Agenda - 03-07-2019 8-a - Minutes

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19 1 said competition in nearby counties do not have as many residential areas close to areas ripe 2 for industrial development. 3 Commissioner Dorosin asked about possible solutions to this issue. He asked about 4 redrawing the districts. 5 Commissioner McKee said it is an option that needs to be considered and that the 6 viability of the current zones needs to be protected. 7 Commissioner Price said she is thinking more of Buckhorn Village. 8 Steve Brantley said it is about creating a critical mass of some sort of operation. 9 Commissioner Dorosin presented options including redrawing the districts to exclude 10 housing that exists and recruiting more compatible businesses. He said it is unfortunate that it 11 has been difficult to build on the momentum of Morinaga and asked for more options. 12 Travis Myren suggested that rezoning may be a tool. 13 Commissioner Rich echoed the call for options to deal with the incompatibility of 14 residential and industrial areas. 15 Commissioner Marcoplos asked for a continued update on the rezoning progress. 16 Steve Brantley said work is underway to identify properties for rezoning, and that there 17 are currently pieces of property unavailable to the county because they are not currently in the 18 Economic Development District. He noted a GIS study would help to value these properties. He 19 said when showing property to interested parties, it would be helpful to have a shell building to 20 show them. 21 Steve Brantley said sewer capacity limitations are also an issue, and suggested talking 22 to Mebane about changes to sewer restrictions. 23 Commissioner Dorosin asked about the most important step to be taken. 24 Steve Brantley said establishing the current districts as industrial or commercial areas is 25 a key step. He also suggested fast tracking utilities to these areas. He said an area near 26 Mebane where a letter of intent has been signed after phase 2 sewer was finished. 27 Commissioner Rich asked for other options besides light industrial. 28 Steve Brantley reminded the group that utilities have only been available since 2012. 29 Steve Brantley again asked the group if the districts should be redrawn. He said there is 30 some property that is currently for sale in the Buckhorn area. 31 Commissioner Greene asked about the prospect of an office park as opposed to an 32 industrial project. 33 Steve Brantley said office parks are often time created by developers as opposed to 34 industries. He did note that some developers have looked at some of the spaces for office 35 parks, but the area is not ultimately on par with RTP yet. He said that currently the properties 36 are most attractive to industry and warehousing. 37 Commissioner Price asked about the Gravelly Hill soccer fields, and the effect on 38 attracting industry. 39 Steve Brantley said the school can detract from the attractiveness. He said the solar 40 farm has an effect as it detracts from the available acreage. 41 Commissioner McKee asked about the pre-zoning again and an update. 42 Steve Brantley said he would send an email with the response from planning. 43 Commissioner Marcoplos asked for a draft rezoning plan. 44 Steve Brantley said there is not a plan yet, and the planning director announced that the 45 process has not begun on rezoning. He also addressed timing by saying that areas, which are 46 zoned as primary water and sewer areas, do not take long. He said land outside of those areas 47 takes significantly longer to rezone. 48 Commissioner McKee said there is a lack of developable land in the Eno district, and 49 suggested that it may be the place to pull back from. He said the area has changed a lot in the 50 30 years since the districts were developed, and that without developable land, chances to