Agenda - 08-25-2008- c2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-g5 Tom Altieri From: mda180@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 1:00 PM To: CompPlanUpdate; mda180@aol.com Subject: Draft 2030 Comprehensive Plan From: Stephen G. Richardson & Jennifer P. McCue Phone Number: 919-643-2811 Message: Regarding Proposed Adoption of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan Just recently and very much by chance I learned of the existence of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan through a neighbor. We know for certain of exactly two people who so far have managed to read this murky turgid and cumbersome 313 page draft from beginning to end, one of us included. The draft 2030 Comprehensive Plan and its implications clearly are not understood by residents and property owners of Orange County. If they were, more than the handful would have participated in a previous hearing that reportedly took place. We would have. Formal requirements for public notice may or may not have been observed, but the utter lack of public awareness that this Plan even exists, much less is said to be nearing a final vote suggests to me that transparent process and visible public notice has been missing, however well-intentioned the effort. This opacity seems incongruous in terms of recent Orange County history, however. Here we have a sweeping umbrella Plan serving as the template for all future planning activity by the County (or for the Neuse River Rules by the County on behalf of the State), for the next two decades, but the Plan and its contents are so obscure that virtually nobody has heard of it. Yet in the very same timeframe, the County used more than $100K of tax dollars for consulting fees, and distributing a flyer to every voter in Orange County to hawk the benefits of a highly unpopular proposed land transfer tax. What's more, the County spent these taxpayer funds on publicity even after polls showed the tax referendum had absolutely no chance of being approved (and, of course, despite the costly flyers it was defeated 2:1). If Orange County can spare the funds to publicize a foredoomed tax referendum, where are the flyers and consulting fees for publicizing the draft 2030 Comprehensive Plan which in Chapter 1 solemnly invokes police powers for its enforcement? Why is such a sweeping policy document flying largely under the radar? Is it perhaps in part because in the entire document covering the breadth and sweep of County land use and other planning for the next two decades, the term "property rights" does not appear even once? While inconvenient for comprehensive planning purposes, the vast majority of land within Orange County belongs neither to the State of North Carolina or the County government. The land belongs to individual property owners. This land and the property rights associated with its use are not those of the State or the County to dispose of, and in no event can be taken without just compensation. To my knowledge none of the property owners affected by the Comprehensive Plan has been notified how their rights and interests may be adversely affected either directly by the County, or by virtue of the County agreeing without residents and property owners' consent to act on behalf of the State. We haven't been. We would request the County Commission take the following actions with respect to the draft 2030 Comprehensive Plan to remedy the fatal defects in the current draft: 1. Particularly in light of recent changes in the Commission's membership composition, place the current draft 2030 Comprehensive Plan on hold until an open and highly visible 1