Minutes-06-06-2023-Business Meeting Con'd

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