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101 East Orange Street • P. O. Box 429 • Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 919-732-1270 • Fax 919-644-2390 3) Parking standard for industrial is very high, especially if uses end up with significant warehouse space. 4) Elementary, middle, and high schools are listed as a permitted use in the light industrial portion of the site. This is undesirable as schools are a very low density but high traffic impact uses. Allowing more than 10 acres of an economic development district be taken by a non-taxable entity is not desirable. Schools generally do not have spin-off investments to compensate. 5) This site is a poor location for senior housing. True senior housing does not need prime road access but does need supporting retail and activities if the seniors are to be active and engaged. It’s unclear that these uses are proposed for the retail component. This location is better suited to affordable housing to provide easy highway access to employees who may need to travel significant distances to their jobs. 6) Senior housing comes with many regulatory requirements from the state level if services are to be provided, as stated in the narrative. Assisted living and skilled nursing can’t just be built without prior approval and Certificates of Need from the state. I have inquired as to whether any certificates exist for Orange County and the response from the state indicates it is unlikely that Orange County would see approvals for more beds through 2020. If the proposal is really just for an age restricted subdivision, the applicant should be compelled to remove these other services from their narrative as they are unrealistic and build unreasonable expectations in the reviewing board and general public. 7) Any residential development in this area will be isolated from the remainder of Hillsborough. Connectivity among neighborhoods is a high community priority. Isolation and the need for connectivity are currently being discussed in updates to the county Master aging Plan as an important quality of life aspect. Unless widening of South Churton includes sidewalks under I-40 and along the project frontage, it will not be possible for someone living here to safely walk or bike to Waterstone or any other part of town. This type of improvement can only happen with annexation as NCDOT does not allow sidewalk construction without a maintenance agreement. We will be creating another isolated node that will be extremely expensive to retrofit into the town’s ideal of connectedness. 8) The proposed development details and criteria do not align well with the town’s Unified Development Ordinances for setbacks, building heights, and the like. If annexed, the town would likely need to create a new zoning district to accommodate at least portions of this site or the site will be non- conforming. 9) The narrative is very light on development details. Pages are committed to landscaping, signage, and solid waste, but there is no clear mention of any other development standards. The signage requirements are very different from town requirements and will create significant non-conformities if this site is developed under these standards and then annexed. The town is nearing the end of its amortization period for existing freestanding signs and could begin compelling sign replacements in the city in 2 more years. To have the development happening with vastly different standards at the same time will be a public relations nightmare. 10) The driveway spacing is less than optimal. The existing service road is close to the interchange ramps and could be impacted by future widenings. The application doesn’t include any additional frontage to access the western portion of the project or make use of Davis Road. 11) The submittal information gives no indication that there will be any internal connectivity on the east side. Sincerely, Margaret A. Hauth, AICP Planning Director Assistant Town Manager 282