Minutes 11-14-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 Janet Marks lives in New Hope Springs off of Davis Road, and she has heard nothing of economic development over the years. She said she knows she cannot prevent the development. She said there will be little buffering to prevent light pollution, and asked if the Board would look at this issue closely. She asked the BOCC if it would look at the installation of water pipes in the District II area that is supposed to be for District I. Joan Kalnitsky said she is concerned with what will go into District 1. She said she hoped that the BOCC would wait until it is clear what is going to be in District I before voting on this project, and she has a signed petition supporting this concern. Matt Kostura reviewed the following comments: To the Orange County Board of Commissioners: I am writing to register my deep reservations regarding the planned development of the Settler's Point Master Planned Development Conditional Zoning (MPC-CZ) application My review of the narrative for the development and my concerns are based on three straightforward assertions: 1. The entire development is predicated on access to Interstate 40 with little integration into the surrounding community and because of that... 2. The rural residential look and feel of the area will be greatly compromised by certain types of development that are allowed by the current zoning permits and therefore.... 3. Inappropriate development will have a material impact on many more residents than those abutting the property and within the 1000 ft. spec for notification. Based on the narrative, District 1 will be the first tract developed for so-called light industrial, research or warehouse use. Of the three uses I list here I would hope that the county could concede the point that warehousing would be inappropriate. Certainly a light manufacturing facility; e.g.: the Morinaga facility or perhaps a local microbrewery or distillery that could use expansion. Even a food preparation facility to allow local farmers to process foods for local restaurants would be better than the standard warehouse. District 2 is yet another cookie cutter hotel, chain restaurants and high intensity retail/office complex. Perhaps there might be demand for a hotel in the area, but does the county want to become saddled with idle restaurant property in the near future? Casual dining as a category is doing poorly, with a change in drinking and eating habits. Local pubs with microbrews and restaurants with locally authentic food are in and corporate fast food is out. And frankly Hillsborough itself is establishing itself as something of a destination for both so would it not be reasonable to attract those types of clients or better still attempt to get some of the transit traffic on 40 into those same local restaurants? District 3 requires a rezoning of R1 land. The Settlers Ridge Properties have never sold and for good reason; they are too close to the highway and the noise in that area is fairly high. No one wants to build a $400K home next to a highway. So instead, a mixed use office high density housing complex (read apartments) and a lower density senior living complex are planned. I can see four major problems with this development that if not appropriately configured will absolutely wreck the surrounding area which is entirely rural residential in character. The concerns really come down to traffic, lights, noise and visual aesthetic. 1. Traffic would be a major problem on Old 86 and likely back on to Davis Rd, which would ultimately have a cut through to allow alternate access to the parcels. 2. Lighting is a concern with many homeowners in the area that appreciate dark skies. That is a quintessential part of the character of the area. Again, some types of developments (eg office or research) can mitigate these problems but others virtually demand intrusive lighting (gas stations, restaurants, warehousing). Standing lights are a concern. 3. Noise. More traffic, more noise and not much more needs to be said in that regard. Also the wooded areas provide a near complete buffer for traffic noise from Interstate 40 for