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<br /> 985 Vernon Davis-When I first got the property, it was just on a quarter of an acre, and it had no bathroom.When they
<br /> 986 moved the building back,they took the privy, and it was done away with. I could never get septic for the building, so 1
<br /> 987 had to go across the street. I was able to purchase more property and get a permit for a septic system.There was an
<br /> 988 antique store there,they sold mattresses there at one time. I didn't realize when I purchased the property from the
<br /> 989 Masonic Lodge, that it was going to create this many problems.
<br /> 990
<br /> 991 Beth Bronson-How could you know?The zoning did not exist at the time you made that purchase.Thank you very much
<br /> 992 for clarifying.
<br /> 993
<br /> 994 Taylor Perschau-This is open for further planning board deliberation, of course, but I did want to close out the
<br /> 995 presentation portion to highlight what staff analysis determined with the application, how the site-specific plan and the
<br /> 996 conditions attached to this application align with the comprehensive plan, and as a reminder, this is from the planning
<br /> 997 staff. This is also in coordination with all of our interagency review partners that have looked at this, so the determination
<br /> 998 is that the proposal is consistent with the allowed zoning districts for the comprehensive plans' rural community activity
<br /> 999 node. You've seen this definition before, but I think it's worth repeating that the rural community activity node is defined
<br /> 1000 as land designated in the comprehensive plan that's focused on designated road intersections,which serve as a notable
<br /> 1001 crossroads first surrounding rural community and is an appropriate location for any of the following: church,fire stations,
<br /> 1002 small post office,school, or other similar institutional uses, and one or more commercial uses. So,we'll bring it back to
<br /> 1003 y'all now. You've had the opportunity to hear from the applicant, staff, and the public.You know it's still open for review
<br /> 1004 and discussion amongst the board and then when you feel ready, it's time for a recommendation.
<br /> 1005
<br /> 1006 Randy Marshall-These commercial activity nodes were placed on the map in Orange County to try to help generate
<br /> 1007 taxable income other than residential property taxes. Orange County has done a particularly poor job of actually
<br /> 1008 attracting and continuing to hold on to commercial activities. For those of you who are too young to remember, there was
<br /> 1009 a very thriving Lowes store where Whole Foods is now. They wanted to expand, and Chapel Hill wouldn't let them
<br /> 1010 expand, so they went across the bridge, and they've got a nice Lowes that generates lots of tax money for Durham
<br /> loll County. Mayor Ellie Kinnaird of Carrboro worked very hard to try to get Walmart to put a store in the Carrboro Plaza
<br /> 1012 Shopping Center. She was unsuccessful. Wal Mart went across the line into Chatham County,where Walmart is making
<br /> 1013 a lot of money for Chatham County. We continue to miss opportunities, and this may not be one, but we continue to miss
<br /> 1014 opportunities where we could help relieve some of the pressure on property taxes. It's not just property taxes,the houses
<br /> 1015 are too expensive. People who can't live here have to drive out to Chatham County, out to Alamance County, that's why
<br /> 1016 the roads are so busy.All of these people can't afford to live here.They can't afford to pay rent here and a dollar store
<br /> 1017 might be attractive to them because those are the places that these people,these commuters can shop. I don't think this
<br /> 1018 business is designed or put into place in White Cross to serve the community.As such, regardless of what they say, 1
<br /> 1019 think it's put there to try to capture commuter traffic going back and forth. The commuters are people who patronize
<br /> 1020 these stores because they have prices that they can afford and we're never going to get any relief from property taxes or
<br /> 1021 the cost of housing if we keep turning down commercial activities.You have to start somewhere, and we should have
<br /> 1022 started 50 years ago.You know it's just troubling to me that even long term people who live in Chapel Hill and Carrboro,
<br /> 1023 especially can't afford to live there anymore because the taxes go up because there's no other source of income that's
<br /> 1024 substantial that can support the Orange County schools, other activities that we have in Orange County from just
<br /> 1025 property taxes, the only way you could improve that is to raise property taxes. I'm not saying that this is going to
<br /> 1026 generate much in terms of the tax base, but at some point,you've got to start somewhere. I won't be on the board in the
<br /> 1027 future but all of the projects,whether it's Bucky's or one of the other places that we've talked about that could have
<br /> 1028 generated lots of tax income for Orange County to relieve their property tax burden on our citizens are always turned
<br /> 1029 down because the people don't want it next to them, and I can't blame them. That's natural,who wants a business, or
<br /> 1030 industrial complex next to you. But if you don't start somewhere, in these areas,which the commissioners in Orange
<br /> 1031 County have designated for these purposes,we're never going to get the diversified tax base that we need to try to hold
<br /> 1032 these other costs accountable.
<br /> 1033
<br /> 1034 Lamar Proctor-With all due respect, I would somewhat disagree in that I think that Chapel Hill and Carrboro are growing
<br /> 1035 phenomenally fast and are having a renaissance of commercial activity.As one of the speakers said, one of the most
<br /> 1036 appealing parts of Orange County is that it has been able to preserve its rural county character and its natural
<br /> 1037 surroundings by effectively preventing urban sprawl, box stores, and impervious surface that seem to crawl across other
<br /> 1038 counties and destroy the rural character and the bucolic and peaceful nature of it. My biggest concern with this is in
<br /> 1039 hearing from the residents is that changing the zoning from AR in an NC-2 to a Non residential conditional district within
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