Orange County NC Website
sure that the record reflects that those numbers are not the numbers of the exhibits as he has offered them 1 <br />today, unless you use this set as opposed to that set so we're not confused. Second, with regard to the 2 <br />exhibits that have been offered we object to exhibits 10 through 21, exhibit 11 and 12 are excerpts from 3 <br />Orange County's comprehensive plan. I certainly think that the Board is entitled to review the County's 4 <br />comprehensive plan if that has relevance, which you would receive that in a different way and you should 5 <br />be able to receive that as you wish, but Mr. Owens is a treatise. I do not have an objection to you reading 6 <br />his Treatise but it is not technically an exhibit. It's not evidence. It's legal authority. The other exhibits that 7 <br />are offered are a combination of things that have been printed from the internet which have no probative 8 <br />value to any of the facts and evidence before you nor are they, in my opinion, documents that would be on 9 <br />legal authorities and so I would ask that you not consider those and exhibit 17 is instead of giving you a 10 <br />statute it's sort of a chart excerpt from the statute and while we can all make legal argument to you, and I'm 11 <br />sure we will, that again it's not an evidentiary exhibit so for the record I object to those exhibits so. And 12 <br />again I recognize that you are not working under the strict rules of evidence and a quasi-judicial setting but 13 <br />in order to preserve these objections and any subsequent proceeding I wanted to make them now. 14 <br /> 15 <br />Karen Barrows: What’s the Board feeling? We consider the objections inaudible. 16 <br /> 17 <br />Craig Benedict: Excuse me, I’m just trying to make sure that everybody can hear so please speak up to the 18 <br />microphone because the back of the room can’t hear it that well. I’ll try to adjust this without getting 19 <br />feedback. 20 <br /> 21 <br /> 22 <br />Andy Petesch: To help perhaps make this clear these exhibits are listed on page 3 of the deliberations 23 <br />paper that Mr. Bryan handed out if that makes it easier for you to review. And as I’m introducing them as 24 <br />exhibits I'll leave it up to the Board to assess their evidentiary value. Some of this is for a illustrative 25 <br />purpose or reference to either primary or secondary authority. I would object to characterizing Mr. Owens 26 <br />work as tertiary in the state, and so those are the reasons either that I'll be referring to these to age you in 27 <br />my argument and understanding my argument or that they are evidentiary. I would submit that for example 28 <br />the printout from the web sites are evidentiary, they are probative and the 393 which governs evidence 29 <br />under these proceedings specifically says the term competent evidence shall not preclude reliance by the 30 <br />decision-making Board on evidence that would not be admissible Under The Rules of Evidence as applied 31 <br />in the trial division of the general court if the evidence was admitted without an objection or the evidence 32 <br />appears to be sufficiently trustworthy and was admitted under such circumstances that was reason for their 33 <br />decision-making Board to rely upon it. And those web sites are all government website and believe I do 34 <br />have the indicia of reliability on them. 35 <br /> 36 <br />Barry Katz: This suggests that we're relying on this material. When in fact we are probably not relying on 37 <br />most of the stuff. But if we accept this as part of this case, if this goes forward at any other venue will the 38 <br />fact that we have accepted this have any consequential impact if this was more than any kind of litigation? 39 <br /> 40 <br />James Bryan: so they're sort of two thresholds. First there's just hearing it at all. So there might be 41 <br />something that so prejudicial that you hear it and you'll be like “oh, once I heard it I can't unhear it “. That 42 <br />doesn't happen very often in zoning. That's more in the criminal world type of thing. The second threshold 43 <br />is your findings of fact. You say, “okay I heard this we will add some speakers to come speak” and you 44 <br />know that you can't rely on opinion. You have to rely on fact. So that's when the findings of fact come into 45 <br />play. You say, “Look, we decided before against this, these are the reasons for it”. So that's why I suggest 46 <br />that the Board be rather lenient with accepting it during the hearing but the key I think is for it to be clear 47 <br />75