Agenda - 06-03-2014 - 7c - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 PUBLIC COMMENT: 2 3 Bolton Anthony said he runs a small non - profit called Second Journey, which is 4 interested in new models for community in later life. He said his organization has been 5 partnering with the Department on Aging on workshops regarding aging in the communities. He 6 said there have been discussions on shared housing and clustered neighborhoods. 7 He said his non - profit was considering an elder -co- housing community 7 or 8 years ago, 8 in which the houses are clustered and open onto a green space, and automobiles are kept at a 9 distance. He said the affordability issue in Carrboro and Chapel Hill made this project very 10 difficult, so the agricultural buffer was considered. He said there was a 15 acre tract on Old 11 Hillsborough that would have worked beautifully, and the 2 acre requirement is what frustrated 12 the ability to develop this. He urged the Board to give this a favorable hearing and not frustrate 13 future attempts. 14 Council Member Palmer referred to page 15 of the materials and noted that there are 15 approximately 9,260 acres of land designated rural /residential and agricultural. She said that 16 could mean about 10,231 people according to the plan. She said if the County continues sub - 17 dividing land into big lots, there will end up being mansions for 10,000 people. She does not 18 want to County to look like this, and she does not want this to be the future of the outskirts of the 19 Chapel Hill and Carrboro area. She would like to think of ways that this land can serve the 20 community better than just subdividing it into lots. She suggested development of a soccer 21 complex that would bring in people for recreational purposes and would bring economic 22 development to our area. She said a park and ride lot could be placed next to it so that 23 weekend users could utilize it to preserve parking in the towns. She said some of this land 24 should be preserved for trails and campgrounds. 25 Council Member Palmer asked about use for affordable housing or educational farms for 26 young people to learn about agriculture. She asked if these activities could be encouraged. 27 She said she is comfortable making these changes to bring things up to date, but she hopes 28 that the Board can come back and talk about new things that can be done with the rural buffer. 29 30 Council Member Storrow arrived at 7.42 PM 31 32 Council Member Ward asked how the land perkability affects these rules. 33 Michael Harvey said the reality is if that it is sometimes difficult to find perk sites. He 34 said if developers don't do the due diligence before going through the process then there could 35 be a lot of money spent for nothing. He said the County does require applicant to go through a 36 fairly arduous process to avoid this. 37 Council Member Ward asked if the County requires a back up perk site. 38 Michael Harvey said yes. 39 Council Member Ward asked if the County is being asked about above ground perks 40 and other alternatives with regard to land that does not perk 41 Michael Harvey said all of these are possible with state permits and state engineered 42 systems. He said a project in the rural buffer is prohibited from having water or sewer extended 43 to it. 44 Council Member Ward asked if developers can use the alternative strategies. 45 Michael Harvey said yes. 46 Commissioner Gordon said part of the reason for the rural buffer is to have a hard edge 47 around the urban areas so that the urban areas can be developed in a more effective way. She 48 said it is important to remember that whatever goes in the rural buffer needs to be able to 49 survive on groundwater systems. 50 She said there are possibilities to have soccer areas in other parts of the County, such 51 as Millhouse Road Park and the Twin Creeks Park. 27