Minutes 09-06-2018 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 residential developments pop up in the Buckhorn EDD, which would kill commercial development. Steve Brantley said his staff and advisory board are not high on the Eno EDD. He said there are concerns about the EDDs being slow to perform, and only one sewer line has been completed in the 7 years he has been with Orange County. He said what happens first will set the tone for what happens next. He said in the 30 years that the EDDs have existed, they have filled up with homes, and residential will continue to move in if the County does not do something. He said the Flea Market site would be suitable for a Tanger mall, and there is another confidential possibility in the works currently. He said if the County took 2000 acres of land and designated all of it industrial, with infrastructure put in various parts of it, decisions would be made on where the County wants to focus investment first. He said Mebane is a water-sewer partner, and helped incentivize the Morinaga project. He said it is unfortunate that Carrboro does not have an EDD. Steve Brantley said to consider the history, and reason that Article 46 was passed in the first place, was to diversify the non-residential tax base, and alleviate the burden off of the residential tax base. Chair Dorosin said the Board is on the same page about the residential, and wants the EDDs to work better. He said it may be wise to identify marketable sites, and maybe not pre- zone all areas, but rather ones that may be more marketable. He said these options are not mutually exclusive. He hears consensus about moving forward with pre-zoning, and wants to also consider site readiness, site control, and is it easier for the County to put smaller parcels into a larger, potentially more marketable, parcel. Commissioner Price said the area is already zoned, and asked if the intent is now to zone it with pre-zoning. Craig Benedict said the EDD in the dark purple area has appropriate zoning, and it is the yellow and light green areas that need to be considered. He said this should be changed away from residential and agricultural/residential. He said there are 2400 acres. Commissioner Price said she still is unclear about what is best to put in the EDD, and if there are trends to consider. She said it is also important to consider the desires of residents. Chair Dorosin said right now the focus is on not wanting housing. Commissioner Price said but with pre-zoning, what kind of ED does the Board want? She said the desire for big fish projects that will bring blue-collar jobs is understandable, but there are many artists seeking studio and retail space. She said when anything is built the surrounding areas are affected. Chair Dorosin said he agrees, but he does not think pre-zoning against residential will have an impact. Commissioner Jacobs said all of the rezoning was done for Buckhorn Village in less than a year. He said another reason why they focus on Mebane is that Mebane has abided by the idea of developing under Orange County standards, and then annexing the property. He said Hillsborough has not done the same. He said some criteria is needed about how long the County will hold onto a parcel waiting for the potential “big fish” project before moving ahead with a guaranteed “smaller fish” project. Commissioner Burroughs said she would like to start identifying marketable sites and site readiness, with criteria being developed at some point down the line. Commissioner McKee agreed with Chair Dorosin with putting the pre-zoning in place, and do what was identified in the PowerPoint presentation: studies, analysis, etc. He said he does not want to get too far down in the weeds of what the Board wants and does not want, and the more expeditiously this moves forward, the better it is for all. Commissioner Marcoplos said a lot of these things can be done simultaneously, and he also does not want to get hung up on what kind of ED they want. He said the Board should take away as many of the roadblocks as possible.