Agenda - 12-04-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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15 1 towards planning for the future. The town has a carefully drafted vision, and a strategy map that 2 directs the town towards this vision, and a very detailed Unified Development Ordinance that 3 aligns with these as well. 4 5 So, while development is coming—and we all know that it is—the town is trying to prepare for 6 this while holding on to what's special about Hillsborough. 7 8 Given all of this, I'm feeling concerned about the Settler's point proposal. The first thing I want to 9 talk to about is District 1. I know economic development is important jobs are good, tax 10 revenue is good, innovation is good. I know these things. Yet, I'm not sure what kind of 11 businesses would be in district 1. The zone is described as "light industrial, manufacturing, and 12 research"—this seems far too broad and could capture a huge range of businesses. So I ask 13 that you please wait until it's possible to get more detail about exactly what would be taking 14 residency in our town, right next to 1-40. 15 16 Second, let's talk about District 2. 17 As mentioned before, I've only lived in Hillsborough for 8 months. I have always liked 18 Hillsborough, I enjoy the sweet little downtown, and the parks, and of course Riverwalk. With 19 that said, since moving here, I have been surprised by how much I've grown to LOVE this town. 20 The people in Hillsborough are friendly-1 know a lot of my neighbors are here tonight and look 21 grumpy but don't let them fool you—they are usually incredibly friendly. There are a lot of artists 22 here, and a lot of art around town... a lot of open, beautiful natural spaces... a ton of history.... 23 There is something special here, it's hard to put your finger on it—the town's vision has settled 24 on referring to this as Hillsborough's "unique heritage and small town character". 25 26 While there is so much I love about this town, there is one thing I really do not like... That is the 27 space on old 86, right off 85. Have any of you ever heard the term "food swamp"? the space off 28 85, on old 86 is the perfect example of a food swamp---an area overrun with unhealthy fast food 29 chain restaurants. Yesterday, I counted 15 just a mile down the road from proposed district 2. 30 Now, the public health girl in me wants to highlight the fact that increased easy access to 31 unhealthy foods, can increase consumption of unhealthy foods, which can contribute to an 32 increased incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases 33 34 BUT 35 The Hillsborough-lover in me feels it's even more important to say to you, that this is not what ! 36 want people's first impression to be of my town, and of my county. 37 38 Imagine with me for a moment that someone has never been to Hillsborough and, even better, 39 has never been to Orange County. They're driving up 40, preparing to exit on old 86 and they 40 see a water tower—either a blue one on the right, or a white one on the left and they think 41 "oh, this is Orange County, NC... it's cute" and then they see it.... A food swamp. Right off the 42 exit. Then they exit 40, drive north and a mile later they run into a second food swamp. Is this 43 how we want people to experience Hillsborough? Is this how we want people to experience 44 Orange County? 45 46 We are sitting here today in a county building in Hillsborough. Most people who need to visit 47 these county offices will be exiting on the very 1-40 exit we're speaking about, and be 48 immediately greeted with the result of the decisions you make about this land. Do you want a 49 food swamp to be people's first impression of Orange County? I certainly don't. Unfortunate 50 decisions were made in the past that resulted in one food swamp off of 85.... Let's not allow that 51 to happen again off of 1-40. 52 53 Imagine with me for a moment that someone has never been to Hillsborough and, perhaps 54 better, has never been to Orange County. They're driving up 40, preparing to exit on old 86 and