Agenda - 03-16-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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30 1 Craig Benedict said area B has 4 parcels, totaling 250 acres. He said C and D have 2 smaller acreage size per parcel, and staff can get bring blown up maps to the March 9tn 3 meeting. 4 Commissioner McKee said large parcels contiguous to each other are more attractive to 5 developers, and would have less impact to immediate neighbors. He said he is aware of the 6 WASMPBA agreement, and he would be reluctant to reject the idea of increasing the Buckhorn 7 EDD without speaking with WASMPBA partners. He said there are other businesses in these 8 areas already, and this is an attractive area for development. He said this area needs good 9 paying jobs, and there must be a middle path to pursue that protects the environment but 10 secures good jobs. 11 Chair Price asked if the owners of properties in B, C, and D are known. 12 Craig Benedict said he would get the list of owners in the area. He said the owners in 13 area A, some owners in B, and owners in area C north of Ten Road, are interested in selling. 14 He said these owners are familiar with the study area, and are interested in the planning 15 process. He said owners in area B are interested in selling, due to the proximity to Medline. 16 Chair Price recalled the County saying there would be no development south of West 17 Ten Road, and while she knows circumstances can change, it feels like the County is 18 pressuring people to change that original plan. 19 Craig Benedict said in the implementation process, the County could choose not to 20 address this issue until a person comes forward with a request. He said land use could stay as 21 it is, and requests to change could be addressed as they occur. He said it is up to the property 22 owner. 23 Chair Price said area D is designated as agricultural residential, and asked if there is a 24 reason this is being changed to economic development. 25 Craig Benedict said no change is being made, but the study has shown that this area 26 has economic development potential based on viability criteria scores. He said there are no 27 recommendations to change anything. 28 Chair Price said when things are put on a map, and changes proposed, it sends a 29 message to the community. 30 Craig Benedict said areas of C, D, and E have low interest, and maybe they should not 31 be part of the plan. 32 Chair Price asked if there were public comments made by those who would be 33 immediately affected. 34 Craig Benedict said the main concerns were about traffic on West Ten Rd, and impacts 35 on the watershed. He said these areas are not in a protected watershed. He said concerns 36 were also raised about proximity of non-residential to residential. 37 Tom Altieri said there were also concerns about lighting, noise, and requested buffering. 38 Commissioner Greene said people looking at the economic development district (EDD) 39 as defined would think it was decided. She said having the EDD would then lead to rezoning. 40 She said there is an assumption that it would happen. She said changing a WASMPBA line is a 41 serious decision. She said the existing EDD has areas that are ripe for development. 42 Commissioner Bedford asked if the process for annexation could be identified. 43 Cy Stober said it is a 2-month process. She said the item, with all proper 44 documentation, goes before City Council, a public hearing will be held, and the request 45 considered at the next meeting. He said the City may provide utilities without annexing, and 46 there is a lot of non-contiguous annexation in Orange County portion of the City of Mebane, and 47 there is no cap on this. 48 Commissioner Bedford asked if there is a property within the Orange County portion of 49 the City of Mebane, and a conflict arises between the City's plan/UDO and the County's 50 plan/UDO, which plan wins. 51 Cy Stober said the City plan would be followed.