Agenda - 09-05-2023; 8-a - Minutes

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54 1 urban sprawl and he is afraid that Hillsborough is in danger. He said that he and his brother grew 2 up playing in fields in Benton, Alabama and they are now gone. He said that most of what made 3 the quaint town is gone. He said that his parents are in their 80s and their home is surrounded by 4 apartments. He said it makes going home difficult. He said that if they keep taking away from the 5 environment, if left unchecked, Hillsborough will become another Benton. He said he moved to 6 Hillsborough for a reason and for its heart, fields, streams, and forests. He said that he hopes his 7 children will visit one day and that it will still be recognizable. He said that he does not oppose 8 athletic facilities. He said his son plays tennis for Cedar Ridge and he is in opposition to that 9 project. He said that he is not opposed to bringing schools to Orange County but that this is not 10 the right place for that. He asked them to vote no, 11 June Minton said she was in agreement with what others had said. She said she is a real 12 estate broker. She said she is appalled by the confusion over the project. She said there are 13 different answers to questions, and they have some that have not been answered. She said if she 14 had a client that was making a decision and she had all of these unknowns, she would not be 15 able to advise them. She asked the Board to vote no and to consider the facts. 16 Amber Bickford said she agrees with most of the words of the supporters. She said that 17 she is interested in accountability and responsibility. She said teachers, coaches, athletic teams, 18 know kids and they can get accountability at home and at all of their activities throughout the day. 19 She said she is in support of the rezoning. She said that charter schools do not have huge 20 budgets. She said that it is normal for schools to not have a dedicated cafeteria, but they would 21 have access for all, and food brought in from outside. She asked the board to approve the project. 22 Susan Halkiotis said she is a lifelong county resident and lives within a mile of Lawrence 23 Road. She said a lot of things in Orange County have already changed. She said that she is 24 sympathetic to those opposed. She said that the suitable land for athletic fields and schools has 25 disappeared. She said that 200 children played HYA ball years ago is now 700. She said that she 26 is grateful for the few remaining fields. She said a number of opponents have stated they are ok 27 with the overall plan,just not the fields or the school. She said as a former school board member, 28 she said can vouch for the difficulty finding suitable rural land. She said there needs to be 29 reasonable access to water and sewer and perkable land, she said this automatically removes 30 many areas in the county. She said that this developer has a long history with the county and the 31 school board trusted his guidance when siting schools. She said that the developer lives here 32 and is interested in helping the county. She said she cannot help but think of when the SportsPlex 33 was approved. She said there were those that were opposed and said that it was not needed, 34 was not a good location, and did not want it in their backyard. She thanked the Board for their 35 decision then and asked this Board to be courageous in their vision so that kids have permanent 36 playing fields and athletic facilities for years to come. 37 Leis Horne said she agrees with those who are in opposition to the project. She said she 38 lives at 813 Lawrence Road. She said she moved to the area from West Virginia that is a small 39 town outside of Washington, DC. She said she attended the first meeting where the site plan was 40 displayed, and her husband is very experienced at reviewing site plans since he worked in the 41 field professionally. She said she knew the site plan flew in the face of the existing plans. She 42 said one of the reasons she moved here was because there was no zoning where they lived and 43 someone built a rodeo in a middle of the neighborhood, designed a slaughterhouse, and even 44 tried to put a dairy farm at the bottom of their driveway. She said that no one could really do 45 anything to prevent those things because there were no zoning regulations. She said that they 46 wanted to live in a place with intelligent government oversight. She said that the initial site plan 47 looked unfinished and very preliminary. She said they wondered if the only benefit was for the 48 developer to get water and sewer, and one way to do that was to invite the school to be on the 49 property. She said that another thing they wondered was the ballfields and tennis club. She said 50 it is one thing to proposed those, but people have to pay to buy the land, the taxes, to build and 51 maintain the fields, and the utilities. She said that they are still having to question if the ultimate