081920 Spec Planning Board Minutes

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Approved 9/2/2020 721 RTLP has based their traffic data using minimal traffic specs for a largely unspecified end user but we already know 722 that their touting having a warehouse when actually there might be more,we just don't know at this point. The State 723 Department of Transportation registered its concerns about traffic congestion in the general area of 1-40 where it 724 crosses over NC 86 and the questions that they had were about the westbound ramp, the eastbound ramp, traveling 725 north onto Churton Street and onto 85 and maybe even into the town itself. These things have not really been 726 addressed carefully because we really don't know how many large trucks are going to be exiting this development. 727 Now if Davis Road were to be co-opted for this project this would present huge traffic and safety problems for this 728 area. The approach to the Davis Road intersection at Old NC 86 itself has four blind curves and two significant 729 upgrades on the approaches to this intersection. No traffic light is going to make this any safer for cars, large trucks 730 and school buses to be places together on any part of this road. The RTLP as proposed is too big of a project for 731 where it currently seeks to be placed. Two comparisons come to mind when I think about this,the UNC Hospital 732 which is big, it's 342,000 sq.ft. the RTLP project would be 6.5 times larger. The RTLP warehouse square footage of 733 55 acres would equal 92%of combined parking and building space of the Walmart/Hope Depot complex in 734 Hillsborough. Their total footprint is 60 acres. Now in concluding, many of the residents that surround the EDD that 735 is being discussed are in support of sensible development of this area. As we stand ready to work with the Planning 736 Department and the County Board of Commissioners to make this happen. However,the RTLP project is too big and 737 too overwhelming of a project to consider. We as a community urge the Orange County Planning Board to deny this 738 project's approval in its current state. We are opposed to its size and to its proposed use of Davis Road as an 739 entrance or exit for the development. Thank you. 740 741 Angela Sneed: Good evening, my name is Angela, I live out on West Scarlett Mountain Road. For reference, that 742 driveway is directly across from David Road and it will be right there where the proposed light is. It currently can 743 difficult to enter and exit with the blind curve and the hill coming from Old 86 south so a stop light will essentially 744 block that driveway and many others down Old 86 preventing residents from entering or exiting their homes safely 745 and consequently it can cause traffic backup in the opposite direction while they have to wait. My concern is traffic in 746 a different flow,the report and numbers provided don't seem accurate in that they don't currently include the projects 747 that are already approved and happening in Hillsborough right now. Collins Ridge for example, that project is around 748 1200 units and will have anywhere from 1200 to 2400 additional resident commuting through the Hillsborough area 749 many of which will head to Chapel Hill for work and the best route to get there in the morning is Old 86. This will add 750 to the number that will have to go through the 1-40 intersection and the Davis/86 intersection along with the proposed 751 trucks and employees that will be getting there. Having the accurate traffic information and numbers is pertinent 752 because otherwise you're just pulling random numbers out of a hat from years ago and hoping that they stick. My 753 next concern is the 1-40 intersection, I understand that the proposal was to have a light at the 40 eastbound ramps; 754 however, the 40 westbound intersection is dangerous as it is with existing traffic numbers. Adding the Collins Ridge, 755 increase and then potentially 100s of additional cars and trucks from this proposal make the area a death trap. 756 Existing 40 west, exiting there and trying to make a left onto Old 86 in the evening and you've got the sun in your 757 face, it's nearly impossible and then you add oncoming trucks and increased traffic from both directions and you're 758 never going to make that. The lane to enter 40 westbound right now,that turn lane is 280 long from start to the end 759 of the medium with and additional maybe 31 feet to the middle of the intersection. A truck and trailer on average is 760 70 to 78 feet. That means three trucks can be lined up waiting to make that left from Old 86 South, it's going to 761 bottleneck and eventually stop traffic. Cars aren't going to be able to more around because there's a bridge, traffic 762 exiting 30 East are going to have to wait through light cycles and the road is going to become a constant cycle of 763 traffic jams and increase the number of accidents for the residents, the truckers and even potential visitors so and 764 there's not currently a light proposed there so aside from the inconvenience that many residents will face due to the 765 increase of traffic, ultimately it safety risk on the road in this area. The intersections aren't designed for this type of 766 development, the proposal does not address the issues and numbers, and the tax dollars are going to be spent for 767 years to come attempting to fix this disaster. 768 769 James Henninger: My name is Jim Henninger, I live south of Davis just off Old 86 on Currie Hill Lane, I've lived there 770 for about 25 years. I've been proud to call Hillsborough home all this time but I'm not really in Hillsborough and I want 771 to point out that there's more people affected than just those that are in 1000 feet area that were notified. I like to 772 shop local, Weaver Street, Hillsborough Barbeque, Radius Pizza,Wooden Nickle, Paws at the Corner, Food Lion, 773 Steve's Market, Saratoga Grill, Hillsborough Wine, Hillsborough Yarn these are places off the top of my head. These 774 are the places where I spend my money in Hillsborough. These are the merchants that will be affected by any 775 impotence on the artery which is 86,86 is the southern part of the County's way to get into Hillsborough.There isn't 776 any other practical way from the south to go into Hillsborough, it's 86 for us. For me to go into town, if I'm impeded