Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

17 1 Mayor Kleinschmidt said before the sunset period, anyone with interest in enhancing the 2 value, would engage in a process to guarantee their rights. He said farmers would not know 3 what the government is going to do, and they would potentially sell to the highest bidder. 4 Alderman Slade asked why the farmers would choose to sell to a "McMansion" at that 5 point when this could be done at any point. 6 Town Commissioner Ferguson said businesses want certainty, and without certainty, 7 there will be no business. She said no one will invest commercially with a sunset clause that 8 may make them stop in five or six years. She said some of the other suggestions limit growth, 9 which caps out profits and what can be done to be successful. She said if a business cannot 10 make money, it will sell. 11 Mayor Lavelle said Chapel Hill has only talked about this briefly, but Carrboro has talked 12 about this on at least three occasions for over 7 hours and has come up with a set of really 13 good recommendations. She said their board was mixed on the sunset clause, but it was kept 14 in to present to the whole body out of deference to several of the board members. 15 She said she is hearing that no one supports the sunset clause, and this is why she is 16 suggesting the town of Carrboro take this back and look it over to see if there is another 17 mechanism to accomplish what they are looking for. 18 Commissioner Pelissier said the Agricultural Support Enterprises started some time ago, 19 and it was not just made up by elected officials and staff, but it was really made up by the 20 farming community. She said the big picture of the rural buffer shows that it is more than just a 21 ring; it is 37,000 acres that makes up a quarter of rural Orange County. She noted that over a 22 quarter of the 37,000 acres is farmers, and the Board has already approved Agricultural 23 Support Enterprises for the other three quarters. She does not want to give the message to 24 farmers in the rural buffer that they will be micromanaged. She said farmers are commercial 25 too, and she wants to support our farmers and the whole local food community. 26 Council Member Matt Czajkowski said he has questioned the Metropolitan Planning 27 Organization (MPO) growth projections for seven years, and his questions have never been 28 answered. He said to the extent that this issue has developed an immediacy driven by the 29 2040 planning process, he questions the degree at which we are actually facing an issue today. 30 He understands that we need to plan for tomorrow, but this feels like a hasty set of changes. 31 He said the issue of having a sunset clause should be the end of the discussion, but not the 32 beginning. 33 Council Member Matt Czajkowski asked planning staff how many applications are on the 34 table for the previously referred to "McMansions." 35 Craig Benedict said the majority of subdivisions over the last 10 years that are larger 36 than 10 lots have been in the rural buffer. He said the sheer number would not add up to the 37 projections. He said a lot of these are converted farms. 38 Council Member Matt Czajkowski asked how many development proposals are on the 39 table today to take current farms and turn them into large lots for large houses. 40 Craig Benedict said he can find and provide this information to the group. 41 Council Member Matt Czajkowski said this information should be before them. He said 42 the whole premise is based on 2040, and rather than the 5 year sunset provision, maybe this 43 should just go slowly. He questioned what farmers are saying about this.