Orange County NC Website
green stuff, then we're going to have to develop on the stuff that's already messed up. So, this <br /> is a brown field in existence at the intersection of major transit corridors, and is the exact sort of <br /> place that you in your good wisdom in 1981 began talking about. Many of the previous <br /> speakers spoke eloquently on the nexus between successful economy and successful <br /> community, and that's one that's going to get more and more important, and we need to <br /> generate revenue to support the things that we want. What I'm going to hand into you is, at our <br /> expense we hired a graduate student of the Department of City Regional Planning to use a <br /> software program to project a construction grid and all of the economic impacts of the project. <br /> Many of the numbers you have heard here today, with an estimated total of 2,465 jobs created <br /> both through the construction phase as well as the retail sector, 1,700 of those filled by Orange <br /> County residents; the sales tax revenue of almost $900,000 during the construction phase for <br /> Orange County, and $2.5 million totally; and another $5.5 million in sales tax revenue projected <br /> every year once it begins, plus million of dollars in property tax revenue. That's an extraordinary <br /> opportunity to do the things that you all have long set out and desired for the County. I'm <br /> pleased to be part of it and to be here expressing our organization's support and <br /> congratulations. He added that he had not been sworn in. <br /> The Clerk swore in the remaining speakers. <br /> Tom Studemayer: We've heard lots of testimony, a lot of it very moving, and a lot of it very <br /> emotional. I don't have a lot of details, I don't have a lot of charts, I don't have a lot of facts. I <br /> bring simply my experience growing up in a community not in Orange County that did not have <br /> a plan for smart growth. I also bring it as a local businessman who deals with residents of <br /> Orange County daily. In my business, I do a lot of tax planning. The one tax plan that I can't <br /> help them with is their property tax, and it is about the single biggest complaint that I hear. So <br /> my question simply is, if not here, where? If not now, when? And if not these folks, who? I <br /> enjoy the rural nature of Orange County just like everyone else. Clients give me the pleasure of <br /> the use of their land during hunting and fishing seasons and I enjoy it immensely. It's how I <br /> grew up, and I would hate to see that go away. This property and the decision to develop this <br /> property was made long before I took residence here. If not now, when? As stated, the <br /> residential property tax burden that the citizens of Orange County are bearing is crushing. Our <br /> school systems are crushing under that burden as well. This is a small parcel of one EDD that <br /> would bring infrastructure, which I hope will make room for the small businesses and the start- <br /> ups that don't have the shoulders and the Ph. D's that are leveraging our homes and our <br /> mortgages to start businesses and putting their families at risk that are now taking those <br /> businesses outside Orange County because they don't have room to build in here. I would <br /> prefer to see this in downtown Hillsborough or downtown Carrboro. That's not your fight. If not <br /> these folks, who? Business, from a transactor's point of view, is a one-time deal. You come in, <br /> you either buy what you want or the service you receive, and then leave. But from my side of <br /> the desk, it's my lifetime pursuit. The assumption that folks that live here and work here are <br /> somehow going to ravage the communities that they serve is just bad business. I leave you <br /> with those three points — if not here, where? If not now, when? And if not them, who? Because <br /> growth is coming, and if you squeeze it out of Orange County, your problems are going to get <br /> worse. <br /> Tatiana Jones: I live at 610 Buckhorn Road. If you would look at section 3, I am part of the <br /> road front that is not included in the development. I have two small children — one who is three <br /> years old, one that is five months old. My children can't play outside as it is now on the <br /> weekends because of the traffic from the flea market. If this comes in, being that we are not <br /> included, my house will still be there. My children could still not play outside. Another thing that <br /> someone touched on earlier was the traffic. No one mentioned anything about the traffic on I- <br />