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51 <br /> 1 composite value in excess of 30 million dollars be the guinea pigs and risk it gaining the <br /> 2 reputation as that neighborhood next to this massive piece of ugliness under consideration <br /> 3 tonight. I urge you to reject this project. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 Do you have any questions for me? <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Michael Fox: I didn't, and I have actually decided I do. Are you aware that the ordinance here <br /> 8 in Orange County requires the landscaping buffer to be maintained? <br /> 9 <br /> 10 Barry Katz: I do. I understand that, but if you put in plants and you don't water them around <br /> 11 here, they die. <br /> 12 <br /> 13 Michael Fox: Are you aware that the planning department can enforce the maintenance of the <br /> 14 buffer? <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Barry Katz: Maintaining a buffer requires irrigation. If you have absolutely no evidence that <br /> 17 you intend to put in any kind of watering system to maintain these plants, these plants will die, <br /> 18 and you will be re-planting plants that will never get higher than 8 feet tall. There are no 30 foot <br /> 19 trees in this. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 Michael Fox: That's all the questions I have. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 David Rooks: Belinda Novik <br /> 24 <br /> 25 Belinda Novik: I appreciate the opportunity for this hearing, and thank you to the <br /> 26 Commissioners and planning board members, citizens and guests. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 My name is Belinda Novik. I have been sworn in. I live at 5801 Cascade Drive, directly <br /> 29 on the blind curve of the street. I can point to it, or blind myself, take your choice. Anyway, I <br /> 30 live on the blind curve of the street. I also walk for two hours a day in our neighborhood and I <br /> 31 know our streets and our neighbors extremely well. The uniform development ordinance <br /> 32 speaks to the necessity of the health, safety and general welfare of citizens for any proposed <br /> 33 project requiring a special use permit. There are significant dangers inherent in this proposal <br /> 34 which have not been addressed and that I would like to clarify. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 My qualifications for speaking about health and safety include an MD, a PhD in <br /> 37 psychology and a post-doctoral master's degree in clinical psychopharmacology. I've served <br /> 38 more than 35 years as a clinician and educator. I currently train educators at Duke University <br /> 39 Medical School, and since my clinical retirement, also volunteer at Lincoln Community Center in <br /> 40 Durham. Health care is my field of expertise. <br /> 41 I believe there are three important points that the application fails to address, and that <br /> 42 the planning staff and the applicant may have failed to consider. The first one is the health <br /> 43 impact of heavy construction traffic on Cascade Drive. Thankfully, we do not have a long <br /> 44 document of accident reports on our small street. We all share the road for driving, walking, <br /> 45 biking. There are no sidewalks. We walk on the road because the grassy shoulders are risky, <br /> 46 home to copperheads, ticks and poison ivy. Cascade Drive is a narrow, rural residential road. <br /> 47 The posted speed limit is 30 miles per hour, which is too fast. Cascade Drive, between Mount <br /> 48 Sinai Road and Falls Drive has a blind curve. You can see the road curving there on the left <br /> 49 side of the map. Each lane of the road is 8 feet 4 inches wide. From my driveway on that blind <br /> 50 curve, to see a vehicle approaching from the top, one has less than 2.65 seconds to get out of <br /> 51 the way. This is assuming that the oncoming vehicle driver sees you, is not distracted, and can <br />