Orange County NC Website
Commissioner Carey: What kind of line is on the easternmost part of the property? Is that an <br /> easement going up and coming down? <br /> Robert Davis: That's a Duke Power utility easement that's existing. It's in my report, I didn't <br /> mention it. They are going to request that that line be relocated probably along the right-of-way, <br /> so that the lots won't be encumbered by power easements. They would have to get <br /> encroachment agreements from DOT on that. <br /> David Rooks: I'm the attorney representing the applicant in this case. I have not been sworn, <br /> and I'm not going to testify. I am here as part of the Lawyer Relief Act of the State Bar in <br /> adopting rules with respect to project judicial proceedings, which said that folks can't be their <br /> own advocates, they have to have a lawyer to come. So, I'm simply here being a traffic cop. I <br /> am pleased to represent the applicant near School House Road Partners, LLC, and their <br /> members are here tonight. Immediately to my left is Mr. Bob Barrett, further to my left is Mr. ?? <br /> Edwards, and then behind me is Mr. Anthony Hughes. They are the principles in the School <br /> House Partners, LLC. They have this property under option from the family that owns this. The <br /> things that makes me want to be here is that this is an affordable housing project and they are <br /> coming here targeting houses that will be affordable to folks up to 80% or lower median family <br /> income, which we all know we need desperately here in Orange County. At the end of the <br /> presentation I will say more if necessary, but at this point I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Bob <br /> Barrett, who is going to make a principle presentation for the applicant. <br /> Bob Barrett: I have been sworn. Thank you very much for seeing us tonight. I'm with School <br /> House Road Partners. We've been working on this project. We conceived it in October of 2006 <br /> and have been working with the Planning Department, who has been doing a very diligent job in <br /> working with us to get through the project and to deliver the things that are necessary for <br /> approval. One of the things that I'm going to be presenting to you at this time is the need for <br /> workforce affordably-priced housing in Orange County. I brought along some information that <br /> I'd like to pass out to the Planning Board and Commissioners. What you're receiving is the <br /> most recent analysis from the Triangle MLS, which does a summary market update every <br /> quarter. This is the full report, what I've provided for you is the information that's regarding <br /> Orange County specifically. If you'll see on the first page, it's very simple, there's not a lot here. <br /> The comparison for single and multi-family homes sold in this first half of the year in Orange <br /> County. Comparing the average price of homes in Orange County, you can see that we're <br /> currently, this is the most recent information, at $342,740 for an average priced home in Orange <br /> County. You can see from the other counties that are listed there that there are much more <br /> affordably-priced houses around us. This pretty much explains the whole purpose of this <br /> project. We're here to provide housing for people who want to not only work in Orange County, <br /> but also live in Orange County. Further, if you will turn to the second page, where Orange <br /> County is highlighted further down on that, you'll see in the houses that have been available for <br /> sale in Orange County in this price range, which we are targeting $150,000 to under$200,000, <br /> you will see that over the last three years, well actually in the last year between the first half of <br /> '07 and the first half of'08, we've had a 56% drop in houses that have been built and made <br /> available in this price range. It's not getting any better; it's getting a lot worse, and we're trying <br /> to do something about it. The houses, if you've seen in our other presentation, will be on <br /> average three-bedroom, two-bath homes, with a garage. We're trying to do everything that we <br /> can to provide everything for this priced house. These will include all appliances, and we are <br /> working at becoming an extremely energy efficient community for each of the homeowners. <br /> We've also worked on finding affordable financing for this. There's the USDA loan program <br />