Minutes 03-07-2024 - Business Meeting

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17 and he has told everyone no. He said they even called him five times and the fifth call ended with the representative from the schools telling him that they can condemn and take his property if they needed to. He said his land is being taken from out from under him. He asked them to please think about this. Ian Scott said he is with the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro. He said this area of land is close to other developments, near UNC Hospital, and it is a regional infill opportunity. He said there is more planned in the south. He said this is an essential first step for planning. He said it is on an existing bus route. He said this is the first step in a meaningful plan that the Town of Chapel Hill will conduct. He said that staff is strained and asking them to spend time planning, when the biggest determining factor is the water and sewer and it is unknown, does not make sense. He said it does not change any of the existing development or building requirements. Claudia Fernandez said people did not know this was happening. She said it is important to listen to the people that live there. She said that the residents in the ETJ are not represented by anyone but the Board of Commissioners. She said they have been asking for more community meetings. She said they hear there is a rigorous development process and Chapel Hill controls 6% of the development. She said she has heard of the McMansions that exist when they do not. She said these homes were built in 1970s and on land that does not perk well. She said aggressive speculators are calling landowners already and they will not be able to afford to live anywhere else in Chapel Hill. She said they will lose land that helps with watershed concerns. She asked them to slow down so that everyone can understand what they are doing. She said that there is access to water and sewer for those that need it but bringing it to the area will open it for development that has not had enough analysis done. BJ Warshaw said for 40 years, the development in this area has been guided by the community. He said the 1992 Southern Small Area Plan marked this area as a way to conserve the environment and limit sprawl. He said at no point in time has there been a plan in the past 40 areas discussing denser development in the southern ETJ. He said development along 15-501 may be inevitable, but it will be a process spanning several decades and we can afford to pause here. He said the plans from OWASA, Orange County, and Chapel Hill have regularly marked the area as a small area plan that remains open space. He said that at no point in time has there been a plan that stipulates or discusses developing the area. He said that it is moving too quickly. Julie Coleman said she was called by the Carrboro lawyer and told that they would take her land under eminent domain for Carrboro High School. She said it was this group that saved her land. She said that rather than taking her home and her neighbor's home, they used land owned by an out of state developer. She said that one of her neighbors has 70 acres of land and there used to be a crystal-clear pond and it is no longer. She said that Smith Level Road is beautiful. She said she is not a person of great wealth, as the Chapel Hill Town Council referred to her, but she is thankful to have her land. She said that she hears affordable housing and wants that, but there must be money in the bank and Chapel Hill Town Council does not have the money in the bank. She said if the federal government is ready to give, then she might start listening. She said as long as the area stayed as farmland, Southern Village could be built. She said her space was used. She said the people that live there do not want this. Holly Fracarro, the CEO of the Homebuilders Association for Durham, Chatham, and Orange Counties, said that a "yes" vote is not a "yes" for any development. She said that Chapel Hill has a very rigorous process for developers to go through when rezoning. She said that a developer would likely cover the cost of affordable housing. She said a "yes" is simply a "yes" to an agreement that allows them to have thoughtful conversations with developers and allows the Town of Chapel Hill to negotiate with the developer. Dan Jewell said he has been designing communities in this part of the county for 40 years. He reiterated that this vote won't approve new development but will open the door for conversations to start. He said that the concerns are that the development will add to stormwater issues but again, the Town of Chapel Hill has the strongest regulations in the state. He said that