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

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39 From: Lib Hutchbv To: Andrea Riley Cc: Buckhorn Study;ocboccCalgmail.com; Renee Price;Jamezetta Bedford;Jean Hamilton;Sally Greene;Amy Fowler; Mark Dorosin;Earl McKee Subject: [EXTERNAL MAIL!] Re:Orange County Planning Department Outreach Meeting regarding the Buckhorn Area Plan/"Study" Date: Sunday,May 23,20216:57:34 PM On May 19, I sent the following to the Orange County Board of Commissioners: No response has been received. I'm not sure anyone has read it.-Lib Lib Hutchby <1ibhutchby5Agmai1.com> May 19, 2021, 11:33 AM (4 days ago) Dear Commissioners, After listening to and watching the Orange County Planning Department's presentation and Q&A, part of me felt sorry for you and part of me felt angry and all seemed confusing. It was not a good night for the Planning Department staff and I still wonder how they could have gotten by with such a lack of transparency for so long. The proposal for Buckee's , for example, should never have come to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Now, it seems that the folks who live in Efland, Cheeks, Hillsborough, all the children who go to school or play soccer along W. Ten Rd., face the possibility of unsafe access. No traffic study was done. No adequate interpretation of the impervious surface has been presented by the staff. No priority to protecting Seven Mile Creek has been presented. No realistic attention to the climate crisis we all face has been infused with authority to insist on renewables and environmental justice regardless of what "development" looks like. Now, after months of calling the BAP a"plan," it's being called a"study" and the process has left residents saying, "We don't trust. . ." It's a sad situation when confusion leaves few feeling confident that those whom we elected have been left out of a necessary process. Those of us who are volunteers will endure more necessity to bring previous professional expertise to the questions as a method of your learning just how inept the leadership in the Planning Department has become. Yes, you need more experts in air and water quality to actually monitor the existing spaces for pollution, monitor the roadways to understand that W. Ten will not be safe for scenic highway users or children because trucks are already discovering it as an alternative bypass of requirements on I-40 and development begins to chew away at the rural protections like grinding one's teeth at night and, over time, having high dental bills, fewer teeth, and painful consequences.