Agenda - 09-06-2012 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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63 1 Darcy Willson said that one of the things that concern him is that some residential areas 2 have been removed and others have not. He said that this does not seem fair. He said that he 3 would like to be removed as well. He said that the negative financial and social impacts to area 4 residents are too great to allow this zoning change to move forward. He said that this zoning 5 change will greatly reduce the buffer between new non-residential development and existing 6 small residential properties. He said that by incorporating the small residential properties, it will 7 reduce the required buffers from the current 100 feet to as little as 25 feet. He said that the tax 8 value of the residential properties will go up and many people will be unable to afford the 9 increases. The areas affected by this change have a high percentage of affordable housing. 10 He said that the Eno economic Development District Small Area Plan states that"development 11 in the Eno Economic Development District is intended to occur under Orange County 12 development regulations with coordination with the City of Durham." The interlocal agreement 13 between Orange County and the City of Durham for construction and operation of water and 14 sewer facilities in the Eno Economic Development zone of Orange County does not include 15 provisions for this to occur. He said that it needs to be amended so that it complies with the 16 Eno Economic Development Small Area Plan regarding this matter. 17 Babette Brown lives in Weldon Ridge and her house backs up on Old NC 10. She said 18 that she is here to voice her concern about the proposed zoning changes. She said that they 19 moved here because of the rural character and the great school system. She is worried that the 20 entire character of the area will change, particularly on Old NC 10. She referred to the letter 21 from Ms. Kelsey (??), which the County Commissioners received. She said that she supports 22 the points on the character of the rural residential area. She said that this area does not seem 23 to fit with commercial development. She said that a lot of this seems to be requested to benefit 24 one or two large landowners. She said that there seems to be some space to do economic 25 development north of the railroad tracks. She asked about any legal implications for the County 26 if the property values decrease. She said that she wonders if Commissioner Yuhasz has a 27 conflict of interest because he also does work for the largest landowner, who was his largest 28 contributor. He said that one of his other contributors owns Cardesec, the business. 29 Jim Brown said that he agrees with his wife, Babette Brown. He made reference to the 30 access to 1-85 and NC 86 and said that this property has not been used. He made reference to 31 the impact of high speed rail, which will use the existing tracks. This rail will bisect EDD. He 32 asked if this has been taken into account. 33 Sarah Glass lives in Weldon Ridge also and has lived there for about a year. She spoke 34 about the rural character and the close proximity to places like RTP, Duke, Durham, etc. She 35 said that at the time the house backing up to Old NC 10 was not a big issue. She said that she 36 did call someone before they bought the house and was assured that there was not going to be 37 any changes happening around this area in the near future. She said that the Planning Board 38 has not been forthcoming with information. She said that the negative environmental impacts 39 need to be explored, especially the species of wildlife. One of the major issues that bother her 40 is that the proposed changes seem to be driven by some financial interests of a few landowners 41 in the area. She said that it is not equitable to allow one landowner to benefit at the cost of a lot 42 of the residents surrounding the area. 43 Oliver Glass (husband of previous speaker) spoke of the rural character of this 44 development. He said that the proposed amendments to the zoning and land designation will 45 take away all of the enjoyment living at Weldon Ridge and negatively impact the future of quality 46 of life of his family. Environmentally, the amendments will destroy the natural habitat of 47 numerous wildlife species.