7_10_24 Planning Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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