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4 <br /> among them that a path moving forward on public engagement would have been evident. <br /> Instead the task was handed off to county and city staff and we have yet to hear anything about <br /> next steps. <br /> So I ask again, what is the plan for public engagement? When will the board of commissioners <br /> and Mebane City Council be in the same room again and be able to hear the public speak on <br /> the matter? If this plan is truly to help those in the area and those that might one day move to it, <br /> we need a plan soon. Moving slowly, and by default not having a plan, would be even worse for <br /> residents. It would mean that City of Mebane will continue to annex properties as buyers come <br /> along and County residents will be surrounded by Mebane city zoning and UDO. Conflicting <br /> UDOs mixed together in the same area will lead to many headaches for not only the residents <br /> and developers, but also the board of commissioners and Mebane city council. <br /> In respect to the commissioners' and public's time I will not rehash any of my previously made <br /> points in my past public comments, you can read those on the ocbocc public email. I ask that <br /> today you hear one thing, we need a plan for public engagement and fast. This plan needs to <br /> happen in some fashion, and to talk about land use without public input is irresponsible. The <br /> drafted Buckhorn Area Plan itself says, "Public input is important to the success of any planning <br /> effort." When will Orange County residents have the time to speak outside of 3-minute public <br /> comments? <br /> Janine Zanin read the following comments: <br /> My name is Janine Zanin and I live in Efland. It is no secret that our community has been <br /> extremely frustrated by the lack of public engagement by Orange County around the Buckhorn <br /> Area Plan. After months of public comment begging to be heard, it was very disappointing to be <br /> relegated to the sidelines, with no voice in the conversation, when you met with the city of <br /> Mebane last week. It was downright aggravating to listen in on that conversation and hear you <br /> receive misinformation. And the fact that some of the misinformation you received was related <br /> to Mebane's public engagement process thus far is just infuriating. <br /> It is our sincere hope that one of the actions you will take after last week's meeting is to put <br /> forth a clear plan for public engagement. Until that happens, we will keep showing up at your <br /> meetings, three minutes at a time, and we will be holding our own public information sessions. <br /> We invite you to attend to get a more well-rounded and accurate view of the land use issues in <br /> our community, as well as a clear picture of the process as it's been thus far. There is <br /> information on the slide behind me about how you can join us. <br /> Janine Zanin showed a slide on a community information session regarding the <br /> Buckhorn Area Plan, which will take place on March 20, 2021 from 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm. <br /> Janine Zanin continued reading her comments: <br /> With my three minutes tonight, I want to make two points: <br /> 1. The public engagement process that actually happened bore little resemblance to the <br /> process that was described at your meeting with Mebane. <br /> 2. In spite of the annexation rules, you DO have some say in what happens within the future <br /> growth areas because you have a say in how Orange County invests its revenue. <br /> PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT <br /> When Cy, Jesse, and Craig were asked about public engagement they said: <br /> "We did mail to the entire area and expanded area outside the study area for that public <br /> involvement meeting." No, they did not. They only mailed property owners whose property lay <br />