Item 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

18 1 and then the town annexes. He said he thought that was also the agreement with Hillsborough, 2 but it is his understanding that Hillsborough is telling the developers of Settlers Point that it does 3 not like some part of the development, and thus will withhold water and sewer. He said this is 4 holding developers hostage. He said he would like more information, and it is unclear to him if 5 Hillsborough even cares about what the County approves in areas that Hillsborough will 6 ultimately annex. He said he would like to the think that the County's plans/input do matter. 7 Commissioner Jacobs said, secondly, this could be part of the EDD, but it is not; so this 8 is not a matter of one blocking development. He said the County has to be sensitive to this 9 neighborhood, and maybe there is a difference between what is being done on the west side of 10 old 86 (impacting the Davis Road community), and what is being done on the east side. He 11 said on the east side the original plan was for senior housing, which is better for schools, and 12 the Town of Hillsborough said no. He said there is not great communication, and any leverage 13 that the County has is about to be lost. He said rather than moving ahead, he would like to 14 know what is going on, and give the residents a chance to breathe. He said the County could 15 do better explaining things to the residents. 16 Commissioner McKee said does not dispute Commissioner Jacobs' comments, but he is 17 reluctant to believe that there will be an awakening in Hillsborough that will change its course of 18 thinking. He said two years ago, when he was BOCC Chair, he knew that Hillsborough was 19 against this Settlers' point, since it is seen as competition to downtown Hillsborough. 20 Commissioner McKee said he would be reluctant to lose what little inertia that does exist 21 currently. 22 Commissioner McKee referred to the Eno EDD, and said Durham is irrelevant, as it such 23 a small area of the EDD. He said he does not expect Durham to be very accommodating. He 24 said he can recall Boards from 30-35 years ago being adamantly opposed to any commercial 25 development in Orange County, and the County's dependence on the residential tax base is 26 evidence of this. He said he understands the desire to be sensitive to the community, but there 27 will be people who are upset no matter when this development proceeds. 28 Commissioner Marcoplos said both Commissioners Jacobs and McKee have made 29 good points, and he suggests taking a couple of weeks to have a conversation with 30 Hillsborough to determine the cleanest hand off. He said this matter is not hugely time 31 sensitive, and he has to believe that this can be figured out. 32 Chair Dorosin referred to the two maps: the first one being Hillsborough's land use plan, 33 which approves 84 acres to be suburban/office. He said the second map, which shows roughly 34 the same acreage, and the County is considering making this a proposed EDD transition area. 35 Tom Altieri said yes, consistent with the properties to the north in red. 36 Chair Dorosin asked if there are inconsistencies between these two maps/plans. He 37 said Commissioner Jacobs is expressing concern that the Town of Hillsborough will change the 38 use of the parcel, post annexation, which would be within the Town's right to do. He asked if 39 there is there some inconsistency already on the map. 40 Commissioner Jacobs said no, the only inconsistency is that some of it zoned this way, 41 and some it is not. He said it has to be changed, by the County, to be consistent with what is 42 north of it, and for the County to do so is different than what was communicated to the residents 43 previously. He said once the land is annexed, the County will no longer be at the table to 44 represent the residents' interests, and that is why he would like to see a conversation occur. 45 Chair Dorosin said he is hearing two concerns, the first of which is Orange County's 46 rezoning and timing of this, and it seems that the timing is not urgent. 47 Tom Altieri said he has heard the terms zoning and rezoning brought up, and really they 48 are talking about changes to the future land use maps, which provide a very general vision. He 49 said to implement this vision one has to start a re-zoning process, getting into specifics such as 50 the permitted use table, etc. He said there is no proposal at this time to re-zone this area. He