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