Minutes 12-01-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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■ Ensure a continuing mechanism for long-term planning in the area and educate area representatives about planning context ■ JPA agreement remains as context for the larger area outside the ETJ request area 5. County Review Summary (con't) ■ Request meets or is consistent with requirements (see pages 150-158) . Remaining county actions if approved ■ ETJ representation by County with appointment reflecting population proportionality 6. Recommendations ■ Approve the Chapel Hill ETJ Expansion request ■ Engage in long-term planning in the area NOTE: Upcoming activity by BOCC; Proceed with OWASA Re: Final Sewer Engineering Craig Benedict noted that there are also 35,000 acres in the rural buffer, which is part of the joint planning area under Orange County's jurisdiction. He noted on the area map that the dotted line representing the Rogers Road Neighborhood shows the primary reason for the proposed ETJ expansion. Craig Benedict said that petitions and letters of support from the general public regarding this expansion are included in the packet. He said if this expansion is approved, the population numbers will need to be re- calculated to insure proper ETJ representation, and staff is already working on this calculation. 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.