Minutes 02-28-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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includes southern Chapel Hill and southern Orange County. Given this situation, it is important that all new legislation include the strongest protections for sensitive watershed properties. I am concerned about the apparent lack of verbiage in this document to protect the watershed areas. This has been mentioned in the resolution presented to you by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. I anticipate that the Town of Chapel Hill will express similar concerns. I am also concerned about the uncertainty that the new conditional zones will place on homeowners and neighborhoods. When purchasing homes, my husband and I have always abided by the "Caveat emptor"(Buyer Beware) motto. While we understand that there are times when rezoning of a property may be necessary, we feel that a robust public process should always be part of rezoning to insure that fair decisions are made. Laws and processes established by county and town officials should provide for a process that is objective and inclusive. It appears that there are many instances in which the currently proposed UDO may favor developers and would exclude Public input. For my family, neighbors and me, that is unacceptable. It appears that the UDO needs further consideration and amendment before it meets the standards to which it should be held. I urge each of you to slow down this process and do the due diligence necessary to ensure that your decisions do not result in unintended consequences. Sincerely Jeanne Brown 104 Beechridge Court Chapel Hill, NC 27517 Commissioner Gordon said that she has her own written comments that she will be submitting herself. She said that some of the language of the Planned Development Districts was left out for Conditional Districts and this is important to note because the deleted text contained more language which tied approval of conditional districts to the Comprehensive Plan and had specific language which referenced the protection of the character of surrounding neighborhoods. She will write up the issues and submit the comments. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the conditional zoning districts and if they are grounded in that the land use plan regulates their compatibility with their surroundings. Other people are contending that the districts have been decoupled from the base zoning. He asked Craig Benedict to address this point. Craig Benedict said that in the UDO, there is specific language in Section 1.1.7. He read this. He said that the language is very specific to make sure there is a strong linkage between rezoning applications that come forward to the County Commissioners and linkage to small area plans of the Comprehensive Plan. He said that he thinks the discussion tonight is not allowing someone to ask at all or allowing somebody to ask and then the County Commissioners saying that it is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Jacobs said that a neighboring jurisdiction had a rural zoning at an interchange and somebody came in and wanted to build a 1,000,000 square foot mall. The zoning was changed and the economic development was accommodated. He asked what would be different in the proposed system in how Orange County might consider something like that, which was not consistent with the Land Use Plan.