Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
3. School APFO Decision Matrix <br />Craig Benedict said that this section shows where some of the decisions are centered in <br />the Schools APFO. The two school districts will have to decide whether the level of service is per <br />school or the capacities of all the schools put together. <br />Chair Carey made reference to the level of service threshold and asked if it should only be <br />decided by the school boards. Craig Benedict said that this level of service would primarily be <br />decided by the school districts. The implications of building new schools when there are existing <br />schools that are not at capacity would be an issue for the funding source, which is the County. <br />Allen Spalt said that it seemed to him that the school districts should have the primary job <br />of determining the point they consider themselves overcrowded. Craig Benedict said that most <br />likely the people who do the student enrollment projections (school districts, County, towns, <br />attorneys) may be part of the subgroup that makes decisions. <br />Jackie Gist made reference to the enrollment projections and said that they seemed to be <br />steady. She asked haw the University's growth had been figured into the enrollment projections. <br />Craig Benedict said that the enrollment projections had not been done yet and the figures were <br />hypothetical at this time. The University's growth will be factored into the student projections. <br />Jackie Gist said that she had an overall uneasiness because it was cancerned mainly with <br />what was good far schools. She said that the Town Council's primary concern was the good of the <br />whole community. She is not opposed to the Schools APFO, but she thinks the issue of the <br />schools overshadows how things have been written and researched. She said that she had not <br />seen anything about the side effects or detriments of the Schools APFO. She is cancerned about <br />the effect this will have on market forces. She would like to see more real research on haw it <br />affects the community as a whole, including housing stack availability and housing affordability. <br />Craig Benedict said that the MOU had an understanding in it that all of the parties would agree. He <br />said that it was a cooperative agreement and same language could be added to say that all of the <br />parties had to agree on the projections, etc. <br />Jackie Gist said that she would like to see the issues of housing affordability and availability <br />addressed. <br />Alex Zaffron said that the hypothetical growth projections were linear and they did not <br />account for the issue of spikes. He would like information on how the projections relate to some <br />land use planning philosophies that have been adopted that would result in spikes and <br />concentrated density to prevent sprawl. Craig Benedict said that this issue was discussed and was <br />a concern of all the planners in the sub group. He said that larger scale development was not <br />being discouraged. He said that there was sensitivity in the discussions to make sure that these <br />regulations did not promote a pattern of growth that was not consistent with the land use plan. He <br />can address these issues in the question and answer brochure. <br />Joal Broun said that she would like to see some data with regards to the type of housing <br />stock that developers develop after such an ordinance is put in place. She is concerned about <br />affordable housing. <br />Diana McDuffie said that she was not sharing the same concerns as her colleagues. She <br />urged the boards not to put everything an this ordinance in terms of affecting affordable housing. <br />Craig Benedict said that the promotion of larger scale development gives the towns and the <br />County an opportunity to plug in an affordable housing component. Regarding the question about <br />balancing the needs of the schools versus other needs of the County and the towns, he said that <br />this issue has come up within the Schools and Land Use Council meetings. He said that if this <br />ordinance smoothes out the educational needs, there is more of an opportunity to focus on the <br />other issues in the County and towns. He said that he would put research together on the issues <br />of affordable housing and housing types. <br />Several questions were asked about the student projections and answered satisfactorily by <br />Craig Benedict. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the situation at this time was that there was no long term <br />planning or coordination. Therefore, as development comes on line, the Commissioners are <br />