Agenda - 05-07-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 evening hours for public activities. She said she would like information on the assessment for 2 impacts as presented by the OCCC. She would like to have alternative spaces considered. 3 Tinka Jordy is Co-Chair of the Hillsborough Arts Council. She said the Arts Council 4 supports using this facility for the arts in a very low-impact and organic manner. She sees this 5 as a temporary solution and not a permanent solution for cultural activities so that the 6 neighborhood is not impacted so severely. 7 Mike Kirby lives on Hassel Street. There is a parking problem there now. There are "No 8 Parking" signs and people still park there all day and night. 9 Steven Burke said no one can deny the importance of the arts and culture, but he can 10 question the location of this facility. He said this is a residential area mixed in with churches and 11 other activities. The question is whether this area can handle the additional traffic. He said 12 without an aggressive plan that accommodates the traffic of the narrow streets, this is not a 13 useful idea. 14 Paul Mitchell lives across the street and said the parking lot is a washout all the time. 15 He said one of the reasons he moved here was because there was a library that he could walk 16 to. He is not convinced that the community has invited this event center. He suggested looking 17 at the area at the old Wal-Mart for an event center because there is not a residential area there. 18 Callie Conner lives a block away from this facility and is secretary of the OCCC. She 19 has been committed to this venture. She said that this can be a transformative, cooperative 20 venture. She said children will be served through a variety of programs here. These uses are 21 the guiding philosophy of the board. She said one of the neighbors wrote a letter of support, 22 and she read, "The Whitted Building has always served as a busy place for the public 23 betterment—a school, a library, a recreation center, a senior center, health department, and 24 social services department. As such, this spot on Tryon Street has always been a source of 25 opportunity and life. As Hillsborough continues to thrive even with the accompanying 26 drawbacks of traffic and noise, we might see these as tradeoffs against the stagnation that so 27 many small towns in North Carolina experience. As for the Whitted neighbors, the OCCC will 28 truly make every effort to support concrete, responsible plans and solutions to ensure the 29 continuation of the tradition of vitality and community enhancement that the neighborhood has 30 enjoyed in the past." 31 Robert McDonald lives on W. Tryon. He said there have been issues and problems ever 32 since the recreation department has been there. There are issues of trash, parking, and noise. 33 Pat Revels thanked the County for entering into this dialogue. She attended the summit 34 on Hillsborough tourism recently and she heard words like community, hospitality, rich culture, 35 and a sense of place to describe Hillsborough. She serves on the Historical Foundation. She 36 serves as the representative for the Hillsborough Historic Museum on the OCCC. She made 37 reference to a letter of support in the agenda packet. She said the concerns are legitimate, but 38 she thinks this is a rare opportunity. 39 Andrea Riley is the Chair of the OCCC. She lives in Efland and she goes to the different 40 events all over the Triangle, but Hillsborough has her heart. She said this place has a special 41 draw. She works part-time at the Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitor's Bureau. She said 42 Hillsborough has wonderful shops and restaurants. Last Friday is a wonderful event. The 43 Whitted Center is a place people could walk to. She said the OCCC looked at the old Wal-Mart 44 building and there are huge pillars to hold up the ceiling and there is not a clear view. They also 45 looked at other facilities and they were too expensive or not attractive. She said this building is 46 beautiful and would be a perfect fit for the proposed uses. 47 Frank Miller said he went to school at Hillsborough High School, which was in this 48 facility. He said there are four street lights in the parking lot. He has picked up dirty diapers and 49 beer bottles. The dust from the parking lot comes into his house. He said the last thing he 50 wants is more traffic, dust, or noise. He said employees yell to each other across the parking