Orange County NC Website
Patrick McDonough lives at 105 Fidelity Street, Carrboro. He said that he thinks that the <br />fundamental question before the Board is where growth goes. He thinks that the County has <br />been great at deciding where growth will not go, but not so great at deciding where it will go. He <br />said that a lot of his friends are planning to move to Durham so that they can buy a house. He <br />said that there are not enough homes that are affordable in Orange County. He said that it will be <br />great to have all of the elements done at once far the Comprehensive Plan. <br />Dolly Hunter lives in Bingham Township. She made reference to the stated goal of the <br />County Profile Data Element, which states that it is to be "updated, useful, and relevant." She <br />suggested adding the word "accurate". For example, the most recent water resource research is <br />from 1981, and water resources govern the amount of growth that can occur. She also requested <br />that there be accurate historic subdivision and lot size data and something to show that the <br />number of minor and major subdivisions have gone down, and that primarily 10-acre lots have <br />been created because it is so difficult to get subdivision approval. She said that the minimum lot <br />size being created is closer to three acres and not the one or two-acre lot size minimum allowed. <br />She said that the fact that minor and major subdivision approval is so difficult should be <br />researched. The Land Use Element Goal #6 is to have the land use planning process be <br />transparent, fair, open, efficient, and responsive. She said that it is the exact opposite of this. The <br />data needs to shave mare accurately the rural population because there are too many graphs <br />showing municipal growth. She wants to make sure that the data is accurate and relevant. <br />Jay Bryan lives on Old NC 86 in Chapel Hill. He spoke to the County Commissioners <br />about the idea of establishing another element in the Comprehensive Plan to address Planning <br />Principle #8, Preservation of Community Character, which was adopted by the Board in 2004. <br />Such an element could read as follows: Maintenance of community and preservation of <br />community character. A possible goal for the element could read as follows: Establishment of <br />community building principles regarding community issues and decision making to help citizens of <br />Orange County work and live together in harmony. He said that when he was on the Carrboro <br />Board of Aldermen, there were some policies and strategies promoted such as Carrboro <br />Community Day, which has spun off into a music festival, film festival, Latino festival; rules for <br />communication among members of the Board of Aldermen in public meetings; rules for effective <br />communication at public hearings; an annual roundtable meeting for representatives from various <br />subdivisions and neighborhoods in the Town; a mediation program to help address differences <br />between citizens and differences between citizens and Town government; a program for inviting <br />school children to observe and learn about local government to promote leadership opportunities; <br />the use of mediation to resolve planning issues around development; and the use of facilitated <br />meetings for gaining public input and trust. He said that as a result of the standing committee that <br />he and Commissioner Gordon served on, the original 15-step proposal for the Shaping Orange <br />County's Future Task Force references community building as one of the two tasks that were to <br />be addressed by the task force. He said that a natural extension of this work would be to support <br />at least in principle the idea of adding this additional element to the Comprehensive Plan. He <br />asked the County Commissioners to consider forwarding the idea of such an element to the <br />Planning Board far further discussion and consideration. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to <br />refer to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the BOCC no sooner than <br />September 19, 2007. The Planning Board will provide specific recommendations for any <br />additional changes to the draft goals and the County Profile Element that may be required in <br />response to comments heard from the BOCC andlor public during the Hearing. The Planning <br />Board will also consider comments collected at the June 21St Advisory Boards Meeting, July 31St <br />Open House, and August 7t" Public Information Meeting. Additional changes to draft goals will be <br />necessary to clarify a few of the goals and establish a consistent writing style among goals. <br />Per the adopted Comprehensive Plan Update Process, the BOCC may also refer public <br />hearing items to any of the other lead advisory boards that are involved: Affordable Housing <br />