Minutes 09-04-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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17 with Hillsborough. He said when the Town of Hillsborough annexes a property it does not want to have approved development standards, because if the Town annexes a property, it can change the zoning and the uses. He referred to the letter from Orange County Schools (OCS) to the Town of Hillsborough about the Collins Ridge Development being unable to accommodate school buses. He said the response from the Town was that this was not the Town’s problem. He said this is not the type of partner relationship that should exist between the County and the Town. He said, thirdly, the Board of County Commissioners represents people in non-urban Orange County, and if the County allows Hillsborough annex, and make changes without County input, the residents in the annexed areas will not even have the benefit of their elected officials being able to comment, other than in a courtesy review capacity. Commissioner Jacobs suggested either setting up a group of elected officials from the two boards, or waiting until the annual joint meeting in February. He asked if this issue is time sensitive. Tom Altieri said it is not, but will need to come to a conclusion at some point, due to water and sewer amendments, which become effective once the land use changes have been made. Commissioner Jacobs said the simplest way to discuss this is to be in the same room with Hillsborough, noting the lack of respect that the non-urban residents get from Hillsborough. He said if Orange County does not do this, then no one will do it. Commissioner Jacobs said there is a Joint Planning Agreement (JPA) of sorts with Hillsborough, and it was agreed that there would be the same development standards in each jurisdiction when annexation occurs. He said if Hillsborough is going to change its policy then the JPA should be revisited. Commissioner McKee said there is something about this argument that is the same argument that has stopped development in Orange County for the past 30 years. He said this conversation with Hillsborough should be two way. He said he is less than inclined to be more than respectfully accommodating. He said if an Economic Development District (EDD) exists, he does not understand why it would not be fully used. Chair Dorosin said he does not understand, and asked if Hillsborough has already done something in defiance of the agreement. He said he thought everyone was on the same page about Settlers’ Point. He asked Commissioner Jacobs if he believes Hillsborough will annex the property and change it all around. He said he feels that the outline in this evening’s memo seems like a process that came out of past meetings. Commissioner Jacobs said the agreement with the Buckhorn EDD – with Mebane – is that development within the EDD takes place under Orange County development standards, and then the town annexes. He said he thought that was also the agreement with Hillsborough, but it is his understanding that Hillsborough is telling the developers of Settlers Point that it does not like some part of the development, and thus will withhold water and sewer. He said this is holding developers hostage. He said he would like more information, and it is unclear to him if Hillsborough even cares about what the County approves in areas that Hillsborough will ultimately annex. He said he would like to the think that the County’s plans/input do matter. Commissioner Jacobs said, secondly, this could be part of the EDD, but it is not; so this is not a matter of one blocking development. He said the County has to be sensitive to this neighborhood, and maybe there is a difference between what is being done on the west side of old 86 (impacting the Davis Road community), and what is being done on the east side. He said on the east side the original plan was for senior housing, which is better for schools, and the Town of Hillsborough said no. He said there is not great communication, and any leverage that the County has is about to be lost. He said rather than moving ahead, he would like to know what is going on, and give the residents a chance to breathe. He said the County could do better explaining things to the residents.