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

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IN I Town Council Council Member Palmer said she supports the proposal wholeheartedly. 2 She left the last discussion feeling like this was a really good initiative, and she has been 3 learning more about what was presented. She does not want some of these enterprises within 4 the city limits of Chapel Hill. She believes these belong in the rural area and will make the 5 farming community more vibrant. She supports the local food movement and community 6 supported agriculture and farming. 7 Alderman Haven O'Donnell thanked Perdita Holtz for attending at least four meetings in 8 Carrboro, because the Aldermen really dissected this. She said this document is not perfect, 9 but it reflects a lot of time and effort. She encouraged Chapel Hill to take another look at it, as it 10 is very complex and requires digesting on multiple levels. She said their board was not unified 11 on the sunset clause, but they thought it was worth sharing at the next level. 12 Alderman Haven O'Donnell said it is important to have a rural center and to have things 13 that concretely support the efforts of local farming. She noted the earlier discussion about 14 transit nodes for affordable housing. She said if some of these events, like wineries and 15 breweries, are put out in the rural areas, it forces people into cars. She said there needs to be 16 consistency with their values. 17 Commissioner Price supported Commissioner Pelissier's earlier comments. She said 18 the attempt is to support farmers, protect urban areas, and reduce sprawl. She said one of her 19 concerns is that the list of six options may limit farmers from expanding their farm operation. 20 She feels there needs to be another type of threshold that is more equitable. 21 Commissioner Price referred to Alderman Haven O'Donnell's comment and said there 22 have been people who have wanted to have the events out at the farm in order to bring people 23 out. 24 Commissioner McKee said we may be looking at timelines in the wrong fashion. He 25 said today is not the problem because farming is a very long term proposition, and the short 26 term in farming is ten years. He said a five or six year sunset is still in the short term. He said 27 no one that is successful will limit their ability to move something forward. He said being 28 grandfathered in will just mean you cannot grow larger, and no business wants to be frozen in 29 time. 30 Commissioner McKee said he does not see any rush to get this settled right now, but it 31 needs to be settled in six months to a year. He said this should involve identifying the uses that 32 the different entities cannot abide. He said he is not interested in leaving the slaughterhouse in 33 the uses because there is not going to be a slaughterhouse in Orange County that is of a large 34 enough size to be noticeable. He said some of the other uses may grow to be a 300 person 35 event or a large complex, but Maple View is the exception and not the norm. He said most 36 farms are going in the opposite direction and growing smaller. 37 Commissioner McKee said he would urge everyone to move this forward, but it needs to 38 be without any discussion of a sunset clause. He said he would never support a sunset clause. 39 He suggested considering the alternatives to allowing these Agricultural Support Enterprises, 40 which will be 2 to 5 acre lots with million dollar homes, and more isolation of wealth in a small 41 area of the County. He said change is coming, and you will not be able to stop it. 42 Commissioner Gordon said she appreciates the comments that have been made. She 43 said the concept of the rural buffer was to have a definite edge around the municipalities so that