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

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 17 PUBLIC COMMENT: Town Council Member Maria Palmer said the town council chambers were packed when this item was discussed. She said Chapel Hill unanimously approved the expansion of the ETJ to include the Rogers Road Neighborhood. She said this was done after much deliberation, and this expansion is an attempt to try and right some historic wrongs. She said the council heard from neighbors around the Rogers Road area, who endured years of environmental damage and broken promises. She said these residents are ready to trust the town again, even under the jurisdiction of a council that they did not elect. She said this is an important step in righting some historic wrongs, and she hopes the Board will approve this request. Hudson Vaughn works at the Jackson Center. He said the center worked with RENA this past summer and did some extensive community engagement. He referenced several slides that were shown at the Chapel Hill Town Council. He said there was a focus on the demographic data to enable Chapel Hill to move forward with this ETJ. He said once this data was determined, there were a series of intensive community engagement strategies to educate the community on what an ETJ would mean and what it would enable. He said the community members expressed support for moving forward with this. Commissioner Rich thanked Hudson Vaughn for doing this and asked him to share this report with all of the members of the Board. Commissioner Price asked if the landfill would be given back to Chapel Hill. Craig Benedict said it would be a part of the ETJ for planning purposes. He said the landfill would still be under the purview of Orange County, and there would be no changes in that area. Commissioner Jacobs asked how much more ETJ area will be left after this. Craig Benedict said if this acreage is converted, there will be 274 acres of joint planning area left in Chapel Hill. He said Carrboro has 1200 to 1300 acres of joint planning area. Commissioner Jacobs said Craig Benedict commented that the County would be looking at the Greene Tract with the Town of Chapel Hill. He asked for clarification on this. Craig Benedict said this would be discussed because this new ETJ area would include the Greene Tract that is under joint ownership with Chapel Hill and Carrboro. He said planning began ten years ago to talk about the acreages and usage of what can go on in the jointly owned area. He said as the long term plans are considered, the County would like to know the future plans for the 18 acres of the Greene Tract Commissioner Price asked about the reasoning for including the landfill in this area. Craig Benedict said it would be better to have a comprehensive area within a similar planning jurisdiction rather than a piece meal JPA/ETJ. Commissioner Price said this was on the edge of the northwest area. Town Council Member Palmer said in order for Chapel Hill to spend money in this area, the town is looking at using part of the right of way. She said this has to do with the infrastructure that has to go in to that area. Commissioner Dorosin said this is a very thorough analysis from the planning department. He said it is to everyone's benefit to be candid about what is being done here, and this is all part of completing the overdue reparations to the Rogers Road area. He said there could be lots of discussion about the voting for council leadership and other issues, but the truth is that Chapel Hill already has that control as part of the joint planning agreement. He said this approval is a critical and important step, and he encouraged everyone to keep pushing this process forward. Commissioner Jacobs said this is a much better rendering of the agenda item than what the Board previously received. He said it would have been nice to have had an ETJ transfer process in place before the Chapel Hill approval, but this is no reason not to proceed. He said one of the main issues in the past JPA discussions was having adequate representation for