Minutes 04-10-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Jacobs thanked her for her service, and he noted that all of the Commissioners represent the interests of northern Orange County. Deborah Fulghieri is a member of the Chapel Hill Planning Board. She said she was appointed to the board in 2011 after initially being told that she could not serve because she was not a town resident. She said many things pass through the planning board, and she has caught up slowly and gotten more involved in Chapel Hill issues as well as those of the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). She lives in the southern part of the County, close to the Chatham County line. Deborah Fulghieri said one item of relevance is the interplay between Chapel Hill and the County at the level of taxation. She said people make improvements in property within the town limits, and those improvements are inspected by the town of Chapel Hill staff. She said the news of those improvements somehow has to get to the County assessor, and sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn't. She discussed an article about this issue and the fact that the town had opted not to purchase software that would allow better computer communication with the County. She said when final inspection is made on the improvements it may take three years for the news to reach Orange County so the property can be reassessed. She said she has found some cases where the news never reached the County. She feels that this is important since a great deal of the development in Chapel Hill is justified as a way to build the tax base, and it does no good if the tax assessor is not notified. Deborah Fulghieri said there is the light rail train that may come to Orange County and a half cent tax is remitted by every retail outlet or service provider for this project. She said the light rail project as it currently stands only has three stops in Orange County and four stops in Chapel Hill. She said at least two of the County stops are on UNC owned land that cannot be built on. She said Orange County gets quite a lot of sales tax, and she believes that the town hasn't lobbied for light rail to serve its commercial areas. She said that when this project has been presented to the Planning Board, it has been with the idea that there will be natural growth of retail, mixed use and residential near each stop. She said this is not possible for the stops planned within Orange County. She feels that it would be better for this light rail system to go down 15-501 and serve those residential and commercial districts. She said this is also shorter and avoids the wetland area of Jordan Lake. She said there is a huge new project coming up in the ETJ called Obey Creek, which will have hundreds of dwellings, retail space, and office space. She said this is being built on a piece of land that was set aside in 1992 to offset density in Southern Village, which is across from it. She said the County needs to know about this, since service demands will be made on them. She said she does not know what level, but it will involve water, sewer, and transit. She said this is being worked different than other projects in Chapel Hill, and some people think this is to shut out public input. Deborah Fulghieri said there are other small issues, but these are the large projects that the County needs to be made aware of. She said it is not too late for an orientation, and she likes the idea of having a point person for communication. Chair Jacobs suggested that these planning board appointees could be connected with Craig Benedict for an orientation. Commissioner Gordon said she would like to note that the Commissioners would be interested in the large projects in Chapel Hill. She said the Board has even asked to meet with the town about these. Chair Jacobs agreed. He suggested that the Board could give direction after the presenters are done speaking as far as the connection with appointees for communicating County interests.