Minutes - 05-29-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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said that he does not understand why we would want to consider sites where there would be development impacts on state or federally-acknowledged unique or endangered species. He thinks this is counter to what is asked of private developers. He verified that the sites have been checked with the natural areas inventory. Regarding the transportation system, he said that there was no conception of any smart growth or sprawl principles. There is also no mention of public transportation. He thinks that public transportation is a very important criterion. He said that this promotes more traffic and more people driving to the schools. There should be some reference to public transit. Also, when we talk about existing land use we should be discouraging the spread of development to areas with minimal support by public infrastructure. He said that we are pushing the development as far out as we possibly can because that is where the cheapest land is available. He said that this was contradicting what we are trying to do, which is to locate development where it is most easily served. He would at least like to see same consideration of these kinds of concerns within these criteria. He said that it should be made clear to people that this process does not guarantee that a school will go on their property. Craig Benedict said that over the next thirty years, there are only 7 or 8 additional schools anticipated for the Orange County School System. Commissioner Gordon noted that even if a site is selected that it would still need to be purchased. It would be acquired by paying the fair market value. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon on the maps that were distributed, Gene Bell said that there are six maps, which show the sites that have been identified as proposed sites. He explained that map one is north of the Efland area, map two is directly north of Hillsborough, map three is to the northeast of Hillsborough, map four is due east of Hillsborough, map five is southeast of Hillsborough, and map six is south of Hillsborough. Commissioner Gordon said that we need to consider the transportation system if we are going to include public transit. She said that right now there is no public transit system in this area of the County except far occasional service by TTA. Commissioner Jacobs feels that since we are talking about twenty-five years, that he is making some assumptions that there will be public transit by that time. Commissioner Brown made reference to map five and the small area plan for southeast Hillsborough and if it called for a school site in that area. Gene Bell said that the Stoneycreek subdivision did not call far a school site. He said that the small area plan recommended various densities of residential development. Commissioner Brown asked about the acreage of the schools and Gene Bell said that the acreage was from the State Department of Public Instruction. Commissioner Brown would not like to be locked into such a vast amount of acreage unless it corresponded with a park development. Hunter Schofield asked at what paint would someone be notified that their property was designated as a potential school site. He expressed a concern for the expenses a landowner would incur at the early stage of a subdivision application that ultimately might be lost to the landowner. Gene Bell said that if the site is identified in the plan, the first thing we would do is to alert the school board that we have received an application for a subdivision on that site. If the school board is not interested, that designation would be lifted and the subdivision process could continue. If the school board were interested, that school system would contact the developer and would have 18 months to acquire the site.