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Tom Altieri added a few things to the public record for this meeting. He submitted <br /> comments from Commissioner Gordon, which are included near the end of these minutes. He <br /> also submitted some comments on behalf of some citizens that were received since the packets <br /> were put together(comments were from Donnie Walker, John Hubert, Karen Pierce, Nancy <br /> Wilberman, Bob Reids, Terry Dixon, Terry McGuire, and Tom Magnuson). <br /> Comments are incorporated by reference. <br /> Chair Jacobs thanked the Planning Board for all of the work dedicated to this effort over <br /> several years. He also thanked the Planning staff and Mr. Waldon and his associates. He <br /> reiterated that the next phase is the implementation phase, which is the phase where specific <br /> neighborhoods and parcels are discussed. This process will take a year or more and will <br /> involve public hearings and submission of information and comments from the public. All <br /> documents received will be forwarded to the Planning Board and to the Board of County <br /> Commissioners, so nothing will be filtered. He said that all of the advisory boards were asked to <br /> make comments and it was decided that the Planning Board would be the ultimate arbiter <br /> among the advisory boards of what would go into the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and it <br /> would make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. He said that there are <br /> some documents from an advisory board that did not meet its deadlines. Chair Jacobs stated <br /> that in June, the Commissioners specifically said that they did not want to entertain a complete <br /> rewrite of a section of the Comprehensive Plan, but the advisory board went ahead and did a <br /> complete rewrite. The Board of County Commissioners is interested in how the Planning Board <br /> would like to proceed with this. <br /> Also, the Town of Chapel Hill finally gave a response and would like to comment on the <br /> Land Use Plan Update, but cannot do it until September. If the Planning Board does not object, <br /> he would like to give the Town of Chapel Hill until the second meeting where this is being <br /> considered, which is September 10tH <br /> PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> Chris Moran is a member of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan Coalition which <br /> represents various diverse partners. He said that he has learned a lot about this process and <br /> he is encouraged to make some comments. He said that his comments were mostly with <br /> regard to the housing, services, and facilities elements. He said that he was surprised that <br /> there have been no major changes reflected in the plan. He is not convinced that everyone <br /> understands these concepts or the particulars of what is being recommended. This will be the <br /> guiding document for the next 20 years, so he would like to reemphasize these points. He feels <br /> very strongly that in the services and facilities portion, there is a strong emphasis on aging, <br /> public health, and mental health. He would like to recommend that something about poverty be <br /> included as a major focus for Orange County. He said that unless living wages are improved, <br /> and unless more blue-collar jobs are provided, he does not think that very much can change. <br /> He would also like to see more of an emphasis on sustainable food resources and how more <br /> food can be grown in Orange County so that it can be shared with hungry persons and various <br /> feeding programs. County housing options should include shelters and transitional housing <br /> programs, because more units are necessary for people to work on their goals before they <br /> transition back into the community. There is a great need to restore more existing units of <br /> housing in the County so that people from homeless shelters can transition. He said that there <br /> also needs to be quality mobile home parks for those that choose to live in them. He suggested <br /> having incentives to landlords to help energize units so that the existing housing stock is <br /> improved. He said that the bottom line is that, as the County plans for new developments in <br /> Orange County, there needs to be adequate services and caregivers provided for all of the <br /> recipients of those developments in case things happen, as they will. <br />