Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
and the County to let everyone know their decision. <br /> Mayor Kleinschmidt said the Chapel Hill Town Council has discussed this only briefly, <br /> but there was some general support for expanded farm uses. He said he believes the rural <br /> buffer was set up in a way to help keep it rural, but farmers need tools to be successful, and <br /> these have not been provided. He said the town just wants to make sure the farmers are <br /> being helped. <br /> Mayor Kleinschmidt said a sunset clause is not a good idea. He said creating a date at <br /> which this could end would put farmers in much greater jeopardy, as this sets a point at which <br /> a vested right must be attained or else value is lost. He said if you are a small farmer hoping <br /> to provide value to a future generation, you are going to maximize it well ahead of time and sell <br /> to a "McMansion" subdivision. <br /> Mayor Kleinschmidt said an annual review and monitoring by staff would be valuable. <br /> Alderman Slade said the point of a sunset date is that it would allow an opportunity for <br /> review. He said the focus would be on reestablishing the rules that worked if it is found that <br /> these current proposals do not work. He said the farmers would have a window to make use <br /> of the land at a higher use value, and then this could be grandfathered in. <br /> Mayor Kleinschmidt said before the sunset period, anyone with interest in enhancing <br /> the value, would engage in a process to guarantee their rights. He said farmers would not <br /> know what the government is going to do, and they would potentially sell to the highest bidder. <br /> Alderman Slade asked why the farmers would choose to sell to a "McMansion" at that <br /> point when this could be done at any point. <br /> Town Commissioner Ferguson said businesses want certainty, and without certainty, <br /> there will be no business. She said no one will invest commercially with a sunset clause that <br /> may make them stop in five or six years. She said some of the other suggestions limit growth, <br /> which caps out profits and what can be done to be successful. She said if a business cannot <br /> make money, it will sell. <br /> Mayor Lavelle said Chapel Hill has only talked about this briefly, but Carrboro has <br /> talked about this on at least three occasions for over 7 hours and has come up with a set of <br /> really good recommendations. She said their board was mixed on the sunset clause, but it <br /> was kept in to present to the whole body out of deference to several of the board members. <br /> She said she is hearing that no one supports the sunset clause, and this is why she is <br /> suggesting the town of Carrboro take this back and look it over to see if there is another <br /> mechanism to accomplish what they are looking for. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said the Agricultural Support Enterprises started some time <br /> ago, and it was not just made up by elected officials and staff, but it was really made up by the <br /> farming community. She said the big picture of the rural buffer shows that it is more than just a <br /> ring; it is 37,000 acres that makes up a quarter of rural Orange County. She noted that over a <br /> quarter of the 37,000 acres is farmers, and the Board has already approved Agricultural <br /> Support Enterprises for the other three quarters. She does not want to give the message to <br /> farmers in the rural buffer that they will be micromanaged. She said farmers are commercial <br /> too, and she wants to support our farmers and the whole local food community. <br /> Council Member Matt Czajkowski said he has questioned the Metropolitan Planning <br />