HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-27-1999 Public Hearing
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PRESENT:
PUBLIC:
ITEM #3:
ITEM #2:
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MINUTES
PUBLIC HEARING
July 27, 1999
Mayor Horace Johnson, Ken Chavious, Frances Dancy, Evelyn Lloyd, Catherine Martin,
Richard Simpson, John Taylor (PB chair), Richard Bradford, David Daniel, Ed Gill, Jim
Boericke, Cathy Carroll, Chris Quinn, Pam Blue-Thompson, Bryant Warren
David Rhodes, approximately 10 residents, Eric Peterson, Margaret Hauth
Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. He passed the gavel to Planning
Board chair Taylor. Hal.lth asked to proceed with item 3, as the applicant for item 2 was not
yet present.
Hauth introdQced the text amendment to establish a Board of Adjustment size of seven
members. She noted this was part of the efforts the town was making to increase the
likelihood of having quorums present for its advisory board meetings. She noted that the
ordinance does not require alternate members of the Planning Board, so that change can be
handled at a regular Town Board meeting, She noted that the ordinance requires the Board
of Adjustment to have 4 members present and in agreement on any application, which is
difficult with 5 members. By making the alternate members full members, reaching the 4
member quor:um and voting minimum will be easier. Boericke noted that the new text does
not reflect that the county will appoint three and the Town board will appoint three. Hauth
said she would make that correction.
Hauth briefly described the Precision Auto rezoning request and reminded the members of the
zoning re-write that created 2 commercial districts and 2 levels of auto sales. Brinkley asked
whether Orange Grove Road qualifies as an arterial street and Hauth confirmed that it does.
Martin questioned the impact of this site on the Eno River. Mayor Johnson followed up with
a question regarding site contamination. Hauth noted the Board of Adjustment would review
any significant change to the building. Rhodes described his proposed operation. He noted
his intent to preserve the majority of the existing landscaping and display cars on gravel along
the Churton Street and Orange Grove Road portions of the site. He noted some overflow
cars would get parked in the rear gravellot. He said the current owners are working to get
a final determination from EP A stating that "no further (clean-up) action" is necessary. Some
of the contamination is from diesel fuel, which Duke Power did not keep on site. Rhodes
added that he would likely lease office space to other uses, as he does not need the whole
building. Simpson asked whether cars are serviced on site. Rhodes said no, only clean up
work, he is simply a salesman. He noted that the site has 22 parking spaces and a 3,600
square foot building. He responded to Chavious's questions about enlarging the building and
indicated plans to only build a structure to the rear to allow for car detailing. Blue-Thompson
noted that she lives up the street and asked about traffic impact, impact on the neighbors from
lights, and impact on the park. Rhodes said he does intend to install some additional lighting
to add security to the site when closed. He also intends to work with the park to see if a
shared arrangement can be worked out to improve the current situation. Rhodes noted that
he has four to five employees, about 40 cars displayed and has about 10 customers a day; he
said he wished he would generate a traffic problem in the neighborhood. He noted his hours
of operation would be 9-5:30 Monday-Friday, 9-4 on Saturday and closed on Sunday.
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Hauth addressed the citizens present briefly. She continued that the item they were interested
in, a text amendment to allow duplexes on septic tanks was not on the agenda and had been
withdrawn by the applicant. She said she would also be addressing their stormwater concerns
as soon as she could fully study the engineering drawings and determine what could be done.
She thanked them for coming and for their patience.
John Taylor closed the public hearing and returned the gavel to Mayor Johnson who called
for a brief recess. Johnson asked Hauth to provide an update on the Hillsborough Place
development. Hauth said that the Planning Board would be reviewing revised plans at their
August meeting. A joint meeting with the county commissioners, school board, and both
planning boards will be held on September 8 at the courthouse, with a town public hearing
to follow on September 28, also at the courthouse. Hauth added the regular September
Planning Board meeting will be canceled. Johnson noted that the town would be convening
the joint meeting and that the meeting will not become a public hearing; it is for information
sh~g to bring everyone to the same level of knowledge about the development. He added
that the developer or staff would address questions.
The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:40 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
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Margaret Hauth, Secretary
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ATTACHMENT .5 1 0 5
APPROVED DECEMBER 7.1999
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SPECIAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 8,1999
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in joint session with the Hillsborough Town
Commissioners, the Orange County Planning Board, the Hillsborough Planning Board and the Orange
County Board of Education ~n September 8, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. in the big courtroom of the new County
courthouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Alice M. Gordon and Commissioners Margaret W.
Brown, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Moses Carey, Jr.
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod
Visser and Albert Kittrell, and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be
identified appropriately below)
HILLSBOROUGH TOWN BOARD: Mayor Horace Johnson and Town Commissioners Ken
Chavious, Frances Dancy, Evelyn Lloyd, Catherine Martin and Richard Simpson
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS: Bob Bateman, Delores Simpson,
Keith Cook, Brenda Stevens, Ricky Kennedy, David Kolbinsky and Superintendent Randy Bridges
HILLSBOROUGH PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS: Chair John Taylor and members Pamela
Blue-Thompson, James Boericke, Richard Bradford, Joel Brinkley, Cathy Carroll, David Daniel, Edward
Gill, Chris Quinn, and Bryant Warren
ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS: James Selkirk
NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE
PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL
RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS.
1: CALL TO ORDER
Chair Alice M. Gordon called the meeting to order.
2. PURPOSE OF THE MEETING AND INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
Mayor Horace Johnson made opening remarks. He said that the purpose of this meeting was to inform the
two elected boards, the Orange County School Board and the two Planning Boards about the proposed annexation
of the planned unit development, Corbin Downs. The decision to annex the property rests solely on the
Hillsborough Town Board. He introduced the Hillsborough Town Board, and asked the Hillsborough Planning
Board to raise their hands. He said this was not a public hearing, and there will be no comments from the public at
this time. There will be a public hearing on Tuesday, September 28th at 7:00 in this courtroom. This is an
opportunity for the public and the elected officials to hear about this issue. He then introduced Chair Gordon.
Chair Gordon introduced the Board of County Commissioners. She said that Commissioner Carey is not
in attendance because he is attending an EMC Board meeting. She said the County Commissioners requested
this meeting to become fully informed about this project. She said they plan to listen, learn, and contribute.
Susan Dovenbarger, Chair of the Orange County School Board, introduced her Board members. She said
that she appreciates the opportunity to be invited here to talk about a proposed development plan. She said it was
coincidental for them to be invited to talk about this particular subdivision because the superintendent recently
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shared with the Board of Education the plans that are up for final approval which total approximately 3,300 new
homes coming into the Orange County school district, including Corbin Downs. They are feeling extreme pressure
to plan for new schools, especially a new middle school.
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PRESENTATION OF PROPOSED CORBIN DOWNS DEVELOPMENT
Boots Elam, land planner for this proposed development, said that he feels the input he has received has
made this a better project. He wants to be a good neighbor, not only to Hillsborough, but also to Orange County.
The project name was changed from Hillsborough Place to Corbin Downs by request from the Town. This name
was derived from the man who first surveyed the town of Hillsborough.
He made reference to several maps. He said that the project is located at the intersection of 1-40 and Old
North Carolina 86 with frontage on new North Carolina 86 to the east. The project consists of 337.7 acres. Their
goal in establishing this project is to try to establish a project that meets the goals of the Economic Development
District (EDD). His firm wants to create an employment center with a living center attached to it. They want to
create a living center that could cover all facets of housing, from assisted living, to retirement, to family housing, to
apartments, to town homes. All of this would be developed in a village atmosphere based around an employment
center.
He said that the newspaper always has articles about parking problems in the Triangle area. He said there
has been a focus in a lot of the metropolitan areas to provide a housing base located within employment centers.
Corbin Downs would provide places to live near places to work. In the beginning they went through a land
analysis. The first map they analyzed was the slope of the property to understand the character of the property as
it related to the typography. Another map was a soil map that helped in anticipation of erosion and in identifying
other techniques that may need to be utilized. Another map was the hydrology map that indicates the location of
any flood prone areas and how the site was being drained naturally. Another map was the vegetation map. They
felt it important to save as much of the vegetation as possible during the project. They overlaid all the maps using
a filter mapping process to come up with a development suitability map. From there, using the goals and
objectives of the project, a number of sketch master plans were derived and a master plan was proposed. This
master plan broke the property down into areas that would be single family and office flex-business park, assisted
living, retirement, apartments, town homes, office, wholesale, retail, a transit stop, and a daycare Montessori
school located on the site. In reviewing the EDD and how they derived the land use plans, they worked with their
transportation engineers to come up with routes that would lead back to old and new 86. They then derived a plan
that sets up the basic schematics of how they envision the project to develop.
On a map, Mr. Elam showed what they did to carry out the theme of the history and character of the
existing town. Also, they looked at the entrances to the property and then prepared the document which went to
public hearing. They received a lot of input from citizens, staff, and town board members at the public hearing.
. They took the input and revised the plan. The Planning Board reviewed the plan and had another work session
with the Town Commissioners to go over the design. The developer said that they also met with the
Superintendent of schools and have indicated to Orange County that they may be able to help with a school site.
It is their position that they will work with Orange County either at this site or another site. The developer will
provide a school site. Currently they understand that there is an impact fee of $750.00 per unit and they are
proposing to add an additional $100 per unit so they will pay $850.00 per unit to the school system. Also, based on
the input received, there are 100-foot buffers around the perimeters of the property. They will have ball fields and
soccer fields that will be available to all citizens in the community. They had proposed a public safety facility that
would be in the eastern part of the property. The Town has requested that it be relocated. They will give five
acres plus $300,000 to the Town for that facility. The developers will pay approximately $1 ,000,000 for waterlines
to the development. They have tried to take all the pubic comment into consideration in the plan. They do not see
this as an adversary role, but as fulfilling a goal in development of this EDD.
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4. REVIEW SUMMARY BY STAFF
a. Town - Operational and Fiscal Impacts
Town Manager Eric Peterson focused on the financial and operational impacts related to the Town of
Hillsborough. The most important issues and impacts occur during the first three years. Year one, there will be a
deficit. In years two and three the deficits are significant and this needs a lot of thought. If the Board decided to
annex this area, they would need to resolve these deficit issues. He said that 77% of the total costs allocated to
the Corbin Downs development is public safety related - fire and police. One of the most important points that the
Town Board will need to evaluate is the investment in locating a fire and police department in that area. It is
evident that development is going to come to this area, it is just a matter of when. As other development occurs,
there is an economy of scale, regardless if this area is annexed. He talked about the benefit to the Town by
providing water to this area. He said that the Town will not need any more personnel as a result of this project.
There would be a deficit the first year in the water fund, but the second and third years the Town would have a
surplus. The Town's major concern is making sure that any new development pays for itself. He said that one of
the other benefits of this project would be that the EDD would be open for other development. The Town would
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benefit whether or not the property is annexed. He said there is risk by trying to do this. If the property is annexed
and the development does not go according to the plan, there will be a financial risk. If the Town does not approve
the annexation of this property, it will eventually be developed, and could be developed in small plots with very
little coordination.
b. County - Operational and Fiscal Impacts
Planning Director Craig Benedict said that a development of this type is referred to as a development of
regional impact. The primary concern when the Orange County staff looked at this property was the traffic impact.
There is approximately 1.6 million square feet of non-residential construction planning within this project over
seven years, and over 700 residential units. The Orange County Planning staff believes that at the completion of
this project, there will be an additional 37,000 trips added to the roadway network per day. Regarding Old 86,
which is a two lane road, Craig Benedict showed on a map the EDD area and designations of the particular areas.
He explained the map. He said that the right-of-way is not there for adding lanes to the roadway. Traffic is the
most critical issue.
He touched on some of the other County services that will be provided by the County. Planning Review
and Inspection is one of the services that the County provides to the Town of Hillsborough. They would need to
expand their staff to handle a development of this size. EMS is a direct impact that is a County service. Under
tab three in the agenda packet, there are responses from EMS on how they would handle a development of this
size. He made reference to the increase in traffic and traffic accidents that would involve both EMS and police as
a backup. He made mention that there would be impacts on the recreation and parks programs provided by
Orange County. Other areas of County impact include the library that would experience an increase in traffic.
Erosion control would be another area that would need to have additional staff to handle the impacts from this
project. Another issue that would be affected would be public transit. There would definitely need to be a bus
route circulated through this project. He said there were some conflicts with what was on the original EDD plan
and what is in the proposal. Craig Benedict said that he would continue to work with the Hillsborough staff to
examine those differences. He said there would definitely be tax revenue coming from this development.
Regarding the revenue based on the different uses of the development, he said some of the values per unit were a
little high. He would like the opportunity to discuss this with the developer to make sure the most realistic property
values are being represented. Using the numbers within the application, there would be approximately two million
dollars of revenue to the County based on the present tax rates.
c. School and County - Operational and Fiscal Impacts
Craig Benedict made reference to school impacts and said that they want the applicant to work with the
school system on the number of students who will be generated and the impacts on the elementary, middle, and
high schools. This would be a capacity analysis tied in with the student-generated figures. He feels it important to
work on the timing of these impacts. He said the middle school would have the tightest constraints in this general
area because there will be a new elementary and high school coming on line within the next few years.
d. Revised Traffic Impact Analysis
Hillsborough Planning Director Margaret Hauth made several comments about traffic. She made reference
to the two-page memo that has the comments that were submitted from the firm that reviewed the transportation
impact statement prepared by Kimberly Horne. She addressed Craig Benedict's concern about no right-of-ways
for road widening. She said that the properties that were purchased do cross over Old 86. The developer owns
frontage on both sides nearest to the interstate, so the land would be available for the full widening. The NCDOT
minimum would be used where the developer does not own the property. She said that individual driveways would
be offset so that there are no traffic problems. She made reference to a map and showed where there would be a
park and ride lot. She said that the developer is willing to provide this space. She made reference to a feasibility
study that looked at South Churton Street from 1-40 to the railroad trestle to see what can be done within the
existing right-of-way for widening. She said that the NCDOT has not been able to begin this study due to staff
turnover. She said this might be a good opportunity to work together and provide NCDOT with something rather
than waiting for them to address it.
e. Project Compliance with Town Subdivision, Zoning, and EDD Regulations
Margaret Hauth summarized the process that would be followed by the developer. She said that each pod
would require a site approval. All the pods except for single family would require approval by the Board of
Adjustment. There will be a public hearing before the Board of Adjustment. Once those approvals are granted
they would get their permits and be monitored by both the Town and the County. There are a number of internal
conditions set up for when certain larger items would be finished. They would have a timeline for each pod of the
development. In terms of individual compliance issues, the 1 DO-foot buffer is still in place. All solid waste
containers will be handled at the site approvallev'el. An overall site storm water plan must be submitted for the
entire development and approved by the Town. The Town would submit this to a consulting engineer for review.
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Construction debris would be pit burned. Other construction debris has not been handled and she is open to any
input in this area. The Town does expect that the pods will be sold to individual developers. They will be held to
this development plan. This development is not in a designated watershed so there is not an impervious surface
limit. The development will comply with, at site plan level, setbacks and impervious surface limits that are existing
in the ordinances as well as the Upper Neuse Basin requirements. Construction of the buildings will be established
at site plan level and that will be enforced. Tree preservation and signs will also be addressed during the
individual pod developments. The Town does not have a comparable major transportation corridor overlay district;
however, the EDD does address visibility and provides for a 1 DO-foot interstate buffer. The mixture of land uses is
shown so it can be seen how it interacts with the ordinance. The development can not be predominantly one use.
The whole point of the ordinance is to provide for mixed uses.
5. GROUP DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS
Frances Dancy said that she is worried about the two years of deficits. She asked if there was any help
available since the Town has a very tight budget. Mr. Elam said that this is something they will explore with the
Town Manager. He feels they can work on this together.
Rick Kennedy said that he feels there is an advantage in talking with one person instead of a number of
persons with a number of developments. He expressed concern about the low number of students predicted for
such a large number of housing units. He feels the number of students would be at least .6 per housing unit. He
said the middle school was the priority right now.
Mr. Elam said that he has recent information on students generated per household that he will share with
the Orange County schools. They used national statistics that they found with the Urban Land Institute and with
different agencies of North Carolina. They have done a lot'of high-density apartments, and the way they are
designed they really do not generate the school children that one would typically expect.
David Kolbinsky said that he appreciates the sensitivity of increased students. They are already
concerned about the traffic on Old 86 and the corridor between 1-40 and 1-85.
Brenda Stephens asked how the development came up with an additional $100 for the impact fee. Mr.
Elam said they were looking at possibly donating a school site, and they looked at what the total acreage of the
school site would be. He said that jf they need to work on a middle school site, they would. Based on the acreage,
what the site would be worth, and the total number of units, they felt that to add $100 to the impact fee would be a
fair amount.
Richard Simpson said that he likes that he has something to think about.
Ken Chavious said that he appreciates that Mr. Elam has been willing to work. with them. He feels it is
time that the Town and County officials take charge of their community. The Town and County are not trying to
jump down the developers' throat; it is just a matter of being in control of the community. He asked Mr. Elam
about the road property and Mr. Elam said that they only own parcels on Old 86. He said that he appreciates the
ones who have presented facts about this project.
Barry Jacobs asked questions and asked that they be answered at another time. He congratulated this
developer for presenting an integrated design.
1. How many millions of gallons of water a day will the development use?
2. How many people per use are projected and how many trips per day per use are
projected?
3. What is the exact acreage of the property? (He has seen three different numbers)
4. Does the EDD require a certain % of commercial vs. residential development?
5. The impact on the entrance to 1-40 going to RTP will be tremendous. This is not
addressed.
6. The cross-section of Old 86 should be developed, and the buffer should be added.
7. Internal turn lanes should be added.
8. Look at putting some retail where the apartments are, so pedestrians do not have to cross the street.
9. There should be limited access to Old 86; there is an extra access point.
10. He is concerned about the open space with a lack of specificity. There should be a targeted percentage of
open space, particularly so the vegetation and hardwoods are protected.
11. He would like to see how the payment in lieu system would apply to this project.
12. Is the impact fee $100 above the current one? If the impact fee goes up, is it still $100 beyond what's
required?
13. He would like to see Affordable Housing considered.
14. He would like to see the staff investigate the track record of this particular developer on projected build
out.
15. Orange County Board of Commissioners has been strong in their opposition to open burning. They hope
to get Hillsborough and this developer to work on this.
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Evelyn Lloyd said she is always concerned about the financial status of the Town. She does not agree with the
number of apartments and the amount of water that will be needed for this development. This is something that
needs a lot of careful thinking.
Susan Doverbarger said that she was glad to hear about the ratio that was used to establish the number of
students that are generated from new developments. She clarified that they are currently building an elementary
school and a high school. They will need another middle school. Both of their middle schools are over capacity. It
is their greatest concern to seek assistance with the middle school site and how to fund the school.
Mayor Horace Johnson said that some of his concerns have been addressed. He made reference to page
2-1, paragraph 1, 4th sentence, which reads, "there are no absolutes or guarantees. n He said this is frightening.
He read the 3rd paragraph and said that this adds more fright to him. They would prefer having most of the
development take place in the first years of the project. He feels that it is important for his board to look at this
and do what is best for Hillsborough.
Commissioner Brown asked questions that may be answered later. She feels this development will have a
countywide impact and all the citizens will be paying for additional schools. She is concerned about having the
traffic impact study done on the Old 86 corridor. She would like a further explanation from the Orange County
Planning Department on how much support Orange County gives the Hillsborough Planning Department, and what
obligation would Orange County have to Hillsborough if the project were approved. She is concerned about the
lack of specificity on recreation and parks. She is interested in who would maintain the ball fields since
Hillsborough does not have a Recreation and Parks department. She is concerned about erosion control. This
project is large but the Erosion Control department is not large. She would like some additional information on the
additional staff that will be needed from the County. She agrees with Commissioner Jacobs on the Affordable
Housing issue. She also feels very strongly about open burning and the tree protection issue. Since this will
necessitate clear cutting, she wants to know how they plan to protect trees in this area.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that County government has spent a lot of money to keep Hillsborough
looking like Hillsborough. They spent $125,000 to put a rock walkway around the old courthouse. They spent an
additional $25,000 to put flemish brick on the Government Services Center. There was even a fake facade put on
the roofline of the new jail addition to keep the historicity of Hillsborough in place. He opposed Lawrence Place on
70 West because of the traffic. Old 86 is an old two-lane narrow road and was never designed for 37,000 trips a
day. The County does a lot for the Town of Hillsborough and he summarized these items. The biggest thing the
County does is try to give the Orange County Board of Education money to build schools. He feels that something
this size which shows retail space is really scary. He has some serious concerns.
Keith Cook had no questions. He said most of his questions have been answered. He appreciates the
hard work the Town has done on this project.
Delores Simpson said that in reading the report, she was disappointed to see that very little attention was
given to the schools. She feels that in the next few years, what constitutes a family will change. She feels the
average size family will be larger in years to come. She thinks the Town and County need to think more about
their schools. They will need to plan for additional schools, especially another elementary and middle school. She
is delighted to hear that the developer will donate a site.
Catherine Martin thanked the Town staff for their work on this project. She said that development would
obviously occur in this area since it is prime real estate. The question is what is the best kind of development for
this area, one developer doing a coordinated project or a lot of developers doing it in a piece meal fashion. The
financial and traffic aspects will need to be considered. She likes the concept of having the TT A and park and ride
lots. Schools, recreation and parks, and traffic are hot topics.
Bob Bateman thanked the Town for letting the Board of Education sit in on this early discussion. He stated
that this would be a tremendous impact on the County, especially on the resources of the Town of Hillsborough
such as traffic, water, etc. He does question the projected number of students that will be generated through this
project. His one personal concern is that he thinks that 2 Y:z houses on an acre of land are too many.
Chair Gordon made reference to tab 3 and said that some services are those that are offered countywide,
but some of the services are unique to Hillsborough. She spoke to Eric Peterson and said she is assuming that
when he calculated the expenses he did not calculate increases in things that would affect the Planning
jurisdiction. She asked if there was any consideration given to services that have to do with land use planning,
that are ordinarily provided by a town. There are some services that Orange County provides countywide, and
then there are others that are land use jurisdictions that the County does not provide. She asked if the Town or the
County would hire another Planning staff person.
Eric Peterson said that he did not assume any cooperative efforts in providing the services. He assumed
that as the Town boundaries expand, it is the Town's responsibility to provide the services.
She asked Craig Benedict about his comment about maxing out the Planning Department staff.
Craig Benedict explained that he was talking about the building services side of the Planning and
Inspections Department. A project of this size would definitely increase the personnel needs in the inspection side
of the equation.
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Margaret Hauth said that Craig Benedict has suggested that the developer hire an outside consultant to
certify their plans and provide them to the County staff. The developer is willing to proceed with this suggestion.
This would take a lot of the burden off the County Planning Department.
Chair Gordon said that since all the ~Iected officials have asked their questions, there was time for more
questions.
Evelyn Lloyd said that what bothers her is having as many people to the south of the railroad tracks as
there are to the north. She said this detracts from Hillsborough.
Susan Dovenbarger made reference to a new middle school and the standards for building new middle
schools. She asked John Link if the cost was estimated at 18 million dollars. She asked him to speak about what
opportunities there might be right now to fund a new middle school, since this is the next thing on the horizon for
the school system.
John Link clarified that the cost for a new middle school is 18 million dollars. He said that there are no CIP
funds for a new middle school. This much money would require going back to the voters for a school bond. Both
school systems need to be included. This would need to be brought forward soon for planning purposes, as early
as next week. Regarding the school site, he thinks it is a very nice gesture from the developer to convey a school
site to the school system. It is important that the site be in the right place and the right acreage.
Commissioner Jacobs asked if an analysis like the one Eric Peterson did for the Town could be done
regarding the impact on County services. The fiscal impact on Orange County needs to be determined. He made
reference to open space and feels that this may not suit the needs of the people that will live in this village. He
asked the developer to consider building up instead of out and providing additional open space. This project is
scary, and he feels a decision should not be rushed. As elected officials, he thinks they should have their own
timetable. He feels that the traffic will have a tremendous impact on all of the people who live and work here.
There will be one solid block of traffic from Highway 70 all the way to 1-40. He thinks there is an opportunity to
make this something that will have high standards.
Mayor Horace Johnson made reference to page 2-7, second paragraph, which reads, "There is
unquestionably risk involved in trying to predict the cost of proposed annexation. There is unquestionably risk
involved in trying to predict the cost of servicing a large development that mayor may not be built according to
schedule, depending on the economy and many other factors." He said in the worst case scenario, if the Town
annexes this area, there may be a deficit of up to a half million dollars. This means that the people who live in
Hillsborough would face a higher tax rate. He thinks this would make Hillsborough an elitist town, where only those
that could afford to pay the taxes could stay here. This has already happened in Chapel Hill. He said it would be
better for the development to take place first, so there would be one year's worth of tax revenues to start with. He
hopes that the Hillsborough Town Board would give this some serious thought, and see if the Town can sustain in
the worst case scenario.
Chair Gordon said, on behalf of the Commissioners, she really appreciates Hillsborough, the Board of
Education, the Planning Board, the Staff, and the developer for coming tonight. This is a project of regional
significance. This kind of communication and cooperation is so important, and she is delighted to see that this
could be done.
Mayor Horace Johnson commended the Hillsborough Planning Board and the Planning Directors for their
dedication on this project.
6. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Gordon adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for September 14,1999
at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Alice M. Gordon, Chair
Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk
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