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200 <br /> DRAFT <br /> 111 Chris Johnston: I'm new to this board,this is my first foray into this, so I appreciate everyone bearing with me on this. 1 <br /> 112 think,and I am only speaking for myself here, that if this were a presentation for athletics fields and only for athletics <br /> 113 fields,that we would have been done on April 3rd. I don't think anyone here disagrees that we need additional athletics <br /> 114 fields and that we need them badly. It is outrageous that we have to go other counties for that sort of thing,tennis <br /> 115 players, pickleball players,whatever you may be. I think the question that we are all wrestling with up here is dealing with <br /> 116 our mandate of following the planning board thing of considering all the things that we can't consider...right?We can't <br /> 117 consider the water considerations;we can only consider the plans as they are.We have to consider the WASAMPBA <br /> 118 participation as it currently is,we can't consider the traffic,we can't consider a number of things. Charter school versus <br /> 119 public school versus private school, it's a school. But at the same time,we do have other considerations as well.We are <br /> 120 neighbors with the folks of Hillsborough and the folks of Hillsborough have elected representatives and those <br /> 121 representatives have submitted that letter that said they were against this particular development for whatever reasons <br /> 122 they have. So, I am struggling a lot with this one just because of all the things we can't consider. I think we really need <br /> 123 the athletic fields, I think those are really important, I don't know,we had a.....Cy,are you here? In regard to the school <br /> 124 and the need that was mentioned, in regards to needs for schooling in this area, in terms of attendance and what our <br /> 125 future growth is and that sort of thing... <br /> 126 <br /> 127 Cy Stober: The school's adequate facilities public ordinance annual report has a 10-year forecast using 5 different <br /> 128 models for both the municipal school district and the Orange County School District, none of those models forecast a <br /> 129 capacity concern for the public school system. <br /> 130 <br /> 131 Chris Johnston:Again, I have a lot of things that I'm considering on my first Orange County Planning Board, and I don't <br /> 132 quite know what to think. <br /> 133 <br /> 134 Melissa Poole: With regards to the capacity issue,while the report does show that there is no 10-year forecast capacity <br /> 135 issue,there is a February 8th article in the Daily Tarheel,where the Deputy Superintendent of Orange County Schools is <br /> 136 quoted as saying "Overcrowding is a concern for the school district as new growth in the area is leading to class sizes <br /> 137 that are exceeding capacity.The district is bringing in mobile units to help with the problem."The title of the article is <br /> 138 "Orange County Schools Employees Bring Concerns of Overcrowding to Board of Education"so it seems as if there is <br /> 139 some disconnect between the report and what the superintendent and county employees are saying. <br /> 140 <br /> 141 Chris Johnston:To confirm though,the article was an employee saying something and then the report is what we are <br /> 142 supposed to consider.That's been one of the major things that we keep talking about, is we have to consider what the <br /> 143 actual report says, not what we hear. <br /> 144 <br /> 145 Cy Stober: If I may,there are a couple of relevant things to consider.What the 10-year forecast does not consider is the <br /> 146 condition of the schools or the facilities. It also identifies over capacity of individual schools that could be resolved <br /> 147 through redistricting which the school districts are engaged in at this time. It shows system-wide at the high school, <br /> 148 middle school, and elementary school levels that through redistricting the capacity concerns could be potentially resolved <br /> 149 because it is just looking at the total amount of capacity for the total number of students enrolled.That is not to say that <br /> 150 there are not individual schools that are beyond capacity at this time. <br /> 151 <br /> 152 Melissa Poole: Should we consider capacity at all when a charter school is not districted anyway? <br /> 153 <br /> 154 Cy Stober: I would encourage you to consider whether a school being sited at this location is an appropriate land use as <br /> 155 discussed in our adopted plans and in consideration of the land use in the area. <br /> 156 <br /> 157 Charity Kirk: I like the proposal. I don't think it's on the right piece of property. We are talking about the mixed residential <br /> 158 zoning which states that if it is going to be non-residential, it will be an infill arrangement serving more than 50 dwelling <br /> 159 units in a walkable manner. This property is not going to be serving people in a walkable manner. It is a car-oriented <br /> 160 property, especially since the Department of Transportation is not going to be doing sidewalks in the area. It is also going <br /> 161 to be attracting people from around the county...the tennis and the softball...people are going to be driving there. 1 <br /> 162 believe that Orange County needs it. I would like to see this in a more urban environment. I don't think this is the right <br /> 163 property for it. Now, is there a right property for it? I don't know. I just feel like the interpretation of what mixed residential <br /> 164 is, doesn't match with what is planned for the property. <br /> 165 <br />