Agenda - 08-19-2008 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 15 We have the properties listed with Taylor -Hall Properties of Hillsborough. Ms. Robbin Taylor -Hall is our agent, and is authorized to speak to you on our behalf. This letter has been approved by Mack Efland. Thank you for your consideration. Ann E. Gandy, PA Simpson Efland Heirs" Ben Lloyd said that 25 years ago the North Carolina Department of Commerce identified the US 70 /Southern RR/1 -85 corridor through Orange County as the most potential area in the state for good, clean, high - paying, low water using economic growth. As of today, not one brick has been laid. Fourteen years ago, Orange County created three economic development districts, and as of today there is no activity in any of them. In 2005, the County Commissioners committed to creating 5,000 new commercial jobs and $125 million of new commercial tax base in Orange County by 2010. Three years have gone by and nothing has happened. Today, there is nearly 19,000 acres of Orange County land in the Water Quality Critical Area where no sewage, commercial or industrial activity is allowed. He recommended that this water critical area stigma should be removed so that some of the potential area can be utilized to provide jobs for people in Orange County. He said that the Comprehensive Plan will determine the future for a lot of Orange County citizens. People need jobs and the County needs money. He said that this is a lot of information and he suggested that the Board go slow. Jay Bryan read a prepared statement: "At the previous public hearing on the update to the Comprehensive Plan, I requested the Board of Commissioners to explore the idea of establishing another Element in the Comprehensive Plan to addressing Planning Principle No. 8, Preservation of Community Character. My proposed Element read: Maintenance of Community and Preservation of Community Character This request was forwarded to the Planning Board. In the fall of 2007, the Board formed a subcommittee consisting of members Renee Price, Judith Wegner, Bernadette Pelissier, and myself to examine the idea that had been proposed. In March of 2008, the Subcommittee submitted a report to the Planning Board. The report consisted of a history of community building efforts in the County, including a detailed discussion of the report of Shaping Orange County's Future Task force, and the subcommittee's recommendations concerning the establishment of a new Element and attending goals and objectives. The Planning Board discussed the report briefly at its monthly meeting in March. There was no consensus or vote on the recommendations although there was some concern expressed about how such an idea might slow down the overall process for updating the Plan. Tonight, on my own, I am asking that instead of establishing a new Element for community building and maintenance, certain Objectives be included in the Land Use Element. These Objectives are attached to your copy of my remarks as Exhibit A. Also attached is a copy of most of the recommendations of the Shaping Orange's Future Task Force regarding Community Building. Goal 6 of the proposed Land Use Element entitled, "A land use planning process that is transparent, fair, open, efficient, and responsive," would be one possible location for some or all of these objectives. I believe there are also other goals under which these objectives may fit. In summary, I strongly believe that the ten principles of community building listed in the Task Force's final report provide the glue and accountability that bind together each of the Comprehensive Plan's Elements and their goals and objectives. The Task Force's overarching goal of community- building connects the Comprehensive Plan's individual Elements to each