Orange County NC Website
10 <br /> 1 not. He said the plan calls for employment uses on the west side of Old 86, and mixed use and <br /> 2 suburban office on the east side. He said in Hillsborough's definitions, the opportunity for retail <br /> 3 is limited and somewhat small. He said District I is completely consistent with the Town's <br /> 4 coordinated area plan, but District I I contains some items that are inconsistent with this plan. <br /> 5 He said the retail component is much larger than the Town would envision, and the Town is <br /> 6 concerned that the quick and easy green space for an extended amount of retail could damage <br /> 7 the overall retail viability of other areas of Hillsborough. <br /> 8 Janet Marks lives in New Hope Springs off of Davis Road, and she has heard nothing of <br /> 9 economic development over the years. She said she knows she cannot prevent the <br /> 10 development. She said there will be little buffering to prevent light pollution, and asked if the <br /> 11 Board would look at this issue closely. She asked the BOCC if it would look at the installation of <br /> 12 water pipes in the District II area that is supposed to be for District I. <br /> 13 Joan Kalnitsky said she is concerned with what will go into District 1. She said she <br /> 14 hoped that the BOCC would wait until it is clear what is going to be in District I before voting on <br /> 15 this project, and she has a signed petition supporting this concern. <br /> 16 Matt Kostura reviewed the following comments: <br /> 17 <br /> 18 To the Orange County Board of Commissioners: <br /> 19 I am writing to register my deep reservations regarding the planned development of the <br /> 20 Settler's Point Master Planned Development Conditional Zoning (MPC-CZ) application <br /> 21 My review of the narrative for the development and my concerns are based on three <br /> 22 straightforward assertions: <br /> 23 1. The entire development is predicated on access to Interstate 40 with little integration into <br /> 24 the surrounding community and because of that... <br /> 25 2. The rural residential look and feel of the area will be greatly compromised by certain <br /> 26 types of development that are allowed by the current zoning permits and therefore.... <br /> 27 3. Inappropriate development will have a material impact on many more residents than <br /> 28 those abutting the property and within the 1000 ft. spec for notification. <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Based on the narrative, District 1 will be the first tract developed for so-called light industrial, <br /> 31 research or warehouse use. Of the three uses I list here I would hope that the county could <br /> 32 concede the point that warehousing would be inappropriate. Certainly a light manufacturing <br /> 33 facility; e.g.: the Morinaga facility or perhaps a local microbrewery or distillery that could use <br /> 34 expansion. Even a food preparation facility to allow local farmers to process foods for local <br /> 35 restaurants would be better than the standard warehouse. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 District 2 is yet another cookie cutter hotel, chain restaurants and high intensity retail/office <br /> 38 complex. Perhaps there might be demand for a hotel in the area, but does the county want to <br /> 39 become saddled with idle restaurant property in the near future? Casual dining as a category is <br /> 40 doing poorly, with a change in drinking and eating habits. Local pubs with microbrews and <br /> 41 restaurants with locally authentic food are in and corporate fast food is out. And frankly <br /> 42 Hillsborough itself is establishing itself as something of a destination for both so would it not be <br /> 43 reasonable to attract those types of clients or better still attempt to get some of the transit traffic <br /> 44 on 40 into those same local restaurants? <br /> 45 <br /> 46 District 3 requires a rezoning of R1 land. The Settlers Ridge Properties have never sold and for <br /> 47 good reason; they are too close to the highway and the noise in that area is fairly high. No one <br /> 48 wants to build a $400K home next to a highway. So instead, a mixed use office high density <br /> 49 housing complex (read apartments) and a lower density senior living complex are planned. <br /> 50 I can see four major problems with this development that if not appropriately configured will <br /> 51 absolutely wreck the surrounding area which is entirely rural residential in character. The <br /> 52 concerns really come down to traffic, lights, noise and visual aesthetic. <br /> 53 1. Traffic would be a major problem on Old 86 and likely back on to Davis Rd, which would <br /> 54 ultimately have a cut through to allow alternate access to the parcels. <br />