Agenda - 10-03-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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17 1 Commissioner McKee said he thinks it is currently in commercial operation for pipe 2 laying or fiber laying. He said it does not seem to be an empty mill anymore. 3 Cy Stober said there has been recent activity and staff is investigating the matter. 4 5 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 6 open the public hearing. 7 8 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 9 10 PUBLIC COMMENT: 11 Marilyn Liner said she is a life-long resident of Efland. She said she opposes the 12 proposed rezoning of the property in question. She said she attended the Orange County 13 Planning Board meeting, and some members of the board expressed some opposition. She 14 said that the public turnout was low because of a lack of communication. She said there were 15 signs placed on the property for notice but that they were small print, flimsy, and unprofessional. 16 She said the applicant said they will build a warehouse. She said when suggestions were made 17 the Board said it was not possible to put any retail business due to its proximity. She said she 18 cannot think of a church in the state that does not have a retail location near it. She said the 19 overlay plans as provided in the agenda materials seem to be contradictory. She said that the 20 Efland Village overlay appears to be addressing the concept of a village with residential 21 development and services for the residents. She said the village is served by Orange-Alamance 22 Water system. She said that is separate from the county. She said the County started a sewage 23 system after the elementary had septic system issues. She said not approving businesses in 24 Efland hurts Orange County. She asked the Board to reject the application to keep the village 25 concept in place. 26 Kristin Marbais said she disagrees that this meets the criteria of the Efland Village 27 Overlay. She said the word village invokes a certain image and this type of business would not 28 maintain that. She said there are a wide variety of businesses that may go in there and this will 29 increase traffic and exacerbate issues in the area. She said there are thousands of warehouses 30 in the area that are empty and ready for rent. She said this type of property is not needed here. 31 Chad Huffine said he and the applicant tried to address any concerns during the 32 Planning Board meeting. He said based on staff reports, the advertisement was within the state 33 requirements. He said that the proposed tenants have the same right or ability to work in Efland 34 where they live and a lot of the space that Irwin Properties is providing will be homes that help 35 build the community. He said there is high demand for a local office person/contractor to locate 36 here. He said there is a unique blend of residences. He said regardless of the zoning change, if 37 a large structure such as a house was built it would have to deal with the same constraints. 38 39 A motion was made by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to 40 close the public hearing. 41 42 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 43 44 Commissioner Bedford said there were concerns about getting in and out of property at 45 the Planning Board meeting. She asked what the process will be for driveway design. 46 Cy Stober said if any development happens, site plan will include driveway plans and will 47 go to staff for approval. He said that any driveway design will need to be permitted by NCDOT. 48 Commissioner Richards asked about the timeline. 49 Cy Stober said that the review is consolidated to include DOT, Fire, Environmental 50 Health, and Planning. He said that all of those groups are at the table offering comments for the