Minutes 05-27-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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James Bryan: If you are going to accept anything at a future date, you are going to have to allow the opposing side to cross examine anything that is submitted. Anything like this should be submitted with the actual appraiser there to testify about it. David Rooks: Okay. At this point we will call mister—We want to try and deal with that question at some point this evening. James Bryan: We can deal with it... David Rooks: I guess my question is this, I think we need another hearing, to do what I want to do, which is to have him present his report, and to allow the applicant the opportunity to cross examine. My judgment of what the law allows is there should be no further submissions after tonight unless you continue and re-open the hearing for the purpose of receiving additional submissions. Pete Hallenbeck: I'd rather not get into a discussion with the attorneys; but I think my advice stands that you can continue this if you want, but if you give an opportunity for one side to present evidence, you have to allow the other side. James Bryan: I think if the Commissioners agree, I think we should continue to get information. You should continue to get that in writing, and it will be the decision of the Board of County Commissioners as to whether or not to continue the hearing, and I'm sure that decision will be based on what they have seen and heard tonight. David Rooks: Alright. Thank you, sir. At this point, we call Mr. Bob Thomas. Bob Thomas: Hello, I am Robert Thomas. I was sworn earlier today and I am a certified residential real estate appraiser. I have been one for well over a decade. I was a training appraiser for years before that and have lived in this area for about two decades. I have appraised many homes in the Chapel Hill area. I have appraised many homes in the subject subdivision, all kinds of homes. I am very familiar with it. I have friends who live there and I am — I know the subdivision very well. The thing is that the point that's been made again is about external obsolescence. What is something —there could be something that is aside from the property, outside the boundaries of the property that have a negative impact. And in looking at that question, which is the question here, you have to consider the particular thing you are looking at. It is not— It's a truism in real estate that the three most important things in real estate is location, location, location. And you can't just look at the general proposition, what's the effect of a solar farm on any property. You have to look at the effect of a solar farm on a particular property, and you can tell from looking out here that there are a lot of people who live in this subdivision that don't like the idea. This is a well established subdivision. It was built between the 1960s and the 1980s. It has all different kinds of properties. It has contemporaries. It has ranches. It has colonials, but it also has 1 to 2 acre lots. It's very nicely located with respect to Duke, with respect to UNC. It's right between the two of them. You can jump over to Hillsborough. It has a very bucolic appearance, and that is what attracts these people to it— bucolic appearance, convenience of location, and the fact that it has a kind of a community to it. And it's this, this bucolic feel of the community that makes it as valuable as it is. It's um — Anything that would detract from that would definitely negatively impact value. Now I have not looked at the particular question of how a solar farm would impact value; but it is my opinion, as well as the other two appraisers who are representing the homeowners, that it would have a negative impact. I have addressed the questions many times in my career of something that is antithetical to a house, to a particular property. I have dealt with properties that have been