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?~ S EPHEN CRA,$TREE, a landowner in the University Lake Watershed area, stated --._ that he was opposed to the 5 acre minimum. He feels that this is penalizing County Y _ residents for owning land in the County. He also stated that the county residents are ~:. being asked to clean up the water system without getting the benefit of that system. He asked that the Town be charged for these services. He suggested that the GAC filtration system be purchased or a more reasonable alternative to this be proposed. WDRTH JOHNSON stated that he believed the proposed regulations are too restrictive, He mentioned that his mother-in-law has property which has been in the family for years, and she can't give it to her grandchildren, He suggested that outside consultants not be used to help make these decisions, EVERETT SQUIRES spoke in opposition to these interim standards. He stated that he did not want other people telling him what he could do with his land, He also mentioned that he believed that the county should hire local consultants. TED LATTA stated that he was opposed to these interim development standards mainly because interim standards tend to remain in place once initiated. He asked the Commissioners to check some of the major subdivision applications which have .been made of late. The trend is to go for larger lots rather than smaller lots. He also mentioned that the first time homebuyer will be eliminated from purchasing a home in Orange County if these regulations go into effect. He stated he believes that the North Carolina Constitution, in Article 1, Section 19 defines this situation as a "taking without compensation". PETE THORN, a Chapel Hill homebuilder and immediate past President o£ the ,, Hamebuilder's Association stated that Craig Morrison, the current President, asked him to deliver the Homebuilder's position. That position states that "a temporary moratorium is the worst possible of all choices. The contrived shortage will cause the price of any available lot to jump artificially upward. The effect will be to immediately increase the cast of already subdivided land, and subsequently new homes in Orange County. After the ban is relaxed there may be an extraordinary rush to subdivide more land. Since the time it takes to get a subdivision approved in Orange County is already sa great now, probably no one could get a subdivision approved before the expiration of the proposed ban anyway, kiausing costs far young people seeking their first home in Orange County are already prohibitively high for most of the population. An increased minimum lot size will also prohibit many landowners from deeding legacy land to perpetuate family traditions of homeownership when children are ready to move out and form new Orange County households," he emphasized. xt is within their power as elected officials to create an increased threshold of wealth necessary to obtain"homeownership. As contemplated, the Camp, Dresser and McKee study would add $3,000 per acre to the cost of a lot. Such additional cost would not be absorbed easily by most new'home buyers. He asked that the $oard consider the negative consequence carefully. In much of the watershed the quality of the soil imposes a growth management effect of its own. Much of the land in the watershed is unsuitable for septic tanks. The moratorium will increase the chances that the little amount of suitable land will not be allowed to be used to provide homes for people who want to live in Orange Gounty, This right was available for the current citizens of Orange County, iricluding many of those who want to restrict the rights of others to use their land. The Homebuilders Association is not opposed in any way to the assurance of high water quality standards for all citizens of Orange County. However, they believe the real issue is one of equity and fairness and not public health. The elected officials must find a fair and equitable method to spread the cost of maintaining high water quality standards to all citizens of the county who benefit from such standards.