said that a lot of his friends are planning to move to Durham so that they can buy a house. He <br />said that there are not enough homes that are affordable in Orange County. He said that it will be <br />great to have all of the elements done at once for the Comprehensive Plan. <br />Dolly Hunter lives in Bingham Township. She made reference to the stated goal of the <br />County Profile Data Element, which states that it is to be "updated, useful, and relevant." She <br />suggested adding the word "accurate ". For example, the most recent water resource research is <br />from 1981, and water resources govern the amount of growth that can occur. She also requested <br />that there be accurate historic subdivision and lot size data and something to show that the <br />number of minor and major subdivisions have gone down, and that primarily 10 -acre lots have <br />been created because it is so difficult to get subdivision approval. She said that the minimum lot <br />size being created is closer to three acres and not the one or two -acre lot size minimum allowed. <br />She said that the fact that minor and major subdivision approval is so difficult should be <br />researched. The Land Use Element Goal #6 is to have the land use planning process be <br />