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

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35 1 My name is Patty O'Connor and I live on Squires Road, directly across from the Medline 2 Distribution Center and adjacent to the recently re-zoned Neyer property at Buckhorn and West 3 Ten Roads. With the completion of Medline and the 500,000 square foot warehouse to be built 4 on the Neyer land, there will be 1.7 million square feet of warehousing on a quarter mile stretch 5 of road. When Medline develops their rezoned property on the south side of West Ten, the 6 sweet, wooded Squires Road community will sit embedded in a rural industrial park with 7 hundreds of estimated daily truck trips around us and all of the accompanying congestion, 8 noise, and diesel fumes. And let's not forget to mention the environmental and aesthetic 9 degradation. This part of Mebane is absolutely NOT going to be charming. Our ways of life, our 10 homes and land values stand to be negatively impacted. I am asking tonight, that you, the 11 BOCC, assume a larger role in partnering with Mebane for the Buckhorn Area Project. The 12 residents living along this corridor chose their homes for a reason and most probably believed 13 that the zoning of the lands around their homes would offer some protections. After all, that's 14 the purpose of zoning. The Buckhorn area, even if some rezoning takes place, does not have to 15 be a stretch of warehouses from one end of the road to the other. There is other development 16 more suited to these rural areas and I ask that you task the planning department with being 17 more creative in their thought processes and seeking citizen input when considering any 18 development of these areas. In addition to pursuing sources of tax revenue, the goal should be 19 to seek useful development that enhances a community while preserving its character. The 20 residents at the western end of end of West Ten Road stand to pay a terrible price for the lack 21 of thoughtfulness in planning for these semi-rural lands. 22 23 Andrea Riley read the following statement: 24 My name is Andrea Riley and I have lived in Efland for thirty years. I want to talk to you tonight 25 about the desire of Orange County residents to be involved in Orange County's future planning 26 for its land use development. It has been 14 years since the Efland/Mebane Small Area Plan 27 was written, and there has been no appreciable public input to an updated plan since then. The 28 fact that there was so much public interest expressed in the recent proposal to rezone the 104 29 acres at the intersection of Mt. Willing Road and 1-40/1-85 in Efland should indicate just how 30 strongly the citizens of northwestern Orange County, and indeed all of Orange County, feel 31 about the kind of development they want to see going forward. 32 33 There is an opportunity at this point in time, following the heightened interest that the Efland 34 Station proposal has aroused in this community, to take advantage of this energy and focus, by 35 inviting as many groups as possible to participate in making the land development decisions for 36 all of the communities of the Efland/Mebane area. The Mt. Willing Road/1-40/1-85 site is still a 37 prime area for development under the O/RM zoning ordinance. The Buckhorn Area Plan 38 involves land in both the Efland and Mebane communities and should respect the Economic 39 Development Districts already identified. Now is the perfect opportunity for a joint citizens' task 40 force to be implemented which could look at the Efland Station site and the Buckhorn Area Plan 41 to determine what kinds of development would meet the needs and wants of both communities. 42 There seems to be a fixed determination on the part of the Orange County Planning Department 43 and Economic Development to look for only the large industrial developments that will take 44 advantage of the interstate highway. Why is industrial development the only type of 45 development being considered? These developments will disrupt the existing neighborhoods 46 and ecosystems already in place and will need to be factored into the planning by the people in 47 Efland and Mebane who understand their value and want to see them preserved. 48 49 There are many citizens of northwestern Orange County who want to contribute to the process 50 of identifying and recruiting businesses and services, which truly meet the needs of all of the 51 citizens of this area of the county. We would like to see the county take a more proactive