Agenda - 02-18-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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I Commissioner Pelissier said she does not want the land use plan driven solely by 2 compilation projections that go out 30 -50 years. She said it does not make sense to just look at 3 rural Orange County. She said there should be consideration of all municipalities and what they 4 are doing that is pertinent to the transit plan. She said this is a moving target, and the 5 projections cannot be used as the final end point for a land use plan. 6 Tony Blake asked if these same numbers were used to justify the Triangle Transit 7 Authority (TTA) transit plan and tax. He questioned why those kinds of numbers would be used 8 with the transportation organizations, but Craig Benedict's numbers would not be used to plan. 9 Commissioner Pelissier said the issue is whether it is rural or urban. She said the transit 10 has to be more urban. 11 Tony Blake said the numbers in the TTA plan were those same numbers. He said his 12 confusion lies with the idea that these are not real numbers. 13 Paul Guthrie said he is less concerned about population numbers and more concerned 14 that there is a built in board strategy for things that would have to be done for a water quality or 15 water supply problem. He said this would provide options. He said one example would be a 16 package plant in a small area to take care of waste. He asked if this would fit into the solution, 17 or if it is one -time expense that will have to be shut down at some point. He said this thought 18 process needs to be a part of planning and Board policy with growth and development. 19 Commissioner Price said she agreed with Craig Benedict from a planning perspective. 20 She said it is better to over project than under project. She said the population has tripled since 21 1990, and the County needs to be prepared and flexible. She said the area is trying to attract 22 business and people, and people will come. She noted that Chapel Hill is increasing its density 23 and urbanization. She said Hillsborough is trying to keep its reigns on a small population in a 24 small historic town. She feels the Board should be prepared. 25 Chair Jacobs said there is a water and sewer boundary agreement that provides for 26 extensions in case of a catastrophic failure. He said OWASA has done this before, and Orange 27 County does have areas of influence where it would be in charge of a package treatment plant 28 or an extension. 29 He said the other aspect to planning for growth, is the presumption that there are natural 30 limits of growth. He said if you are talking about groundwater, open space, and groundwater in 31 reservoirs, Orange County is not going to be able to accommodate 63,000 more people unless 32 these residents are in the urban areas. He said the question is how this could be accomplished 33 and still keep Orange County's quality of life. He said the presumption is typically given to 34 accommodating the growth, as opposed to the presumption of what baseline can be supported. 35 He would like to see both considered. 36 Tony Blake said the rural buffer was in place prior to 1 -40 being put into place. He 37 asked if there has been any talk about changing some of the designations along this corridor. 38 Chair Jacobs said he has not heard any significant discussion of this. He has heard 39 some elected officials in Chapel Hill discuss the possibility of extending Chapel Hill into parts of 40 the rural buffer where it would promote development. 41 Tony Blake said Carolina North will more than double the present campus area at UNC. 42 He said that will presumably drive a desire for people to move into this area. He asked if 43 anyone has taken a hard look at what is sustainable and possible. 44 Craig Benedict said the projection also predicts 50,000 new employees in the Triangle, 45 and that number will be split among the three counties. He said the cities must be considered 46 first, to see what they can accommodate. He said this question could not be answered right 47 away, so a straight line projection was used. He said the new update to the plan will account for 48 the growth in the cities when determining what may happen in the rural buffer. 49 He said the question is, if the growth could come this way, how it will fit Orange County. 50 He said Orange County does not have an inventory of existing buildings for the potential new 3