Orange County NC Website
Department and also at the Orange County Libraries in Hillsborough, Carrbaro, and Cedar <br />Grave. <br />Craig Benedict said that there are three projects in process. One is a transfer of <br />development rights feasibility study put together by the County Commissioners. A consultant <br />has been hired for this. Also, they are in the latter stages of a small are plan for Efland-Mebane <br />area. Lastly, there is a strategic growth plan for the Hillsborough area. <br />He made reference to page 103, which shawl the principles that the Board decided <br />were important. There are also optional goals. <br />Regarding the implementation process, there is a four-step process overall. <br />He spoke about what the land use plan does ultimately. He said that the land use plan <br />does two things -determines what areas can grow and what areas have environmental <br />constraints and cannot grow and haw much density there can be. The zoning maps in place <br />now would allow density in the rural areas to have a population of 300,000 using "paper density" <br />-dividing how many undeveloped acres by how many units per acre are allowed. This is not <br />realistic, but there is a trend that would approach 240,000 in the rural areas of the County. <br />These growth rates would eventually affect quality of life and there is a ceiling for traffic, air <br />quality, and water quality. He said that the Orange County planning jurisdiction is 95°~ rural and <br />5% urban. He said that the staff will come forward with recommendations that will narrow down <br />the options discussed and suggest what is manageable in the future and the County <br />Commissioners and the public can react to this at the May public hearing. <br />Public Comment <br />Steve Yuhasz said that he represents several owners of property along NC 57 and he is <br />here to express their support and appreciation of a creation of a rural economic development <br />area. This is the Orange Speedway area. As things move forward with this, the landowners <br />want to be included in making the determination as to exactly what uses may be allowed within <br />that node and what the conditions are. <br />Allan Rosen said that he has lived in the County for 14 years. He made reference to the <br />charts and said that he would like to see a true time dimension added to the growth rate <br />predictions. He would also like to see an inclusion of the number of dwelling units that would be <br />put in the urbanizing areas as well as the rural. He said that the materials that were available <br />online for this item were only made available late last week. He suggested that far the May <br />public hearing, there should be much more substantial lead-time for when this is available to the <br />public. <br />Regarding sustainability, he would like to think that environmental conservation, <br />economic growth and development, and social equity dimensions would also be included when <br />sustainability is discussed. For example, he would like to see a plan that states how much and <br />haw soon the County would invest in water and sewer capacity and how much return and jab <br />creation and retention, increased tax base, residential housing, and particularly affordable <br />housing units the County would expect from such an investment. <br />He made reference to "upzoning" and said that a few premises should be challenged. <br />He said that criteria #4 allows the "not in my backyard" protests to have authoritative status. He <br />thinks this is wrong and should be taken out. Secondly, the "upzoning" process, in his opinion, <br />should not be, "initiated by the developer and considered on a case by case basis," nor should <br />"upzoning" areas be synonymous with transfer of development rights receiving areas. His <br />recommendation is that the County lead the way in "upzoning" by investing in water and sewer <br />capacity. <br />Dolly Hunter lives in Bingham Township and she said that her concerns are for the rural <br />people and not for herself. She said that the Planning Department's arguments far the need for <br />larger lot sizes are inaccurate and do not reflect the reality of what is being created under the <br />current regulations. She said that the build out scenario shown on the presentations have been <br />