Agenda - 02-04-2025; 5-a - Applications for Zoning Atlas Amendment, Comprehensive Plan Amendments, & UDO Text Amendments to Realize “Fiddlehead Corner”, a Master Plan Development – Conditional District

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263 Approved 8.7.24 703 To grant the developer their proposed changes would be to rob the neighbors, as well as 704 Orange County more broadly, of our vision for our own growth by circumventing the land 705 use plan process. It would negatively impact the ability of Morrow Mill and Goldmine 706 residents to build the future that serves our collective needs. It would shake the trust in 707 County procedure if a developer were able to usher in such significant policy changes that 708 are so inconsistent with the surrounding area and county-wide goals. The scale and 709 location of this proposal is not in line with the 2050 Land Use Plan with current County 710 policies and ordinances and isn't worth jeopardizing our natural resources over. I ask you 711 to please vote against recommending. Thank you. 712 713 Gregory Rapp: Hi, my name is Gregory Rapp. At the start of last month's meeting, we were told by the 714 planning director that, quote, "The MPD-CD zoning district was originally established to be 715 a mechanism through which innovative proposals could be considered. Innovation, 716 essentially, is the key that unlocks the door to overriding established zoning rules." I was 717 expecting the next sentence to be something like we, the planning staff, believe this 718 project to be innovative because of A, B, C and D, but we just sort of moved on as if it was 719 assumed that this project must be innovative. I looked for anything in the application that 720 spoke to this but found nothing. So, what do we see in the application? We see an 721 applicant that is seeking to upend decades of thoughtful planning for a self-serving 722 subdivision; an applicant who has professed no experience in the fields of real estate 723 development, real estate management, senior care, water management, or sewage 724 management. If approved, this would be their very first development. This applicant is 725 asking to build 150 units, the largest development in the history of the county, without any 726 legitimate justification for this outlandish scale; an applicant who has been planning an 727 intentional community for over a decade and still can't make their intentions clear. Their 728 application targets seniors as their primary audience without mention of any other type of 729 residents; no families, no children, no teens, while at the same time, their articles of 730 incorporation registered a year prior with the secretary of state say their development will 731 be multi-generational with no mention there at all of seniors or aging and, now, tonight, we 732 just learned that it's a 55 and up residential development. So, we're not sure what it is. 733 An applicant who may not know that the banks don't write mortgages for cooperative 734 homes. Since the residents don't own their homes, there's no collateral for the bank. Any 735 resident would have to pay in full, up front, putting this out of reach for people of modest 736 means and making affordability pure fantasy. An applicant who was unable to articulate 737 the membership criteria for their cooperative, let alone how a resident could cash out. 738 You can't sell your place on the open market because the cooperative owns your home. 739 You would have to wait until all of the other members agree to admit a new member. 740 What is the cooperative's obligation to even let you leave? And, even if they let you 741 leave, how will they calculate the value of your membership? To my ears, this sounds like 742 a financial trap, and it frightens me to think of how this could play out for seniors or any of 743 our aging loved ones whose health status and needs can change overnight. There's 744 nothing new about targeting a vulnerable group. Is this the kind of innovation the planning 745 department has in mind? Is this the kind of innovation that opens the door to sweeping 746 zoning changes? I, for one, certainly hope it is not. Thank you. 747 748 Betty Lou Whitford: Good evening. My name is Betty Lou Whitford. I'm a Hands Four co-op member. 1 749 want to emphasize just one aspect of Fiddlehead Corner, so it isn't overshadowed by the 750 complexities of the zoning proposal. That aspect is how Fiddlehead Corner can be a 751 leading-edge model for Orange County, one that is right within your grasp. To appreciate 752 its importance as a model, one only need picture conventional subdivision development.