Agenda - 06-01-2021; 7-a - Buckhorn Area Study

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2 • Areas from the Buckhom Area Study with known developer Interest (A-B) - No known interest in areas C, D, and E; • Moving forward in coordination with the City of Mebane on Areas A and B; and • Public outreach. Key outcomes from the April Board meeting included direction to staff to proceed in scheduling and holding an outreach meeting and to report back at the Board's June 1, 2021 meeting. Following is a link to the agenda materials from the April 20, 2021 BOCC meeting: http://server3.co.orange.nc.us:8088/WebLink/O/doc/64229/Pagel.aspx The video for the meeting is available for viewing at http://orangecountync.gov/967/Meeting- Videos May 17, 2021 VIRTUAL PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING: A Public Outreach Meeting was held on Monday May 17, 2021 from 6:00-8:OOPM. The meeting was advertised via direct mail to owners of property located within Outreach Focus Areas "A" and "B", as well as those within 1,000-feet of these areas. The mailed notification letter, which included a map, is provided as Attachment 1. Approximately 70 people attended, 21 people provided comments and/or questions. At the end of the meeting, all people who had hands raised by the 8:00 end time were able to speak at least once, and a few spoke more than once. Instructions were provided at the beginning of the meeting, as well as the end, directing the public to send any additional comments or questions to BuckhornStudy(a)orangecountync.gov. Comments and/or questions received at that address by 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 23, 2021 are provided in Attachment 2. In response, staff has developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document provided as Attachment 3. The purpose of the outreach meeting was to: • Continue engagement with the community as a follow-up to previous Buckhorn Area Study meetings; • Communicate that Areas "A" and "B" are to be the focus for outreach and planning coordination between Orange County and the City of Mebane; • Provide additional context for Outreach Focus Areas "A" and "B"; and • Collect public comments and common questions to guide the development of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for public and BOCC information. Consistent themes and questions from the meeting emerged during the Q&A portion of the meeting, and are being documented as part of the FAQ document. Some of the key topics that were raised in questions and comments include the following: • Concerns with the tributaries feeding into Seven Mile Creek and Eno River • A sense of lost trust in Orange County and the Planning Department • The absence of "social impacts" as a facet of the study • The challenges around holding public meetings over Zoom, especially for those with poor broadband connectivity, as opposed to holding in-person meetings • The absence of a comprehensive Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) for the West Ten Road and Buckhorn Road areas (as opposed to project-specific TIAs) • The presence of Gravelly Hill Middle School in an area that could become surrounded by `big box' industrial or warehousing sites and the associated air quality concerns • The potential for economic development to displace multiple groups of people, some of whom have had land passed down through family for a century