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Maple View Farms, it was the hope that all of the inspections could be done at one time so that <br />Mr. Nutter would not have to bring in the electrician many times. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he wants to make County government more user-friendly <br />for people undertaking these activities. He wants to see more of these activities take place. He <br />said that the code enforcers need to be brought along in this process so that they understand <br />the opportunities. He said that he talked to Economic Development Director Dianne Reid this <br />morning about setting up a meeting of the committee to start looking at this issue. <br />Jahn Link made reference to page 16 and the amount of time it will take to petition for these <br />kinds of ventures. He asked how the staff would engage with the business person/farmer and <br />explain why it takes 9-12 months to do veterinarian services versus 1-2 months to do a farm <br />supply service. It will be a challenge to meet with them as soon as possible and let them know <br />what to expect in terms of time. <br />Dianne Reid said that they hope to continue the collaboration with Cooperative Extension, <br />Soil and Water, and the agents that typically know of an idea before it is far along in <br />development. <br />John Link said that he does not understand why it would take a year for veterinarian <br />services. <br />Craig Benedict said that right now there are a lot of categories that the uses do not fit into. <br />He said that Dianne Reid is an advocate of small businesses and she will help to explain why <br />and will help them through the process. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that it is valuable to come up with a scheme to keep farmers <br />farming. It is important to have other sources of income. Her question is the areas where these <br />uses would be appropriate. Her concern is when large-scale commercial and industrial <br />ventures are allowed into areas that are suburbanizing. She asked for the rationale of how <br />these uses could go into the R1 residential areas where they are surburbanizing and how the <br />uses could go into the rural buffer without adverse impacts on residential areas. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the email from Bernadette Pelissier, and she read <br />an excerpt from it as follows: "1) How would allowing conditional district zoning in the rural <br />buffer be compatible with the increasing suburbanization in these areas? How would you <br />ensure that businesses would have adequate septic systems not prone to failure? 2} I would <br />hope that conditional district zoning would not be permitted in the Cane Creek and University <br />Lake watershed areas. 3} Given the increased residential development throughout the county <br />and the goals of land preservation {Lands Legacy Program), how would you ensure that <br />conditional district zoning will be compatible with these uses? Would it be better to identify in <br />advance areas that would be most amenable to farm-related businesses?" <br />Commissioner Gordon asked that these questions be answered before this proposal moves <br />forward. <br />Craig Benedict said that any changes to the rural buffer that would not be consistent with the <br />joint planning area land use plan that is in place now would have to be processed through a joint <br />approval process. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked that this proposal be sent to Chapel Hill and Carrboro officials. <br />Craig Benedict said that if there are critical watershed areas that are designated for not <br />having commercial uses, this could be part of the rezoning criteria. Regarding septic systems, <br />there is a concern. They are trying to balance this, but there are constraints. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he thinks this is on the right track. He does not view this <br />proposal with alarm, but he thinks there is a sixth category. He thinks there should be a <br />services category and a processing and industrial category. A veterinarian who had boarding <br />capacity would be under processing and industrial, because it would not be wanted in a <br />residential area. A retail garden center fits in a residential area. He made reference to <br />transferable development rights and said that you could look at the industrial uses in rural <br />activity nodes and address some of the septic concerns by moving some of the heavier uses to <br />