110420 Virtual Planning Board Minutes

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Approved 1/6/21 559 between man and nature. I dreamed of exploring the woods and finding animal friends of my own. When I was very 560 young, my dream was to be grown up, in my mind that meant 8 and live on a farm.When I reached 8 and there was no 561 farm in sight, my dream changed to being 12 with a farm. By the time I was 12, 1 was actually living that dream. My 562 parents had bought a small parcel of land off Ben Johnson Road right down the road from the planned development, and 563 set about building a farm. I remember visiting that land for the first time driving down the rugged dirt road to reach a wild 564 meadow of grasses and brambles at age 9. 1 couldn't quite visualize my mother's description of horse pastures and 565 building placement but I knew it was already a magical place. As the farm took shape,so did my childhood. I spent 566 countless hours climbing trees, catching lizards, building forts and pretending to live off the land. I got to know our 567 neighbors and learned to collect eggs, grow tomatoes and stand my ground when geese charged during my frequent visits 568 to their farm. I learned to drive on our ride on mower. I learned how to make a fishhook, spot poison ivy and get red clay 569 out of jeans. It was a beautiful childhood,one full of nature, neighbors and adventure. As an adult, I've been fortunate to 570 pursue my love of animals professionally. I study animal behavior as a professor at UCLA. I love getting the spark of 571 enthusiasm about animals in my students, many of whom grew up in Los Angeles and have never been for a simple walk in 572 the woods. However, I desperately miss the friendly small energy and the magical wilderness of my childhood. Much of 573 Los Angeles resembles a Buc-ee's station, cars crawl the concrete world and busy people wait at stop lights with eyes 574 glued to their phones on their way to shop for quote unquote cool stuff. Few people make eye contact, no one says good 575 morning. The city is always crowded and yet it is always with people passing by, hurrying somewhere else. It's hard to 576 make a real home for yourself, it's hard to belong when so many are just passing through. I come back to visit our farm in 577 North Carolina several times each year. Every year I record the spring peepers croaking in a puddle right where Ben 578 Johnson Road meets 70. 1 carry those recordings with me every day in L.A. and listen when I want to be carried back 579 home. If this development goes through those frogs will be silenced forever. My hope is to move back to North Carolina 580 one day so that my children can have a childhood where they know their neighbors and where the dirt on their clothes is 581 red clay and not soot from smog. I'm not opposed to development or progress, I know that small towns can't stay small 582 forever and that people need economic development to thrive but a project like Buc-ee's does not have the best interest of 583 our community at heart. It's shortsighted at a time when transportation practices are changing rapidly. It will bring tens of 584 thousands of cars into the small community each day. None of these cars will bring friendly faces of new neighbors just like 585 Los Angeles the cars will be filled with busy people passing through on their way to somewhere else. Buc-ee's isn't 586 investing in this community, it's draining it. Development will pollute the water and air, increase traffic congestion to such a 587 degree that sustainable development projects will be deterred from investing in the area and will fundamentally change the 588 character of a beautiful corner of North Carolina. 589 590 Bobby Cobb: Good Evening, I'm a property owner and business owner in Efland. I'm happy to have land development 591 conversations transpire regarding Efland. We all knew it was coming. Northern Orange is the last growth frontier for this 592 county. Chapel Hill is going straight up, Hillsborough proper has limited room to grow but Efland and Cheeks is truly the 593 promised land. I do mean the word land literally. Efland is the final frontier in our county for land development growth. 1 594 support the Efland Crossing/Efland Station project. However,what concerns me is what the landscape will look like for 595 Phase 2. What type of retailer will come to Efland? What type of dining facilities will come to Efland? What types of 596 businesses will come to Efland? We need a bank in Efland. We need a natural foods grocery store in Efland. I believe 597 that in fact, Phase 2 will be what will sustain Efland over the long haul, not a 60 station 120 handle convenience center. In 598 50 years will we still even have cars that run off gasoline? That's why I challenge the Planning Board to think responsibly 599 and mindfully about the Buc-ee's business model that would initiated for Phase 2. Middle class housing is a huge need in 600 Efland, low-income housing is a huge need in Efland. We will always need good food resources to survive. We will always 601 need good doctor choices and resources. We will always want a nice sit down restaurant to take our families out to eat. 1 602 simply challenge the Planning Board to be mindful about what you recommend to the County Commissioners. Think about 603 what Efland will look like 20, 30, 50 years from now and think about what you're kids and grandkids would be proud of. 604 Let's make Efland a good choice and your suggestions and recommendations should really be thought out. 605 606 Del Ward: I have lived on Ben Johnson Road for most of my life. One of my favorite things about where I live is that there 607 is nature nearly everywhere I turn. Though I may hear the sound of semi-trucks blasting down the highway. I do have the 608 Eno River passing by me where I see many fish and turtles, coyotes and other wildlife live happily. On the other side of the 609 road from me is the beautiful Duke Forest with a rich and fruitful ecosystem. Another thing I quite like about where I live is 610 that there isn't an eyesore of a Texas owned gas station that has 120 gas handles built on a protected watershed. Efland 611 has absolutely no need for a development like this. As of 2018, Efland had a population of roughly 810 people so Stan tell 612 me why we need 120 gas handles. As of today, between exits 150 and 165 there are 20 separate gas stations with over 613 200 gas handles. There are also 104 diesel gas handles so why would we need to add 120 more to that equation in a town 614 that has only a little over 800 people living in it? Besides that,the fact that there is an abundance of gas stations in the