Agenda - 09-02-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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17 1 annexation. He said there are standards that a municipality cannot satellite annex any property 2 that is closer to another municipality. 3 Craig Benedict said Mebane would have the ability to annex in Area B, if an applicant 4 came forward. He said Mebane does not have any satellite limits, except for if the satellite is 5 closer to another jurisdiction. 6 John Roberts said there are a number of rules that apply to annexation. He said 7 involuntary annexation is still permissible, but is not usually practiced these days. He said 8 annexation is primarily voluntary now. 9 Commissioner Dorosin asked if a landowner wanted to be annexed, and Mebane 10 approved it, the County would have no say in it. He asked if it is correct that the County has no 11 legal authority to prevent it. 12 John Roberts said that is correct. He said if it was the first time Mebane was annexing 13 into the County, it would need approval from the County. 14 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the only restriction is that it has to be within 3 miles 15 of the primary corporate limits, and closer to Mebane than any other city. He said looking at the 16 map, the city limits for Mebane are scattered throughout the focus areas. 17 Chair Price asked if there has to be a way to connect water and sewer to an annexed 18 area. 19 Craig Benedict said it is the decision of the municipality if it wants to annex. He said the 20 state statute says that the municipality has to decide if it can provide public services to an area. 21 Commissioner Dorosin asked if Mebane has a vision for the growth of its corporate 22 limits. 23 Tom Altieri said the City of Mebane does not have a definitive line of its future 24 incorporated area. He said there is no way to determine what areas might be annexed and 25 what might not. 26 Commissioner Greene said when the Board met with the Mebane City Council it seemed 27 like there was a possibility that the Council may want to come to an agreement with the County 28 for what their future limits will look like. 29 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that the City Council did not define it, however. 30 Chair Price asked if there is a timeline for responding to the City of Mebane. She said 31 she is focused on responding to the residents of Orange County, but the Planning Department 32 is focused on responding to the City of Mebane. 33 Craig Benedict said it is a two-step process. He said the County staff could go back out 34 to the residents and discuss the frequently asked questions. He said Mebane has requested 35 that the County tell the City what it wants. He said the desire is to determine the areas where 36 the City and the Council are on the same page. He said the timeframe is just to be reasonable, 37 and not take years to move forward. 38 Chair Price asked if more clarification could be provided on additional outreach. She 39 asked if it will just be answering frequently asked questions, or will it be incorporating more 40 public comments. She said when COVID-19 pandemic restrictions end, staff could go out and 41 have more face-to-face interactions. 42 Commissioner Hamilton said it is really important to go out into the community, not just 43 in Area B, but also in Area A. She said many of the residents in Area A are elderly, African- 44 American, and are not aware of what is going on. She said these residents need to know how it 45 will affect their property, and not everyone has Internet access. She said she found the 46 frequently asked questions section to be very helpful. 47 Commissioner Hamilton asked if clarification could be provided on not developing south 48 of West Ten Road. She asked if more information could be provided about traffic impacts on 49 West Ten Road. 50 Craig Benedict said development historically focused on the two sides of the interstate, 51 which was good for anti-sprawl and encouraged focused growth. He said an engineering study