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58 <br /> development are all antithetical to this agricultural and residential community and similarly <br /> zoned nodes within Orange County. Thank you for your time and attention." <br /> Barbara Warren read an email her daughter, Dr. Paige Warren, sent to the Board: <br /> "I am writing in opposition to the proposed H4D housing development and the requested <br /> zoning changes. My parents own land adjacent to the proposed site, having a long common <br /> boundary on the site's eastern side. I grew up roaming the woods and creeks, from my childhood <br /> through my college years at UNC-Chapel Hill. While I now live far away, I feel a deep tie to the <br /> land and community. I return home several times per year with my children, walking the land and <br /> teaching them about its history and stewardship. The values I learned from life in a rural and <br /> agricultural setting and experiencing the "hands-on" work ethic existing throughout the Morrow <br /> Mill community was key to forming who I am today. My family and those in the surrounding rural <br /> community have invested effort and care to maintain a rich farm and forest environment <br /> throughout southwestern Orange County. Both the multi-generational and the newer landowners <br /> have been effective stewards of this rural area, maintaining healthy forests, clean water, and <br /> abundant wildlife habitat as well as a mutually supportive residential community. My training and <br /> expertise are in urban ecology, and I am also committed to making a world in which people can <br /> be housed affordably, live sustainably, and enjoy high environmental quality. I recognize the <br /> intense pressure the growing population is putting on Triangle area cities and towns, as well as <br /> the critical need for affordable housing. However, the H4D housing development as currently <br /> designed is not providing a solution in keeping with sustainable urban planning principles. To <br /> contribute to sustainability, high density development should be clustered with the infrastructure <br /> to support it — transportation, food, and walkability. My chief concerns with the H4D housing <br /> development are the mismatch between it and the surrounding community, the high impact it is <br /> likely to have on water quality, and its lack of connection to the infrastructure to support its <br /> population. Decades of Orange County land use plans and successive boards of commissioners <br /> have wisely maintained this vital community setting. I add my voice to those asking you to continue <br /> that history by denying the application for this dense urban development and the zoning changes <br /> required for its implementation. Thank you for considering my concerns." <br /> Ralph Warren referenced a packet of information he prepared for the Board. He thanked <br /> the Board for the opportunity to speak. He said there is data to support the community concerns. <br /> He said he hopes the information supports a vote against the changes that are being requested. <br /> He said it will be drastically inconsistent with the current community. He said many questions have <br /> been raised around water and sewer. He said there are private wastewater failures in the data he <br /> has. He said that the application proposes a dense urban development in an area that it does not <br /> fit. He said it will encourage urban sprawl and lead to farmland losses. He said that data from the <br /> USDA includes Orange County farming activity and defines the farmland that is at risk if the rural <br /> nodes are modified to allow the proposed expansion. <br /> Alan Julich said he is a 46-year resident of Orange County. He read an email from Sherri <br /> Rosemond, retired director of UNC's Partnership on Aging, about benefits to the county. He said <br /> she wrote asking the Board to vote to approve the application because this development will only <br /> scratch the surface of the colossal need for senior housing in Orange County and it is fully aligned <br /> with the Master Aging Plan. He said the email also noted that she said she has been following the <br /> development since it was conceptualized, and it is built around the model of neighbors helping <br /> neighbors. He said that there will be smaller housing and provisions for caregiving facilities. He <br /> said the email says this will make Orange County more livable. <br /> Galen Kirkpatrick said this can go a long way to address senior housing needs in Orange <br /> County. He said this is a non-profit that wants to build this community which is also a model that <br /> can be useful to Orange County going forward. He said this is not a commercial development, <br /> for-profit developer. He said it is a complete alternative to that and would be helpful moving <br /> forward. He said that he understands there is strong opposition to large scale commercial <br /> development in rural Orange County and that as a person that has had family here for 80 plus <br />