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the country. So please think about that. Drainage, we have multiple concerns about drainage.
<br /> We have a flow going down West Ten Road, and you ask for legal and whatever examples, my
<br /> example would be Crabtree Mall back when we had rain. Every time there was rain, they had
<br /> flooding and drainage issues, and that may impact us. The other thing, we moved to where we
<br /> are because we liked country life, we like clean, green living. All of us in our neighborhood have
<br /> pets, we do organic farming, organic bee-keeping. This will all be threatened by the pollution
<br /> and traffic, and I still have to talk about the traffic coming off of Buckhorn Road, and we're going
<br /> to widen it. I mean, we have to be in a dreamland to think that people are not going to take side
<br /> roads like West Ten all the way down past where we live. We're just going to have traffic,
<br /> pollution, and have you thought about, back to Gravelly Hill Middle School, the affect of this
<br /> traffic in December and November and shopping times on school bus traffic. My last thing, so
<br /> many people have already covered, again, so many intelligent people here, and this is all we
<br /> can think of is a mall. I can guarantee you that all of us that are driving out of the County are
<br /> not going to stay here to work, because we will not be working in the mall for minimum wage.
<br /> The last thing is, my husband and I used to live in Pittsburgh, and I talk about the shortcuts.
<br /> The one thing they did in the mall that was abandoned, it grew up and was a beautiful mall, and
<br /> literally five to six years later, it was abandoned and an eyesore. Somebody went in there and
<br /> redid this mall, and some of things they did would have music festivals. And the other thing I
<br /> thought— make this a green area, make it a park where people can come in and play volleyball,
<br /> ping-pong tournaments —things like that where you have other areas where they can still come
<br /> in, still spend money. A theater, for heaven's sake, maybe Carrboro and Chapel Hill do, but we
<br /> don't. I'm not talking about movies; I'm talking about a theater with plays, both outdoor and
<br /> indoor. There are thousands of good small businesses coming in here. Try to find other
<br /> businesses that will develop in this area in a green atmosphere, but not a mall. And don't ruin
<br /> our homes, please.
<br /> Becky Bolinger: I have been sworn in. I'm a resident of Efland. I'm Karen's neighbor. Mostly
<br /> what I wrote down has already been said, but I just wanted to be on record that I do not think
<br /> this would be very good for our community. I don't think it's the right direction to go when we're
<br /> in a big global warming crisis. Mike Collins, I think everything he said is something you should
<br /> really consider.
<br /> Mike Swaim: I have been sworn. I live a mile from the proposed development site. What I
<br /> would like to do tonight is propose an idea for the developers and for the County
<br /> Commissioners. I apologize to you in advance if this idea is something you're fairly sick of
<br /> hearing about. As a 20-year resident of Orange County, the general Buckhorn area, I've been
<br /> hearing proposals for this region west of Orange for quite some time. Initially, I was extremely
<br /> dismayed that one of the plans was to turn the Jockey lot into a giant retail center. It seems that
<br /> that would just increase congestion in an area that locals have been avoiding on weekends for a
<br /> long time, due to flea market traffic. Over the years, I've watched Hillsborough and Mebane
<br /> struggle with decisions regarding big box retailers and ever-expanding retail sprawl, with Efland
<br /> caught right in between. It seems to me that simply attempting to halt proposed retail space
<br /> expansion rarely works well. If anything, in this case, it might just move the project down the
<br /> interstate a few exits in neighboring Alamance, meaning that once again, Orange could see no
<br /> benefits but still experience the negative consequences of increased traffic. So, I have an idea
<br /> on how this area might be developed in a manner that would benefit residents in both Orange
<br /> and Alamance Counties and still meet the larger goals of The Village Project and distinctly
<br /> different than Buckhorn Village. What Buckhorn Village needs is a regional farmers' market, a
<br /> regularly daily schedule coupled with a restaurant featuring locally-grown products and an art
<br /> consignment gallery featuring works by local artists and craftspeople. There are a number of
<br /> reasons why Buckhorn exchange area is neatly suited to a regional farmers' market. Both the
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