|
275
<br /> Approved 8.7.24
<br /> 1302 not American, okay? It has nothing to do with are you black, Spanish or Jewish or
<br /> 1303 whatever, Mexican, Ukrainian, American. I'm talking about people which we are working
<br /> 1304 hard all life long, build their retirement plan and,just a normal life without riding my
<br /> 1305 motorcycle or ATV at night when I'm asleep. Darkness of Durham is not about skin color.
<br /> 1306 My neighbor, which left us and got pissed, took it wrong. I didn't mean color of skin, 1
<br /> 1307 meant pawn shops, drugs, alcohol, its crazy parties; I don't want just people which are
<br /> 1308 young people,just not willing to work hard are looking for the cheap condos, that's what 1
<br /> 1309 don't want to have next to me. So, I hope Deborah will get it and understand. Her front
<br /> 1310 yard is always perfect, clean, I don't know if it's perfection, not always, a hundred out of a
<br /> 1311 hundred, I wish my yard looked as perfect as hers. So, she took it wrong, and darkness
<br /> 1312 of Durham is not in color, come on, I'm not even American, I'm Ukrainian Jewish. So, it's
<br /> 1313 not about color, it's about lifestyle. Thank you.
<br /> 1314
<br /> 1315 Margaret E. Craft: Thank you for being here and for all you do, my name is Peggy Craft, I have lived in this
<br /> 1316 area for a long time, worked as a high school teacher and I am on the H4D board and
<br /> 1317 have been working for many years really hard to come to this point, and I'm very excited
<br /> 1318 about the progress we're making. Everyone has said most of what I wanted to say and
<br /> 1319 I'm not sure what your process is, but I do want to point out that the first speaker was
<br /> 1320 inaccurate in a number of ways, so if I should address that now I will. For example, yes,
<br /> 1321 people can get loans to live and buy property. There are banks that specialize in co-op
<br /> 1322 loans so that was incorrect. We want a modest sign, no one's wanting glitter, I don't know
<br /> 1323 where that idea came from. And also, a lot of comments were about we're going to lose
<br /> 1324 farmland. We don't have farmland, ours is a forested area. Tom Cheek retained the
<br /> 1325 farmland that's in the middle of our big plot, so just a few things. I have a lot of sympathy
<br /> 1326 for the concerns about water, but I also have a lot of faith in the planning staff of Orange
<br /> 1327 County and they have looked this stuff over really well, so if they've done something
<br /> 1328 wrong, fine, let's talk about it, but I'd like you to understand that we've spent a lot of
<br /> 1329 money and hired experts and it's gone through the Orange County process, so, a little
<br /> 1330 faith there would probably be a good idea. I want to point out that Orange County has
<br /> 1331 been pressured to do a lot of development lately because of population growth. When the
<br /> 1332 growth spilled over into the rural areas, primarily what we're seeing are these
<br /> 1333 checkerboard, chop, cut down all the trees, put up a bunch of houses, developments. Not
<br /> 1334 good for anybody, not good for the trees or the streams or the animals, and it's certainly
<br /> 1335 not sustainable. Hands Four is doing it differently, we will be concentrating our growth as
<br /> 1336 you heard on 30 acres, leaving 60 free to the animals and the plants and the people who
<br /> 1337 want to enjoy that. The Orange County commissioners have created in the unified
<br /> 1338 development ordinance incentives to do this kind of flexible development. No developer
<br /> 1339 has taken them up on it yet, our cooperative is interested in rising to that challenge,
<br /> 1340 planning a conservation subdivision with a master plan that preserves contiguous areas of
<br /> 1341 the forest for the animals and the plants to thrive. Orange County has consistently
<br /> 1342 chosen to place environmental concerns on an equal footing with economic and social
<br /> 1343 considerations and therefore, I urge you to take a strong stand and your commitment to
<br /> 1344 sustainable development in Orange County by approving our application.
<br /> 1345
<br /> 1346 Adam Beeman: Mr. Eddleman will be the last speaker of the night for the public.
<br /> 1347
<br /> 1348 Perdita Holtz: Mr. Chair, I have something that I needed to say about that. Earlier I think you were
<br /> 1349 informed that Mike Fox was erroneously crossed off the lists and should have been called.
<br /> 1350
<br /> 1351 Adam Beeman: You're correct, I apologize.
<br />
|