Loading...
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home
My WebLink
About
Agenda - 06-03-2008-5b5a
{'~ ~I~ r VIII i ci 05/02/2008 r _ ~2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ~ X26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 (. ~ 5 0 51 DRAFT MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD QUARTERLY PUBLIC HEARING February 25, 2008 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board met for a Quarterly Public Hearing on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Mike Nelson COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT:. Geof Gledhill and Brian Ferrell COUNTY STAFF PRESENT:. Assistant County Manager Willie Best, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) COUNTY STAFF ABSENT: Laura Blackmon PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Jay Bryan and Members Craufurd Goodwin, Sam Lasris, Renee Price, Judith Wegner, Michelle Kempinski, Bernadette Pelissier, Sandra Johnson-Quinn, Jeffrey Schmitt, Brian Crawford PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Joel Knight NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE GLERK'S OFFICE A. OPENING REMARKS. FROM THE CHAIR Chair Jacobs reminded the public to keep their comments to three minutes. B. PUBLIC CHARGE The Chair dispensed with the reading of the public charge. C. PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS 1. Buckhorn Village Planned Development: Request by Buckhorn Road Associates to rezone approximately 130 acres along Buckhorn Road from I-85/Buckhorn Road Economic Development District (EDD) to Buckhorn Village Planned Development EDD. Planning Director Craig Benedict said that since this is both a legislative and quasi- judicial hearing on these two items, the first part of the meeting will require that all people giving testimony or credible evidence be sworn in. The Clerk swore in these individuals as a group. Craig Benedict and Michael Harvey made a PowerPoint presentation. Craig Benedict said that copies of this presentation would be made available to the public. BUCKHORN VILLAGE Applicant: Buckhorn Road Associates LLC Planned Development Rezoning V 2 3 4 5 6 7 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 3$ 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 2 Buckhorn Economic Development to Planned Development Economic Development ~ Class A Special Use Permit BUCKHORN EDD (map) $ Proposed Buckhorn Village Planned Development ® 1.14 Million s.f. Mixed Use Retail Development ® 134 ± acres ® Limited Multi-Family Residential LAND USE CONTEXT * Within Commercial Land Use since 1981 Designated urban transition growth area since 1981 ~ Within Economic Development District Land Use. since 1994 . a Within Water & Sewer Management Planning and Boundary Agreement since 2001 ~ Within Growth Management System Map since 2003 APPLICABLE ZONING REGULATIONS A Section 6.29 Development Standards and Processes for Economic Development (ED) Districts (i.e. the Economic Development District Design Manual), Article Seven (7) Planned Developments . ~ Article Eight (8) Special Use Permits, and Article Twenty (20) Amendments REVIEW PROCESS m Planned Development/Special Use Permit project requires action from the BOCC on: Rezoning request - Legislative decision FROM: I-851Buckhorn Road Economic Development (ED) District and/or Rural Residential One (R-1) TO: Buckhorn Village Planned Development Economic Development District (BVPD- ED). Planned Development___/ Special Use Permit application - Quasi judicial decision • Master Planned Mixed-use Project with Findings of Fact and Special Conditions NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS Legal advertisement in newspaper ~ Mailings to Property Owners within 500 feet of Property ~ Herein certified by Zoning Officer Posting of signs on Property Planned Development/Special Use Permit Application Outline ~ Land Use Management -Chapter 2 ~ Traffic/Access Management -Chapter 3 ~ Utilities/Public Services -Chapter 4 (~. ~~ r ~. 3 ~ ,1 ~ Open Space -Chapter 5 2 ~ Planned Development Ownership -Chapter 6 3 4 LAND USE MANAGEMENT - 2 5 `~ Development Districts 6 7 ~ District One: Larqe Retail Tenants 8 ®41 ± acres / 185,000 s.f. Floor Area 9 a District Two: Mixed Use Development 10 ®45 ± acres / 522,000 s.f. Floor Area 11 ~ _District Three• Larqe-scale Retail, Mixed Use 12 ®48 ± acres / 606,000 s.f. Floor area 13 14 TRAFFIC/ACCESS M;4NAGEMEN~f -3 . 15 ~ 3 Driveway entrances along Buckhorn Rd 16 ~ 2' Driveway~entrances along West.Ten Rd 17 $ I-85/I-40 bridge widening 18 ~ Access ramp widening, Auxiliary Lanes 14 ~ 4 Bus Stops, Internal and external 20 ~ Bicycle Lanes 21 o Pedestrian sidewalks 22 23 UTILITY/PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT - 4 24 o Proposal to upgrade existing infrastructure and construct major ofFsite district utility 25 extensions to support this project and adjacent properties including: 26 Water 27 m Sewer 28 d Stormwater/drainage 29 m Fire,EMS, Police Site 30 ~ Buckhorn Road Area Improvements (North and South of Interstate) 31 32 OPEN SPACE MANAGEMENT - 5 33 ~ Comprehensive Open Space Management Plan that includes: 34 ~ Preservation of existing woodlands 35 ~ Interior parking lot plantings 36 ~ Streetscape plantings 37 ~ Stream corridor preservation 38 ~ Aquifer recharge 39 40 PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT - 6 41 ~' Ensures long term consistency 42 ~ Adherence to Special Conditions 43 ~ Master Planning 44 BUCKHORN VILLAGE -Special Use Permit 45 ~ Findings of Fact -General and Specific on Multiple Issues ~ 46 o If findings are favorable there will be a Class A Special Use Permit (SUP) identifying ~ 47 conditions of approval 4 1 .The conditions/standards will be agreed to by both the County and the Applicant that will 2 govern the development of the project in perpetuity, 3 • Concurrent with the next public meeting 4 .These standards will include regulations designed to: 5 m Regulate permitted uses for the project, 6 ®Establish design standards and architectural requirements, 7 .Establish standards for open space management and upkeep, 8 .Establish timelines for the implementation of necessary infrastructure improvements 9 (i.e. utilities, transportation, etc) 10 11 BUCKHORN VILL/~GE -Design Standards and Solutions . 12 ' + The application demonstrates or indicates adherence approx. ninety (90) of the existing 13 standards in ED Design Manual, 14 ~ The applicant is proposing fourteen (14) Design Solutions that are `equal to or better than 15 what can be achieved through the strict adherence to the Design Manual' per Section 7.21.1 16 of the Zoning Ordinance. 17 With respect to these Design Solutions, staff has found at this time'that: 18 ®Design Solutions One (1), Eight (8), and Nine (9) are considered reasonable by staff as 19 presenting a standards that is equal to or exceeds elements of the Design Manual, 20 ~ Design Solutions Three (3), Four (4), Five (5), Six (6), Seven (7), Ten (10}, are reasonable 21 but ought to be conditioned on the approval of site-specific development plans, and 22 ®Design Solutions Two (2), Eleven (11), Twelve (12), Thirteen (13), and Fourteen (14) 23 require the submittal of additional information by the applicant before staff can make a 24 finding 25 These findings will be developed conclusively before the next public hearing. 26 27 History of Economic Development Planning in Orange Gounty 28 1975 - "Growth Options for Orange County" 29 ~ 125 citizens held a 2-day conference to map out a strategy 30 • 1981 -Land Use Element and Map of Orange County Comprehensive Plan 31 4 Goal Five -Growth 32 ~ Goal Six -Economic Develapment 33 • 1982 - "Policy Memorandum on Recommendations for Economic Development in Orange 34 County" 35 4 Dr. Ed Bergman led an effort to compile information and make recommendations 36 1988 - "Preliminary Economic Development Study" 37 a Sarah Rubin prepared 3 reports to start the strategic planning process 38 • 1989 - "Orange County Tomorrow" Economic Development Strategic Plan 39 ~ A 33-citizen Executive Committee prepares a plan which wins NACo awards and 40 directs the EDC work plan 41 • 1994 -Orange County Economic Development District Design Manual 42 ¢ Approved Process and Design 43 • 1995 -The Strategic Plan Update Begins 44 2001 -Economic Development District Hillsborough Area Amendments 45 2005 -Economic Development Commission Strategic Plan 46 • 2008 -Comprehensive Plan Update including a New Economic. Development Element ~\ 5 ~l 2 Gross Retail Sales by County (graph) 3 4 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 5 CONDITIONS (Regional): " 6 Second highest per capita incomes 7 Highest per capita retail sales dollars spent 8 53% of retail dollars are spent outside of the county 9 10 e RESULTS 11 Residents shop and drive outside of the county to meet their retail demands 12 Loss of substantial Orange County sales tax revenue 13 Difficult to `Shop Orange' 14 • 15 Expenditures on Retail•Goods (graph) 16 17 ~ Retail Dollar `Leakage' (STRIPED) Ig Spent by County Residents in Same County (DARK BLUE) 19 =Purchases by Non-County Residents (LIGHT BLUE) 20 21 Retail Sales and Income Comparisons (table) 22 23 Buckhorn Village 24 Potential Tax Benefits J25 a BUCKHORN VILLAGE L6 ~ 1.14 million s.f. commercial development 27 ~ $140 million property value and economic development multiplier 28 ~ $1.3 million in property tax value 29 • Currently commercial property tax is minimal 30 4 Positive Cost/Benefit Analysis ~' (See Study) 31 a $5+ Million in.Sales Tax Revenues 32 Will slow the leakage of more than 10 million in sales tax revenues currently flowing 33 outside the county 34 Benefits 35 ~ As many as 70% of Orange County residents surveyed said they shopped outside of the 36 county over the past 30 days* 3'7 d Buckhorn Village will provide: 3g ° Convenient opportunities to shap locally 39 ~ ° Reduced out of county trips and air pollution 40 ° Increased local job opportunities 41 ° Greater share of tax dollars remaining in County 4z 43 Tax Revenues vs. Expenditures 44 Orange County (graph} 45 ~ For every $1 of revenue from Residential uses, the County spends $1.31 to provide public 46 services to that sector 47 ~ Commercial uses generate 4 x's the revenue than they use in public services. 48 49 Buckhorn Village Location Analysis 50 o CURRENT CONDITIONS: s 9 6 1 ®Two large retail centers in Alamance and Durham County located along the interstate 2 approximately 40 miles apart ~~ 3 ®Buckhorn Village will be located half-way between these two developments 4 . RESULTS: 5 ®Drive time and distance to shopping will be reduced 6 ®Most customers will be driving less than 12 miles 7 ®More customers driving shorter distances 8 9 10 Population inside Mass service areas map 1 (map) 11 Distance to Current Retail Centers (map) 12 . 13 Sustainability 14 ®Sustainability is a balance of community goals. 15 o Public actions at times have different emphases around the intersection of the three goals. 16 17 RECOMMENDATIONS 18 ~ Receive the applications of Planned Development rezoning and Class A Special Use 19 Permit 20 + Receive the Zoning Officer's assessment reportJrecommendation on the applications 21 o Conduct a Public Hearing on the applications 22 o Adjourn the Joint Public Hearing (both boards) to a specific date ,time ,and 23 place 24 (See the Process Timeline Options) 25 • Refer to the Planning Board to allow additional written comments as appropriate prior to ~ C 26 the reconvening of the Joint Public Hearing. as decided. above. 27 28 29 Chair Jacobs asked for an update on the water and sewer analysis for the Buckhorn 30 Road area and the zoning outside of the EDD. He asked if this development would affect the 31 zoning outside of this area. 32 Craig Benedict said that there was a presentation on February 19~' given to the Board of 33 County Commissioners by the County Engineer on the Northern Buckhorn/Central Efland Sewer 34 Project. This design is complete .and going through the review process at the State level. This 35 will go out to bid later this year. The construction is a 12-month timeline. The Board asked the 36 .County Engineer and the Manager's office to be diligent in monitoring the timeframe on this 37 project. 38 Regarding the second question, Craig Benedict said that the EDD was designated on 39 the land use map, the zoning map, the water and sewer boundary map, and the growth 40 management map in the 90's and into the 2000'x. It is a very specific plan that limits economic 41 development-type activities to particular boundaries: The Orange County land use and zoning 42 maps have been specific over the years with these limitations, and staff has held to these 43 limitations. There will be no spillage of these areas over into adjacent areas. 44 ~ Craig Benedict.asked the applicants to state their names and tell the Clerk if they have 45 been sworn in. Staff will write down any questions that the public or boards have and will 46 accept written comments. 47 . 48 APPLICANTS: 49 Bill Hutchinson: I represent the applicant. My client has a presentation, so before we get to ~ SO the formalities associated with the quasi judicial part of it, I would respectfully request that you 7 • 1 allow a couple of people speak just to the rezoning request. With that said, I'd like to introduce ~2 Ms. Rosemary Waldorf. 3 4 Rosemary Waldorf: 1 have been sworn. We really appreciate this opportunity to present to 5 you the details of the proposal for this mixed-use development. Several members of our team 6 area going to be speaking to our proposal this evening as will planning, engineering, and other 7 design experts. We look forward to your questions. I'd like to begin by saying who we are and 8 how we got involved. We are an Orange County team. The partners in Buckhorn Associates 9 are three established local development groups. East/West Partners Management Company, 10 which is represented here by Roger Perry and Ben Perry is a developer of residential and 11 mixed-use projects. Examples include Meadowmont and East 54 in Chapel Hill, Cary Parkin 12 Cary, and Davis Park in Research Triangle Park. Tryon Investment Group is another part of 13 Buckhorn Associates, and it is owned and managed by George Horton. George has developed 14 residential and mixed-use projects in Orange County, including Meadowlands.and the Gateway 15 Center in Hillsborough. Montgomery Development is a commercial construction firm~that has 16 .built retail space in 4.5 states and is owned and managed by John Fugo, who is here this 17 evening. John also has been a partner in the design and construction of The Village Center in 18 Southern Village, and 1've worked with John for several years and am working with him on this 19 praject. ZO How did we get here? In March of 2007, the County's Economic Development Director, 21 Dianne Reid asked us to consider a destination retail project for the Buckhorn Road EDD. The 22 County had received indications from national destination retail companies that they were very 23 interested in this site. In response to Dianne's inquiry, our group researched the site and we 24 formed Buckhorn Associates, with the intent of creating a predominantly retail development, and 25 gained control of key pieces of property. That makes it sound a lot faster and easier than it was, ~ 26 but that's what we did. We've tried very hard to pursue what we perceive to be the County's 27 goals by proposing a praject that is in the EDD. The County went through a very careful public 28 process to establish its desire that development occur here. If successful, I think Buckhorn 29 Village. could potentially accomplish one of your economic development goals of adding $125 30 million worth of commercial space in Orange County and adding new private sector jobs. If 31 successful, we think that Buckhorn Village could provide many new shops and services to 32 Orange County citizens and would help stem that exodus of retail dollars. We'd like to thank 33 Craig Benedict and Mike Harvey for their professionalism. They've helped us get through what 34 is a difficult preparation process. We'd also like to thank the Town of Mebane. At their request, 35 we met with neighbors of the Clearview subdivision and members of the People for Progress. 36 It's important to state, I think, that the success of Buckhorn Village will depend on our ability to 37 attract a variety of stores and restaurants. We would work hard, if approved, to bring natioral, 38 regional, and local businesses to this center. I know that a lot of people are curious about 39 potential tenants, particularly a potential anchor tenant. There has been lots of speculation, but 40 at this time, we have nothing to report. Our leasing agents can't really conclude any 41 negotiations until we finish the review process with the County. We also view Buckhorn Village 42 as an opportunity for local businesses, and we will recruit existing local businesses that wish to 43 expand and new ones that are considering a store. Thanks again for your time, care, and 44 consideration. I'd like to introduce Jim Parker of Summit Consulting, which is a Hillsborough 45 consulting engineering firm that has taken primary responsibility for preparation of our 46 application. 47 48 Jirn Par6cer: I have been sworn in. I again also want to commend your Planning staff, which 49 has been very professional, tremendously helpful, and we could not be here without their 50 professional guidance. Summit has also worked closely with Scott Murray, who has sub- 51 consulted on this project,. and Scott will be up to speak in a few minutes. He's done a 8 tremendous amount of work on this project as well. The map before you and the slides before you show the three EDDs in the County -one on the eastern side, one on the central part, and (\ one on the western part of the County. As Craig had mentioned earlier, there has been no significant activity in this area since its inception. He showed some maps of the Buckhorn EDD. The PowerPoint presentation is shown below: BUCIKHORN VILLAGE Planned Development Economic Development (BUCKHORN VILLAGE PD-ED) Development Team: Buckhorn Road Associates, LbC (East West Partners Management Company, Inc., Montgomery Development Carolina Corp., and Tryon Investment Group, LLC) The purpose of Economic Development Districts is to provide locations for. a wide range of light industrial, distribution, flex space, office, service, retail, and residential uses." - Economic Development Districts Design Manual, Sec. 2.9 REZONING REQUEST . SUBJECT PROPERTY ® Located in the Southeast Quadrant of the Intersection of I - 85 North/ 40 East and Buckhorn Rd. ® Existing Location of Jockey Lot /Flea Market ® Road Frontage on Buckhorn Road, West Ten Road, and I-85!40 ® Approximately 130 Acres to be Rezoned ® Requesting Rezoning From EDD to BV-PD-ED JUSTIFICATION FOR REZONING PD Districts Shall Be Appropriately located with respect to: 1. Intended Functions 2. Pattern and Timing of Existing or Proposed Development in the Comprehensive Plan 3. Public & Private Facilities Existing or will be available by the time needed for the PD 4. Interstate Highways, Arterial, and Collector Streets 5. A site Suitable for Development in the Manner Proposed w/out Hazards to Persons or Property, on or off the tract 6. Permitting Unified Planning & Development --7.4to7.4.3 Buckhorn Village PD-ED is: 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 1. In an EDD that was Created for Intended /Proposed Uses and is Adjacent to a Commercial Node 2. Fully Compliant w/Orange Co. Comprehensive, Land Use Intensity, & Five (5) Year Strategic Plans, _...._ 3. Within AreaUnder Orange Co. Water & Sewer Management Planning Boundary Agreement. 4. Adjacent to 1-85140 &Buckhorn Rd. 5. Located in Area Adopted by Orange Co. as "Urbanizing" under the Growth Management System r r~ 9 1 6. Governed by Proposed Architectural Review Board and Design Elements to Ensure ALL '2 Development will be Consistent and Unified 3 4 JUSTIFICATION FOR REZONING 5 6 Development Plans to be Considered for Approval When Plans Do Not: 7 8 1. Meet Criteria for Site Plan Approval listed in Article 14.3 9 2. Address Agency Comments Solicited during the Site Plan Review Process; and/or 10 3. Adhere to the Design Standards applicable within EDD's as set forth in Article 6.29 of 11 the ordinance. 12 i iAnd which Propose a "Design Solution" equal to or better than the Design Manual. 13 -- 7.21 PD-ED 14 i~~!Due to `Master Plan' Concept and Nature of Project, Development Plans Can Nat: 15 16 1. Provide Specificity & Detail required in Article 14.3 17 2. Address Agency Comments because Comments are Limited Until further Detail is 18 provided, Which will come as the Planned Development transitions into Site Plans ~& Site 19 Development. 20 3. Adhere to ALL Design standards in the EDD Manual 21 22 ~~And have Proposed /Provided 14 "Design Solutions" from the Existing 90 and currently noted 23 as "Waivers/ Value Substitutes" to Allow for an More Efficient & Higher Quality End Product 24 25 Within a PD no use shall be permitted except pursuant to a Special Use Permit !26 authorized by the County Commissioners which shall specify the use or uses 27 authorized....." 28 - Orange Co. Zoning Ordinance, Sec 7.2.5 29 30 31 32 Biil Hutchins, Attorney representative of the applicant, continued at this point. 33 34 Bill Hutchins: If there's na objection, I'm going to call several witnesses from several 35 professional groups that have helped in this project, ask them to state their names and 36 .qualifications, and I'll encourage all of the witnesses to be as brief as you can. If there's no 37 objection, I'd like to call Mr, Tracy Parrott. 38 39 Tracy Parrott: I'm the Civil Site Manager for Summit Consulting in Hillsborough, and I'm a 40 licensed professional engineer in North Carolina and have roughly 19 years experience in civil 41 engineering and construction, both in the private and public sector. I've worked a number of 42 years with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. I am hear to speak about the 43 special use permit process. As indicated earlier by Mr. Benedict, there are two actions required 44 here, and I'm speaking to the special use permit process. He continued with the PowerPoint. 45 46 SPECIAL USE PERMIT 47 48 CENTRAL SPECIAL USE REQUIREMENTS 49 ~ 50 ~ llf Located Where Proposed and Developed According to Plans Submitted, the Special Use 51 Will: 10 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 SO 51 1. Maintain or Promote the Public Health, Safety and General Welfare 2. Maintain or Enhance the Value of Contiguous Property 3. Be in Harmony with the Area in which it is Located and in Compliance w/ Comprehensive Plan =- Special Uses 8.2.1 i iBuckhorn Village PD-ED, being located in the Buckhorn 1 I-85 EDD and being Developed by the Proposed Guidelines will: 1. Provide a Safe, Sustainable Development that also Encourages Pedestrian Movement contributing to the Health of the General Public as well as Allow for a Government Services Site to Aid in Safety Needs 2. Maintain or Enhance Adjacent Property Values through the Quality of the Overall Development and the Nature of Tenants Recruited 3. Comply w/ the Comprehensive Plan and All other Plans or Future Visions of Orange Co. for this Area. Will also set the Tone and Standard for Future Development that will Spur from BV-PD-ED. SPEGIFiC SPECIAL USE REQUIREIMEiVTS iBefore Issuance of Special Use Permit, Specific. Standards to Be Addressed Are the Method and Adequacy of 1. Provision of Water, Waste Water, and Solid Waste 2. Police, Fire, and Rescue Squad Protection 3. Vehicular Access to the Site and Traffic Conditions Around the Site 4. Other Use Specific Standards .are set forth in Section 8.8 -- Special Uses 8.2.4 a-d Geof Gledhill asked if Tracy Parrott confirmed that he was sworn. Mr. Parrott confirmed fhat he had been sworn in. i ~IThe Buckhorn Village PD-ED, has proposed and as shown on the following slides 1. A Phased Utility Plan to Water and Waste Water Services through the Town of Mebane. Solid Waste will be handled through Orange County and the Solid Waste Ordinance. 2. Fire or Rescue Station SITE may be located w/ in the Development and Police /Sheriff Patrols to be Coordinated Through the Town of Mebane and Orange County. 3. A Phased Traffic Improvement Plan to follow Recommendations of a Final DOT Approved Traffic Impact Analysis by Arcadis. 4. Other standards in Section 8.8.23 -Planned Developments defers to the .Requirements of Article 7 -Planned Developments. Mr. Hutchins introduced Bob Miller, who continued with the presentafion. ~( Bob (Miller: I have been sworn. I'm a licensed professional engineer in the State of North Carolina and have been an environmental consultant for 23 years, 19 of those years here in North Carolina. I have performed an environmental site assessment on the land in question. The site assessment was performed in accordance with the ASTM Standard E 1527-05, which ~ is the accepted industry standard for performing environmental assessments. 11 1 2 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Z7 28 30 31 The environmental assessment included several parts. One was the physical site inspection; one was a review of available computer databases for federal, state, ar~d local environmental regulations. In a phase I environmental assessment, you are looking to identify what are called recognized environmental conditions. These are defined as the presence of a hazardous substance such as petroleum, when conditions indicate an existing release, past release, or the material threat of release of these materials. In performing the environmental investigation, we found none of these things in the properly in question. We did find one recognized environmental condition on an adjacent property, which has an existing gasoline station at the intersection of Buckhorn Road and 1-85. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT I~]Phase I EA per ASTM Standard E 1527-05 PerFormed by GEL Engineering of NC, Inc. :i1 Off-Site Recognized Environmental Condition (REC) -Buckhorn Amoco Mr. Hutchins recalled Tracy Parrott, who continued with the presentation on the comprehensive use plan and land use plan. Tracy Parrott: I would like to add to the environmental assessment aspect of this, that in addition to the phase I assessment that was done; Orange County staff did assist with some determinations on the site of present streams and wetlands. There were two buffered streams that fall within the Neuse River Basin .identified on Site I parallel to I-85140, and the other stream comes from the corner of the property and extends back to the middle of the property. There was one wetland that was somewhere in this vicinity just off of the existing Jockey lot. COMPREHENSIVE USE PLAN '144 Million SF of Building Footprint i nNn i ~sF Ft7R DISTRICT 1 _ LAND USE APPROX. SF/Seats! BLDG. # Rooms/Units Retail Trade, multiple use 1-2 25,000 sf Retail Trade, free 1-2 160,000 sf standing building Financellnsurance/Real 0 0 Estate Services -Hotel 0 0 Services - Theater/Entertainment. 0 0 Center Services, free standing 0 0 building Residential, multi-family ~ 0 0 i nNn ~ ~~F FnR nISTRICT II -- - LAND USE APPROX. SF/Seats/ Retail Trade, multiple use BLDG. # RoomsiUnits Retail Trade, free 2-10 273,000 sf standing building 6-7 68,000 sf Financellnsurance/Real 1-2 4,000 sf Estate Y 12 Services - Hatei 1-3 200 rooms Services - Theater/Entertainment 1-2 500 seats Center . Services, free standing 2-3 8,000 sf building Residential,multi- 0 200 units family(above other use) 1 2 i aP~ln Last= FOR DISTRICT III LAND USE APPROX. - SF/Seats/ BLDG # Rooms/Units Retail Trade, multiple use 4-6 81,000 sf Retail Trade, free standing 2-8 338,000 sf building Finance/Insurance/Real 1-3 8,000 sf Estate ' Services -Hotel 0 0 'Services - Theater/Entertainment 1-2 500 seats Center Services, free standing 2-3 ~ .10,000 sf building Residential,multi- 1-6 200 units farnily(free standing Government - 1 TBD Police/FirelEmergency 3 4 ANfI I I.~,F PI AN Use. Equivalent to Conversion 30,000 sf Retail Factor Condos 200 units .0067 units/ sf retail Theatre 385 seats .0128 seats / sf retail Hotel 160 rooms .0053 rooms! sf retail r ( \, I\ 13 ,1 Tracy Parrott: It is fully the intent in setting up or identifying these conversion factors to 2 establish a process by which specific land uses can be identified for the site and the 3 conversions be determined for them such that the overall development and makeup of 4 Buckhorn Village will stay consistent with the accesses that are being considered for the site 5 that you will see in the transportation section. A traffic impact analysis has been performed with 6 those land uses. So, by having the conversion factors, it allows for potential changes in land 7 use to keep the development consistent with the analysis that's been done on the trafl'sc side. 8 9 Mr. Hutchins then introduced Scott Murray, who presented on the landscape, signage, and 10 general design of the project. 11 12 Scott Murray: I have been sworn. My role in the Buckhorn development is that of landscape 13 architect. I've been practicing landscape architecture for 22 years in the state of North Carolina. 14 I'm also accredited by the U. S. Green Building Council. l've been asked to speak with you on 15 the open space, buffer plan, and landscape standards proposed for Buckhorn Village. The area 16 that comprises Buckhorn Village is identified in the EDD district as primary development area 17 with a maximum of 70% impervious surface. That is to say that the remaining 30% would either 18 be landscape buffers, open space, and other landscape features or islands. While merely a 19 third of this area is in the perimeter buffers identified in the landscape plan on the wall, the 20 remaining two-thirds would be in various landscape areas throughout the site, and it is 21 anticipated that it would be generally pretty evenly distributed among the three districts. The 22 landscape and buffer plan standards included in the PD text illustrates the buffer areas as well 23 as the NTC buffer along Interstate 85. It is proposed that the buffer along Interstate 85, which is 24 100 feet in width, would be subject to one of our alternate design solutions that are proposed 25 here. We are proposing up to 60% of a vegetated area would be allowed to be cleared to ~ ?6 accommodate the stormwater pond facility that is anticipated for that area. If you notice on the 27 site, the actual grade falls right along the boundary line between the Interstate property and the 28 site. This pond is designed for water quality, infiltration, and also for retention for irrigation 29 needs. Both aquatic vegetation as well as specimen trees and other types of landscaping that 30 is conducive to that type of facility are' proposed in that area. This is an important component of 31 our stormwater quality program for Buckhorn Village. 32 The plan on the wall also illustrates the various landscape standards that have been 33 developed to respond to design issues that are unique to the proposed development. 34 Specifically, the entrance drives, parking lot landscaping, building perimeter landscaping, 35 screen-in and_service areas, and landscaping for streets along shop-front areas are proposed 36 and are detailed: 37 These landscape standards, along with the proposed maximum floor areas and 38 building heights, are planned as an alternate design solution to the intensity standards that are 39 identified in the EDD Design Manual. The existing intensity standards include the building 40 volume ratio (BVR), the landscape volume ratio (LVR), and also the site volume ratio (SVR). 41 While those are more exacting in their measurement of development bulk, they do not easily 42 lend themselves to measuring development intensity in this stage of master planning, mainly 43 because we don't have the specific locations - dumpsters, building heights, parking lot layouts, 44 things of that nature. These standards are not easily understood in marketplace, primarily 45 because of the complexity of the mathematics that it takes to quantify all of the various ratios. 46 Most importantly, the existing intensity standards do not ensure a more attractive, necessarily 47 more sustainable development. For these reasons, our alternate design solution proposed 48 establishes the maximum floor area for Buckhorn Village of 23 and a maximum building height 49 of six stories. These measures of intensity represent a common language in the marketplace. ! Sp The following four slides represent various development patterns. Once specific tenants 51 are decided upon and their specific needs emerge, these four development patterns will be ~~ 14 1 woven into a site plan that will be subject to the final site plan approval. Each of these 2 development patterns represents a specific use type or character, and they afl fulfill a distinct ' 3 purpose.. He pointed out each patfern -Main Street, Commons, Anchor, and Independent 4 Retail Establishments. 5 Bear in mind that all final site plans would be subject to the review and'approval of the 6 Planning Director and staff to ensure that the all standards are met. 7 The Buckhorn development proposes to utilize lighting that is in keeping with the 8 ~ standards established in.the EDD Design Manual. These include shielding as well as minimum 9 light levels necessary to protect the adjacent properties. We're also committed to working with 10 tenants in reducing lighting levels during non-business hours and utilizing more efficient, more 11 uniform light design patterns. 12 The standards for signage at Buckhorn describe the intent of those established in the 13 EDD Design Manual, while also balancing the needs of~retailers, recognizing that the EDD 14 focuses on some retail, but also manufacturing and light industrial. This is more geared towards 15 what the demands and needs are for major retailers. Our alternate design solution identifies 16 five different signage types that are specific to situations, keeping in mind the scale of the 17 surrounding roadways. The comprehensive signage plan displayed on the wall shows 2 18 locations for primary project identification. Two locations are ,shown, and one is an alternate. It 19 also shows locations for entry portals as well as direction signage within the project. 20 21 Mr. Hutchins called Tyson Graves to speak about transportation. 22 23 Tyson Graves: I have been sworn in. I'm a registered professional engineer in the state of 24 North Carolina, and have been doing traffic engineering for 18 years. 1 work with Arcadis. 25 Basically, the traffic impact study. was to be done at certain standards, and that means (' 26 that we need to achieve a level of service C for the development in order to keep the traffic 27 flowing. In order to do that, a widening would need to be done on the bridge at Buckhorn Road 28 over 1-85. There would need to be an auxiliary lane added from the weigh stations east of the 29 interchange all the way to Buckhorn Road's on-ramp, just as it is now on the other side of 1-85. 30 There would be three entrances to the development just south of the interchange. The first one 31 is a right in/right out, the second is the main entrance, which would be full access, and the third 32 one is a right out/left out. At West Ten Road, there would be another main entrance. Signals 33 would be added to the .ramps on both the north and south side of I-85, a signal would be added 34 to the main entrance, and at West Ten Road. 35 36 Bill Hutchins: At this time, I would like to enter into the record a letter from Robert Wilson, City 37 Manager of the City of Mebane, dated today, which provides some information as to the utility 38 service allocation, etc., .This letter is shown below. 39 40 February 25, 2008 41 42 Mr. Craig Benedict, Director of Planning 43 Orange County 44 306-F Revere Rd. 45 _ _ P. O: Box 8181 46 Hillsborough, N. C. 27278 47 48 Subject: Buckhorn Village 49 50 Dear Mr. Benedict: ~ 51 15 1 As requested, we are pleased to provide the following informatian in regard to the subject '2 project: 3 4 1. Utility Service Agreement between Mebane and Orange County S By Agreement dated March 1, 2004, the City of Mebane and Orange County entered 6 into a Utility Service Agreement providing for the extension of water and sewer service to 7 I-85/Buckhorn Rd. Economic Development District. The agreement indicates that water, 8 and sewer extensions will be made at the expense of Orange County with approvals by 9 the City of Mebane. The agreement has worked successfully with the recent extension 10 of water and sewer service to the new Gravelly School on West Ten Road. 11 12 2. .Allocation and treatment capacity 13 The City of Mebane has a 2.5 MGD wastewater treatment plant (with existing flows in 14 the 1.0 MGD range) and our plant has capacity available for approved users. Based on 15 our understanding of the Gravelly School project, the city approved a design flow of 16 100,000 gallons per day (average flaw) when the Gravelly pump station was designed 17 for that service area. The school is currently only using approximately 3,000 gallons per 18 day; therefore, the Gravelly pump station appears to have sufficient capacity available to 19 accommodate the first phase of the project. The project engineer has provided same 20 preliminary estimates that indicate the project may generate approximately 200,000 21 gallons per day at full project buildout; therefore, it appears that future upgrades will be 22 needed to the infrastructure to accept the buildout flaws. 23 24 In terms of water availability, the City has a 4.0 MGD allocation in the Graham/Mebane 25 water plant and our usage currently averages 1.1 MGD. The project engineer has ~?6 provided preliminary water usage required for fire flows, and it appears that some pipe 27 line extensions will be needed to accommodate these estimated fire flows. 28 29 3. Utility Extension Agreement 30 Based on the preliminary engineering information provided by the project engineer, it 31 appears that some utility extensions and system upgrades will be needed to serve this 32 project. The City of Mebane looks forward to working with Orange County in developing 33 a Utility Extension Agreement to address the infrastructure needs in this area should this 34 project move forward. 35 36 Should you have any questions concerning these issues, please contact me at 919-563-5901. 37 38 Sincerely, 39 40 Robert L. Wilson, City Manager 41 42 Bill Hutchins called Jim Parker to provide testimony regarding the utility plan. 43 44 Jim Parker: I'm with Summit Consulting, and I have been sworn. I'm a professional engineer 45 in North Carolina, with 25 years experience. Thirteen of those were with NCDOT. The 46 remainder has been private industry. I want to go back to the transportation plan. To piggyback 47 on what Tyson testified to, the internal circulation of the Buckhorn development is...he pointed 48 this out on the presentation. Again, sensitivity would be given to users and tenants. In relation 49 to the testimony you've heard from Scott in regards to the different areas and the different looks 50 and feel, those internal drives and roads may be somewhat flexible, but most importantly is all of S 1 the access points along Buckhorn Road and along West Ten Road that Tyson testified to will ~~ 16 1 remain consistent, therefore remaining consistent with the TIA that has been submitted. In 2 addition to that, there are bus drop-off locations identified inside the project, and we welcome (~ 3 input from committees or groups that are working with mass transit plans within the area to try 4 and coordinate with those strategic plans. 5 This is the main entrance here, this is a full access entrance -lefts in and out and rights 6 in and out - it is signalized, and it will be the main artery into the development.. From that point, 7 we would anticipate that there will be a left or right movement into District II or District III. 8 Certainly, the size of this main road in is more than .likely as depicted in the sections that are in 9 your report, afour-lane section with a median, bike lanes, and crossovers. At some point that 10 will probably be narrowed down to a two-lane facility as it reaches the back. We've shown a 11 proposed stub-out and connectivity to the next parcel there at the easternmost point of the 12 project. The drive just to the north of the main entrance at Buckhorn is a right inlright out. We 13 envision that there would be a divided median on Buckhorn Road for some distance from the 14 interchange. That right in/right out driveway will obviously only allow the outward movement to 15 the north or an inward to the site coming from the south. We anticipate connectivity or 16 alignment in some fashion with the Petro driveways, which we wi(I investigate as we go forward. 17 The southernmost entrance is, like Tyson indicated earlier, left outright out and potentially jusf a 18 right~in, no left. in. That also is probably athree-lane section, which is in your report. As far as 19 further circulation, we're just showing driveways and streets that somewhat traverse throughout 20 each district to provide access. Those are things that 1 alluded to earlier that may or may not be 21 exactly in the same location as the site plan. 22 23 UTILITY PLAN 24 25 Mr. Hutchins introduced the letter from the City of Mebane earlier. We met with the City 26 of Mebane as well as County staff and the County Engineer. As I alluded to earlier, the master t 27 plan for water and sewer infrastructure in this area, we are complying with the future buildout of 28 that infrastructure. We have a phased utility plan in respect to the potentially phased 29 development, which means that we will step into the full buildout of the water and sewer. We 30 will initially probably work off a temporary pump station for up to about 165-185,000 square feet. 31 That temporary pump station would pump to an outfall just west of Buckhorn Road. At some 32 point in time after that, upon development of the next stages, we would install the ten-inch 33 gravity main that crosses from the Buckhorn property cross-country to the Gravelly School 34 pump station. That is in compliance with the master plan that is referred to in the design 3S manual. That ten-inch line will be a gravity .line that will serve the entire buildout of Buckhorn 36 Village. The Gravelly pump station will have moderate upgrades to allow that station to facilitate 37 what we anticipate being 180,000 to 200,000 gallons per day of wastewater. That full capacity 38 will be pumped up an existing six-inch force main that is along West Ten Road at this point in 39 time, and will be further extended from West Ten/Buckhorn to a regional pump station that is 40 just west of the site on Bowman Road. The City of Mebane is, I believe, finishing that project 41 within the next month or so. It is a large regional pump station that would handle this and much 42 more capacity. Water line service for predominantly fire flow is the problem with the site. We 43 need to have probably around 2,500 gallons per minute for fire flow service. In discussion with 44 Daryl Russell and the City of Mebane, we will extend an approximately 16-inch water line from 45 the northern side of 1-85 coming from the Washington Street area, and it will be taken down 46 Buckhorn Road, crossing over 1-85, and connecting in to an existing 12-inch line just adjacent to 47 the site. That should provide sufficient fire flow and water capacity. 48 49 Mr. Hutchins called Roger Perry to provide Testimony on susfainability, site selection, etc. SO ~ - I 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 17 Roger Perry: I'm with East West Partners, I have been in Orange County approximately 25 years. I have been sworn in. He continued wifh the presenfation as shown below. SUSTAINABILITY m Site Selection & Design © Water Efficiency ® Energy and Atmosphere m Materials and Resources e Indoor Environmental C~uality Site Selection and Design ® Site Designated as Economic Development District m Previously Developed Site (flea market & farmed timber) ® Multi-Use Development Program reduces trips ® Provide Carpool/Vanpool Information (kiosk, bulletins, etc.) o Provide Bus Loading Stations and Bus Route Information © Comply with EPA and NPDES Standards for Pollutant Discharge (including bio-swales for infiltration, etc.) o Storm Water Retention for BOTH 1 yr. and 2yr. Design ® Plan for "Walkability" in Site Design Water Efficiency ® Plan for Water Efficient Landscaping ® Use ONLY Reclaimed Stormwater for Irrigation ® Use Low Flow Water Fixtures a Make available Reclaimed Stormwater for Tenants HVAC Needs Energy & Atmosphere ® Reducing Energy Needs by Use of Day-Lighting in Architectural Design a Engage in 2yr. Contract for 35% of Energy from Renewable Sources ® Work with Tenants on Requiring m Commissioning of Building Energy ® Enhanced Energy Performance Refrigerant Management ® Use High Reflective Roofing Materials in Architectural Design Materials & Resources ® Comply with Orange County Solid Waste Management to Provide a Waste Stream Audit o Provide easily Accessible Areas for Recycling & Waste Collection ® Include Individual Waste and Recycling Collection Points for Use by Patrons Work in Collaboration with Orange County in helping Tenants on Diverting Construction Waste Indoor Environmental Quality m Work with Tenants on Meeting Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS} Standards a Work with Tenants on the Use of LOW VOC Emitting Adhesives, Paints, and Other Construction Materials ~~ b ]. 8 1 o Other 2 Retain LEED Accredited Professional on Development Team 3 4 FINANGIAL IMPACT INFORMATION 5 Projected Annual Revenue to Orange County Upon Project Completion 6 7 $1.3 million in Ad Valorem Taxes 8 $100,000 in Lodging Fees 9 $6 Million in Retail Sales Taxes 10 11 12 Roger Perry: There are 84,000 cars going up and down this road (I-85) per day. This will be a 13 method for Orange County to, without degradation to the rest of the County, to capture those 14 people, bring them into an economic development district in Orange County, and cajole them 15 and convince them to spend money. In terms of social equity, we will probably create 16 somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000-1;500 jobs during the construction period, and then 17 ongoing permanent jobs within the community of approximately 1,500-2,000. 18 19 Bill Hutchins called George Horton to provide a summary of the project. zo 21 George Horton: I have been sworn in. I thank you again for your time and careful attention to 22 this presentation tonight. I just have a few remarks. We made every effort in our proposal to 23 respond to the economic development goals of Orange County. We believe those are 24 reasonable goals and we are pleased to be part of the public input process, helping to alter what 25 has historically been unfavorable ratios of residential to commercial properties in Orange 26 County. As you have heard tonight, we propose to go beyond Orange County's Economic 27 Development District standards, with a number of design solutions that would create a better 28 looking, better functioning, and more attractive mixed-use community. We want a walkable 29 retail and entertainment district with a pleasant and safe atmosphere both day and night. We 30 are committed to a project of exceptional quality in land planning, architecture, signage, 31 landscaping, and street-scaping. We are committed to the aggressive pursuit of sustainable 32 goals, sharing parking and other strategies to reduce impervious surfaces; water conservation 33 and reuse; use of daylighting; energy efficient designs; and green building materials. Finally, I 34 want to emphasize how positive I am about this development team. We have good chemistry 35 and complimentary ability. We all have been part of the landscape of Orange County for many, 36 many years. This is a powerful motivation for us to make Buckhorn Village a great destination 37 location, and a development that we will set high standards for future developments to come. 38 ~ . 39 Bill Hutchins: In closing, I hope and think that we have provided evidence sufficient to allow 40 the issuance of the SUP. 41 42 Craig Benedict said that the Gounty Commissioners could ask questions of the 43 applicants or staff, or turn it over to the public for comments and questions. 44 Chair Jacobs said that he consulted with the attorney about what is desirable for the 45 Board of County Commissioners to do now, since there are 39 people signed up to speak. 46 Geof Gledhill said that if the staff recommendation is followed, this matter will not be 47 concluded tonight, and thus the County Commissioners can hear public comment tonight and 48 then save the Board of County Commissioners' comments to the next meeting. The Board can 49 also ask questions of the' developer. ~~ ~~ 19 l The Board agreed to hear from the public and then reconvene at a later date for ~2 discussion. There will not be a recommendation from the Planning Board until the Board of 3 County Commissioners has had a chance to discuss this matter. 4 Bill Hutchins asked how they would know if the speakers are providing comments on the 5 SUP or on the legislative portion of this. Geof Gledhill said that each person could state their 6 intention. If they are providing comments on the legislative portion of this, then they will have to 7 be sworn in. 8 Chair Jacobs said that it would be easier to go ahead and swear in everyone that wants 9 to speak. 10 Bill Hutchins said that he would like to provide cross-examination of the witnesses on 11 the legislative portion. 12 13 Public Comment: . 14 Jack Adams: I have been sworn in. I am on the Board of Directors on the Efland Fire IS Department, and have been a volunteer firefighter for 24 years, and have served as Captain 16 and Assistant Chief of the department. I am now the Safety Officer. While the growth of new 17 business in the economic development zone in Efland balances out the County's tax load 18 between residential and businesses, the Efland Fire Department would like to make the 19 Commissioners aware of some of the ramifications of these decisions. In the past decade, the 20 City of Mebane has annexed the.majority of the businesses in the Efland Fire Tax District: The 21 results of this are that the fire department is being funded primarily by the fire tax levied on the 22 homeowners. So while these developments are benefiting the County's tax base, Efland . 23 residents will have to pay more taxes for fire protection. Since the businesses in the economic 24 development zone are in the City of Mebane, the response that Efland provides to these areas 25 is one engine and two volunteer firemen. We would like the County to be aware of this, and its 26 impact on including business through this area. The Efland Fire Department has had a contract 27 with the City of Mebane where we pay Mebane to respond to calls in our tax district. They 28 respond in these areas where they would have a quicker response time. The cost of this 29 contract has gone up every time it has been brought up for renewal. This puts a further strain 30 on our budget. We would like the opportunity to work with the County and Mebane on an 31 interlocal agreement that balances out local tax revenues and the County's need for economic 32 development. Our new substation near Buckhorn Road changes our response time and would 33 factor into these discussions. Efland has enjoyed a big surge in houses over the last decade 34 because it is such an affordable area. Many firefighters who work in municipalities elsewhere in 35 the County live in Efland. It is our hope that as the economic development zone grows, that the 36 Efland Fire Department can be included in~the process to avoid having the homeowners bear a 37 disproportionate amount of the burden in this growth. 38 39 Norman Umstead: 1 have been sworn in. 1 am the Pastor of Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist 40 Church located on Buckhorn Road, and (also Chair the People for Progress. First, I'd like to 41 say that we are happy to hear that the water and sewer project is gaining some attention again. 42 It certainly has been a long process and we are happy to hear that something is being done. 43 Secondly, I've heard from many citizens in our area who are happy about the idea of being able 44 to shop close to home. But our churches, we have two churches located on Buckhorn Road, 45 and we are not so happy or so thrilled about the idea of invading some of our churches' 46 properties -maybe siphoned away in order to accommodate the traffic that this particular 47 project is going to bring. One church in particular is situated very close to Buckhorn Road, and 48 the traffic analysis says that they are going to widen Buckhorn, but he didn't say how far up 49 Buckhorn, nor did he include Highway 70, or I didn`t hear Highway 70 mentioned, which is also 50 going to have an impact. Currently, we face some problems in our church on Sunday mornings 51 with our members who live in the Graham area or Mebane area who travel Interstate 85 going in ~~ 20 1 the northern direction, being able to get off the interstate and make a left turn onto Buckhorn 2 Road because of the existing traffic there already. And then we have people who are coming 3 south, going toward Burlington, who are getting off the interstate, coming up and turning around 4 in our church's parking lot, in order to get back in line to go back toward the flea market. And 5 we have had some of our members pause to be hit in the parking lot because some people are 6 in such a haste to get back in line. I think this project would be a benefit to Orange County, but 7 we are concerned about the churches and roads. 8 9 iVaola Fearrington: I have been sworn in. I.live at 710 Buckhorn Road. I'm a member of 10 Reople for Progress. The question that I have, at our last People for Progress meeting, we had 11 several questions, and I think you answered two of those in the presentations that were made 12 tonight. But there's one thing that, in addition to what Rev. Umstead has said, the other thing 13 that concerns us, in our area, the residents. are concerned about property taxes -tax values, 14 County tax increases, and the possibility of Mebane City taxes if they are annexed. 15 16 Chair Jacobs: Just so you know, the Northern Buckhorn/Central Efland Sewer project will go 17 to public hearing in this room on April 1St 18 19 David Permar; 1 have been sworn. I'm an attorney from Raleigh. I'm here representing 20 McLeod Oil Company. McLeod Oil Gompany operates the BP Buckhorn station right at the 21 southeast corner of this interchange. McLeod is headquartered in Mebane, it is a petroleum 22 marketing and distribution company, it has been in existence since the 1940's. The Thompkins 23 family has owned and operated it since the 1970's. It has approximately 70 employees. It 24 distributes and sells petroleum products to the retail public through approximately 30-40 outlets 25 in the central Piedmont area of North Carolina. They have owned and operated what I call the 26 Buckhorn BP station since the 1980's. It is one of McLeod's best outlets in terms of volume. 27 The retail gasoline business. is highly competitive. Price is an important factor. Higher volumes 28 mean lower margins and lower prices. But access in and out of a station is even more 29 important than price -ease of access in and ease of access out. At the Buckhorn BP, 99% of 30 the business comes right off the interstate and returns immediately to the interstate. All of those 31 customers must make a left turn into the Buckhorn BP. Currently, that left turn is very easily 32 accommodated, it's good access in and it's good access out. If, however, our customers and 33 the motoring public-lose the ability to make a left turn into that site, it will be devastating to the 34 Buckhorn BP business. It is no exaggeration to expect a loss of 50% in sales if that were to 35 occur.. Traffic impact analysis indicates that Buckhorn Road would need to be expanded to four 36 lanes, with a turn lane in the center. The second concern for us is whether or not additional 37 rights-of-way will need to be taken in order to accommodate the four lanes plus the turn lane. I 38 urge you not to take any additional right-of--way from the Buckhorn BP site. If very little 39 additional right-of--way being taken would require that the pump islands be moved, if the pump 40 ,islands are moved, the entire UST system must be replaced, and if you're going through all of 41 that, you're likely going to have to replace everything on the site. That becomes a very 42 expensive process. I'm really sure that the. developer or the Department of Transportation 43 doesn't want to take on that expense. I urge you to do two things. First, keep the current traffic 44 patterns on the~site and keep the left turn into the BP site open. Second, keep all of the 45 improvements iri the current right-af-way. If all of that cari be accomplished, we have no 46 objection to this proposed development. We look forward to working with the DOT, the 47 developer, and Orange County to see if we can accomplish all of our goals and let the project 48 move forward. 49 50 Michael Collins: He gave his handout to the Clerk. 1 have been sworn. Tonight I'm speaking 51 on behalf of the Intercity Visit Sustainability Workgroup. We are a group of concerned citizens ( ~. (~ 21 1 that grew out of meetings with progressive community groups and leaders during the Chamber '2 of Commerce's trip to Madison, WI in the fall of 2006. We have remained active since then in 3 an effort to find better ways to implement the concept of economic sustainability at the local. 4 level. 5 6 Our research and activities have convinced us that the key to a thriving and sustainable local 7 economy is to fiocus economic development efforts on supporting local business, 8 entrepreneurship, and a culture of "think local first." 9 10 This idea was recently captured by Senate candidate Jim Neal. Neal wrote about the 11 importance "...of creating not just jobs, but careers. Not just jobs, but jobs that pay good 12 wages. Not just jobs, but jobs that add value. In short, quality, sustairable jobs that are 13 grounded in entrepreneurship. North Carolina's future depends on building and enabling 14 `homegrown wealth': businesses formed by entrepreneurs in the State which create both lasting 15 economic wealth and employment opportunities." 16 17 What's true for the state is just as true for Orange County. In last week's issue of Newsweek, 18Daniel Gross reported on the extreme glut in retail space across the country. Numerous chains 19 and big-box retailers are closing hundreds of storefronts -with all the associated effects on 20 local employment. Even if this development is able to bring in large retailers from outside, the 21 jobs created are likely to be low-wage and ephemeral. Hardly a recipe for sustainability. 22 23 If that is the case, then the proposed development for the Buckhorn Road site is 180 in the 24 wrong direction. Here in Orange County, we are used to seeing our local governments lead, not 25 follow. We urge the County to insist on a project that is worthy of the future, not a blast from the 26 past. A mixed-use, transit-friendly development instead of just another strip mall. A home to 27 locally-based entrepreneurs and forward-thinkirig residents and business owners, not to 28 exploitative outside retailers. A project that makes a statement about where Orange County's 29 priorities lie, and resists the temptation to follow the retail gold which is, as James Carnahan 30 recently pointed out in the Chapel Hill News, more often than not, fool's Gold. 31 32 Last time I looked, the unemployment rate for Orange County was well below the state and 33 national average. This would seem to indicate that the issue to address regarding jobs in 34 Orange County is quality, not quantity. So, if this development does proceed, we propose the 35 following stipulations be attached to it: 36 1. That the county requires a commitment to bring in tenants who pay living wages and 37 whose employees will not create a burden for county services because of inadequate 3 g employee pay and/or benefits. 39 2. That the county include a `local first' mandate stipulating a specific and aggressive 40 level of local tenancy and ownership. 41 3. That the county establishes and provides incentives for local entrepreneurs to 42 encourage the rise of locally-owned businesses, for exmple in the form of a revolving 43 loan fund. 44 4. That the county seek, to the extent feasible, to have the development adhere to 45 Orange County's new Comprehensive Plan, or, failing that, to adhere to specific 46 principles of sustainability as agreed on in the near term by the county's boards and 47 commissions. 48 49 A project that does nothing but add to our environmental burden, increase traffic, and create 50 low-wage jobs, all in the name of sales tax revenues that evaporate in additional public service 51 costs, is not worth having in Orange County. If this project is just to be Orange County's version ~` ~~ 22 of our neighbors' shopping malls, then we urge you to reject this proposal and to join the growing number of citizens who understand that a sustainable economy is one moored in the (~ local community and one that starts from the perspective of "think local first." Remarks prepared by Mike Collins, 967-4119, mmcc.collins(a~mindspring.com Anthony Corbett: I do confirm that I have been sworn. I am a property owner of 104 Frazier Road in Mebane; N. C. 27302. I would like to have some questions addressed and answered hopefully at this meeting. If this application is approved, what are the expected and/or desired timeline and target. dates far start and completion of the proposed Buckhorn Village development and. the East mixed use development at the railroad track location? If the quasi- judicial application is approved and the existing residents experience the traffic patterns that would affect them adversely, who would pay for the traffic engineer? I have heard that a traffic engineer would have to be paid by the residents.. It was my understanding that the traffic engineer would have to be paid by a resident to survey the traffic, if the traffic was affecting the public adversely. So, who would have to pay for that? I also heard something in regards to the woodlands. What woodlands do you plan to preserve in the proposed Buckhorn Road phase I and subsequent commercial developments. There are woodlands located on the east side of Buckhorn Village. Could I get the specific locations of district I, II, and Ill? We had a map up there, but I did not see the specific locations of the proposed districts. Chair Jacobs: We can provide a map as part of the public record. The plan also has, ~as I recall, the instances regarding what woodlands are going to be protected. I think the Planning Director said that in order to provide credible evidence on the adverse impact of traffic, that one (a community or a person) has to hire a traffic engineer after the project is done, and then we have to work with the NCDOT. As far as the timeline, I don't know that anybody has addressed that, but the developer could just state what the timeline is projected for the different phases. John Fugo: I have been sworn and I am one of the development partners. The timeline as we have it now is groundbreaking mid-2010, and completion 4 %Z to 5 years later. That is about as specific as we can get at this time. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IS 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 Debra Elmore: 1 have been sworn in. It seems that numbers are very important to this committee and to everybody on the Planning Board and this organization. I just wanted to state that 1 have been living in Orange County 41 years, and have been living on the property that I now live on, which is at 1015 Buckhorn Road, a stone's throw from this development. This has not been a consideration because we are further down .the road from the development. I would have to go past the development to get to my home. I've lived in the home where I'm at right now for 41 years. It was passed down to me from my mother. and it was bought by my grandmother in 1938 from, ironically Orange County Board of Education. This development is going to be detrimental to my property. I know that my taxes are. going to go through the roof when this development goes in beside my property. Guess what, nobody's .going to want tv buy my land because it's right beside a mall. I just want this Commission to know that this township where we're located has always been like the stepchild of Orange County because we don't really belong to Mebane, we're in Orange County, so all of a sudden all of these developers are coming in and now we're the golden child of the .County because we live in the 1-85 corridor. This just upsets me. (want everyone on this committee to know that people's lives are going to change in that community, not just on that corner, but ones that live down the road, on the other side of the road, up the road, and they're all going to change. And I just want you to keep that in consideration when making these decisions. . ~. 23 ~' ;1 James Carnahan: I have been sworn in. I'm a resident of Carrboro and a designer. I'm going '2 to briefly talk about some more lengthy comments and analysis, and I'm going to give to you two 3 documents. The f rst one is an Op Ad written and endorsed by the Board of Directors of The 4 Village Project, anon-profit in Carrbor~, North Carolina. The remainder of material is entitled, 5 "Assessing Buckhorn Village in the Context of Global Warming." Basically, this is asking you ail 6 first to find out, either from staff or from the applicant what will be fihe vehicle miles traveled, 7 what will be the carbon emissions impact of this project. I think that is fairly easy to determine 8 with GIS and other data. The applicant estimates something like 46,000 daily trips in and out of 9 this development. We are being asked to consider and build this kind of a project that would be 10 primarily automobile dependent, because we don't have any public transportation down by I-85, 1.1 at a time when the message about global warming and climate change is becoming more and 12 more ominous. So, the bulk of the material that 1 have prepared here, first of all talks about 13 some of the consequences of global warming, and second, talks about the fact that many of 14 these consequences are accelerating to the extent that James Hanson, who is the NASA 15 scientist who first started talking about wanting to establish an upper limit for concentrations of 16 carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, recently wrote that the limit needs to be reduced to 350 parts 17 per million. We are already at 380 parts per million. We need to have this information A and B. 18 I think it is a concern that we're being asked to approve this based on a pretty outdated 19 comprehensive plan, very outdated guidelines for the economic development districts, and also 20 we have not completed the carbon inventory for the County much less established guidelines 21 and standards for achieving some kind of carbon reduction in the County. He then read from 22 something, as follows. Given the gravity of what farmer U. S. Vice President AI Gore calls the 23 Global Climate Emergency, and given that the County's planning ordinances do not now 24 effectively address the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions, approval of the Buckhorn Village ;- 25 application at this time is not in the County's interest. The accumulation of knowledge about 26 CO2 and climate change in conjunction with the significant increase in CO2 that Buckhorn 27 Village would produce indicates that this project would pose a threat to the health, safety, and 28 welfare to the people of Orange County and beyond." 29 30 Glendel Stephenson (Mayor of Mebane): I have been sworn in. I am here tonight to support 31 the proposal that was presented by your applicant concerning the property at the Buckhorn 32 location. About two and a half or three years ago, the officials of the City of Mebane and 33 Orange County met to talk about the need to supply water and sewer for the new Gravelly Hill 34 Middle School that needed to be built in western Orange County. The City agreed to do that, 35 and at that particular time, we also talked about what might take place over the next number of . 36 years with the properties bn both sides of the interstate, particularly, that property that was 37 occupied by the Jockey Lot. You asked us at that time if we could also make an allocation of 38 water and sewer in each of those properties and we agreed to do that. I think we gave you a 39 letter along that line. In the course of the conversation there, we said that this is not an open- 40 ended deal, but a limited amount of uses that you can get from the City of Mebane, but it was 41 far in excess of anything that's been described here tonight that would be needed on this 42 development. We also said in our conversation, and I'd like to emphasize a few things, that the 43 tenants going into that area would not be large users, and we're talking about industrial type 44 users, of either water or sewage. That they would provide good employment opportunities, and 45 we've heard something about the number of employees that might be involved here. That they 46 would be a good addition to the tax bases of both Orange County and Mebane. In addition to 47 that, that any development that takes place there should be to the benefit of the surrounding 48 neighborhood. We have been approached by a number of people who live along Buckhorn 49 about their septic tank problems and other things and asking that we provide some help, and S0 that was part of the conversation we had with the Orange County officials. Mebane has 51 provided water and sewage for Gravelly Hill and we are now ready to provide both of those ~~~ 24 1 services to the area. We are and we have been making an investment in the Southeast Pump 2 Station just off Mebane-Oaks Road.. I just spoke to our City Manager, and he tells me that it's 3 going to have a capacity of a million gallons, far larger than anything needed here. We 4 anticipate that this is going to be large enough to handle all future development between 5 Mebane-Oaks and Buckhorn Road, as it might development over the next 20 years or so. We 6 are in a position to do that, and we do have adequate facilities and adequate capacity to take 7 care of both of those needs. I think that this presentation is one of the most comprehensive that 8 I've ever heard in the time that I have served as Mayor. I would urge the committee, and I know 9 this is a protractile situation that you're into, and it's not going to be decided tonight; but I would 10 urge both of the committees to approve the request and that you do all you can to assist in the 11 implementation of the project. We feel in our direction that it's a good thing. I think it's going to 12 be good for the neighborhood, I think it's going to be good for both. communities and both 13 counties.' I look forward to being one of the customers in that part of the County. I offer my 14 support for the applicant tonight. 15 16 AI(an Rosen: I affirm that I have been sworn in. I want to start off by saying, generally 17 speaking, that I am definitely in favor of economic development. As a taxpayer in Orange 18 County since 1994, I think it's fair to say that the timeline that Craig Benedict presented with this 19 being an economic development district in 1994, a water and sewer agreement in 2001, I think 20 it's fair to say that this project is at least seven years too late, perhaps more than that. If it does 21 happen to go forward, I hope the County officials will be modest in their taking credit for it, 22 because it's really been a long time coming. I also think the. elected officials need to show some 23 leadership to build some bridges with the adjacent community members. I think it's good that 24 the applicant definitely has the roots, I think that's to their credit; t think the work that they have 25 done definitely speaks well of their efforts, probably better than the industry standard, although it 26 will be a challenge. I would like to mention tonight, that if it does go forward, I have particular 27 concerns with the application. One, with respect to the social equity dimension of sustainability. 28 You know, 1.14 million square feet of non-residential space and 200 residential units that seem 29 tome to be a pretty unsustainable ratio. I don't know if it is on this 140-acre parcel or adjacent 30 parcels, but speaking as a former member of the General Housing Advisory Board, I think 31 additional housing would be good and would certainly make a more sustainable project. Also, 32 to the extent that before the property ages out, commercially speaking, which a lot of 33 developments eventually~do, if climate change issues really impact our land use patterns, if the 34 cost of fuel really impacts our land use patterns, I think it should be incumbent upon the 35 applicant during this approval stage to submit sort of a plan B site plan, so that if the properly 36 needs to be re-zoned, due to sork of these outside factors, which really call for concentrated 37 development, there should be an alternative site plan that emphasizes a definite pedestrian- 38 friendly street grid; vertically mixed use buildings, including residential; the ability to infill the 39 currently planned parking lots with buildings in a way that integrate with apedestrian-friendly 40 street grid; the minimization of wide roads. Those are my concerns and I certainly think that as 41 the County moves forward with the comprehensive plan update. that there will be a synergistic 42 impact between this project and the comprehensive plan update, particularly with respect to 43 bringing the aspect of housing into the sustainability equation. Thank you. 44 45 Sally Goerner I have been sworn in. I'm an engineer and~a systems-theorist and~a 25=year 46 resident of Orange County. I'm also the Director of the Lntegral Science Institute, an 47 international scientific consulting firm. I just spent six years researching and writing a book on 48 the causes of long-term economic vitality and its ...implications for current economic development 49 theory and what the alternatives are. I can .shorten my speech to say that I agree 50 wholeheartedly with what Mike Collins said earlier. So a lot of what I will say is in support of 51 many of the kinds of things that he was talking about in terms of the benefits of developing local (` \- r~ 25 1 economies as opposed to importing big guys. I was deeply impressed by the quality of your ~ 2 presentation, particularly along the sustainability lines; (think his four suggestions or 3 modifications to encourage the local businesses would make a big difference. I previously 4 submitted a document that has a summary of my concerns, plus some of the evidence. So I S hope that will get into your packet. I would say that I see Buckhorn as an important issue 6 because it highlights the tough choices we're facing as how to best build long-term economic 7 vitality for all regions of Orange County and all its constituencies, bath rural and town. The 8 question for me is less how many shoppers are we -going to get into Orange County, but how 9 many kinds of things is Orange County going to be producing, what kind of services we're going 10 to be adding that we can sell to other people and exchange among ourselves. I am very 11 impressed with how thoughtfully this project has been developed and researched, but I also 12 have to say that, unfortunately, there is good reason to believe that this research is based on an 13 economic development model that is in the process of failing nationally and globally, and 14 certainly at locations across this country. I see it as a terrible mistake to try to apply it here, 15 especially in light of the increasing problems of peak oil, of drought, and of global warming. So, 16 the evidence, as I see it, suggests that Buckhorn Village is likely to do more economic harm 17 than good. Current economic theory places a huge emphasis on GDP growth and the large 18 corporation and development projects that increase it most. About 30 years ago this emphasis 19 spawned, an economic development strategy that has been irreverently named "The Big Game 20 Hunting Project." That is; using incentives fio lure big manufacturers, retailers, and other large 21 corporations, which officials hope will bring in jobs and tax revenues. Unfortunately, while this 22 strategy may increase tax revenues in the short-term, research shows that it erodes the 23 surrounding local economic networks, siphons away local dollars, and costs more in tax dollars 24 infrastructure overhead, increased pollution, and lost jobs than the local businesses that it 25 destroys. Unless we can make allowances for creating local enterprise networks I suspect that 126 Buckhorn is less an advantage than a detriment. 27 28 Bill Bunch: I have been sworn in. I'm here tonight as a resident of Orange County and also as 29 a Certified Public Accountant and a local business owner. I'm also Chair of the Chapel Hill- 30 Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. I'd like to applaud the Commissioners for your foresight in 31 putting an economic development district right beside a major transportation artery many years 32 ago. The projected sales tax revenue, $5 or $6 million, from this project will materially increase 33 the County sales tax base. And the projected $125 million in commercial property value will 34 materially increase the projected property tax revenue. These funds can be used to pay for 35 school teachers. There is. significant pressure from the two school boards for the County to fund 36 schools at a regional level, and fihisproject would bring more revenue that would fund a lot of 37 school teachers. We're using local developers, and I applaud Buckhorn Associates. The 38 project is being developed by some of the best and brightest developers in the area who are 39 sensitive to the culture and desires of the citizens; they have experience doing very high-quality 40 mixed-use projects. This isn't outside developers coming into town, these are our local Orange 41 County developers, and we support that. We encourage proactive collaboration with the~County 42 and also the local neighbors -with Efland, with Mebane, with the Town of Chapel Hill, with 43 Carrboro, with Hillsbarough, the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce, and the Chapel Hill- 44 Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. We think that if we work together and collaborate, we can 45 attract the type of local business that will be the right mix for our community. On behalf of the . 46 950 members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, we enthusiastically endorse 47 this project. 48 49 Jim Stock: I have been sworn in. I am a Carrboro resident. I own a small business that would 50 in all likelihood benefit financially from alarge-scale commercial development at Buckhorn, yet I 51 am almost appalled that the vision for the future of Orange County is a mall. This is not why we V 26 1 live in Orange County. We would live in Charlotte or Cary, and I just think that there is such a 2 lack of leadership that people are being led by their noses by developers who are telling us that 3 big box stores for the future. They're already the past, they're already failed, they're already 4 abandoned and-empty and scars on the landscape. I just think that, with more Ph. D's per 5 square foot than you can shake a stick at, this County ought to be able to come up with 6 something beneficial to the future. He said big boxes are part of history and he said this county 7 ought to come up with something that is beneficial for the future. f just don't think we're trying. I 8 think the sales tax revenue is great, but it`s going to cost a lot of money. (read in the paper 9 today, $314,000 for three firemen in Carrboro for three years. That's not trucks, that's not a 10 building, that's not equipment. And three firemen aren't going to do it; I believe the first 11 gentleman that spoke was a fireman. My father always told me, there's two kinds of wealth in 12 the world -what you can make and what you can dig out of the ground. This spends wealth 13 rather than produces wealth. It spends wealth on credit cards. We're already hopelessly 14 indebted in this country. It produces jobs that are low-wage. I don't want my child, cooking 15 burgers at Red Robin. With all the Ph. D's here, I know we can find something better. I'm trying 16 to think of ideas, I'm a .college dropout, I'm a small business guy, but I know that there's going to 17 be a lot of money, especially if the Democrats win, for green technologies. The people that 18 thought of RTP could have put a mall there. Why can't Orange County be known for something, 19 why can't we create a green technology center that trains new trades people that creates new 20 jobs and new technologies. I just think it's very short-sighted, and we have enough malls. 21 There's one 17 miles. that way and 20 miles that way. That's all the shopping I need to do, and I 22 just think it's short-sighted. We can say no to this, 1 think. I have not paid enough attention to 23 local politics, but I'm going to start counting who votes for what, and elections are close by. I 24 think that people are concerned about this as whether this is the direction we want fhe County to 25 go. ,,~ 26 27 ~-nita Badrock: I have been sworn in. I currently serve as the Chairman of the Economic 28 Development Committee for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, and I also serve 29 on the citizen's advisory committee for the Orange County Economic Development 30 Commission, which is-not taking a position tonight on this particular project. I would like to 3~1 come to you as a 30-year resident of Orange County, as a small business owner, who has 32 owned a small, local business in Orange County for a long time, and as a partial owner of 33 another business, to encourage you to support this project for a couple of reasons. First of all, I 34. know that for the last 15 years, we've had that economic development district identified through 35 a process that involved a~lot of public input, a lot of hearings around the area, and we came up 36 with three economic development districts. But I didn't know until I came tonight that we've 37 actually been looking at that particular site for economic development for 25 years. So we have 38 for a long time been waiting for the right. thing to go into this district. The current proposal 39 proposes 130 acres out of a 900-acre piece of land for development to fill what we have 40 identified as a gap in Orange County, which is retail services. The stuff that your own. staff 41 showed you tonight showed you clearly that we have retail leakage that's going into other 42 counties. Our residents are spending money elsewhere, and I'd like to see them spend that 43 money here, because I'd like to see those voluntary tax contributions go to give my son's 44 teachers a raise. And I'd like to see it used for Sheriff's Deputies and for emergency personnel, 45 and to provide and mental health services to residents who need it. It-is consistent with the - 46 County's Economic Development Strategic Plan in terms of promoting non-residential 47 development for the taxbase. It is part of the identified gap, as I mentioned earlier, and most 48 importantly, I think this project allows for the rest of that property to be considered for other uses 49 down the road. As a local business owner, I know that my business, when I've had a retail 50 outlet, has done better when good, high-quality regional and national retail has been around it. ~ 51 So, I think that the developers have stated that that's their goal. We're fortunate that these are 27 ~' ,1 not people that we've never seen or heard of before, these are people who live and work in 2 Orange County, and have done other developments in Orange County, and we see that in the 3 way that they lease and use their property that that's what they're trying to achieve is a mix of 4 national, loco{, and regional business owners. I hope that you will consider this as part of a S jurnpstart of an overall economic development strategy for Orange County. Thank you. 6 7 Ben Lloyd: I have been sworn in. I'm a longtime resident of Efland. In 1981 Ken Thompson 8 came to Orange County as the County Manager. He didn't have enough money to pay the bills 9 from July to December when the new tax money came in. He created what he referred to as an 10 11-paint plan, which was nothing more than to rob Peter to pay Paul. He kept moving money 11 around and kept us afloat. The following year, I became a member of that Board of County 12 Commissioners. We were in the same predicament. I became partially responsible to provide 13 for the needs of Orange County. Relative to this, I contacted the North Carolina Department of 14 Commerce. Three' of them visited with me, one being their chief environmentalist. I rode them 1S from Durham County to Alamance County, up and down 70, 85, came back and sat down and 16 they looked at me and told me that 1 didn't.need. to show them anything. "With this US 17 70/Southern Railway/Interstate 85 corridor, you have the most potential area in the state of . 18 North Carolina and any surrounding state that we're aware of to attract good, clean, high- 19 paying, low water using, non-polluting, economic growth." But due to the lack of interest and 20 cooperation from Orange County over the prior 15 years, when economic development interests 21 come to Raleigh looking at North Carolina, they had Orange County marked off the list. Twenty- 22 five years later, not one brick has been laid in this so-called potential corridor. As a result of 23 that, the property tax in Orange County has increased 524% in the past 20 years. In the last 19 24 years, we have increased property tax every year. Orange County is known widely as a no- 2S growth county. In October of last year, I was visited by a gentleman who's job is to promote ?6 economic development within the state of North Carolina. He had been on his job 27 approximately a year. He told me when he accepted that job, his peers told him, "Don't waste 28 your time in Orange County, they don't want anything." That's such a shame, when nearly half 29 of Orange County's workforce has to leave the County. They should both live and work in 30 Orange County, which would lower the traffic and lower the pollution that people complain about 31 so much. This Buckhorn Village proposal, I applaud. It's the first positive step in years relative 32 to providing the needs for the people in giving us tax relief. !support them 200%. With the 33 projected needs of Orange County and the school capital needs over the next ten years being in 34 excess of $300 million and the debt service payment on current projects exceeding $60 million, 3S something has to give somewhere. People are paying all they can pay. I would suggest that 36 this be project #1.:We need to continue to live without these outrageous property taxes. that we 37 now pay. Thank you. 38 39 Joan Jobsis: I have been sworn. I'm a resident of Orange County, I live in Efland on Bushy 40 Cook Road, approximately a mile and a quarter south of the proposed Buckhorn Village, and I 41 came to support the project that's proposed. I've been in my current home for the past 23 42 years, and am committed to this section of Orange County. I have been a past member of the 43 Orange County Planning Board for six years, and the Chairman of that board for one year. 44 Back in the 90's, I was part of the process that established the three economic development 4S districts,, one of which we're now talking about, and talking about converting it into another 46 version of that. To give you same frame of reference, back in the 90's, when we were 47 discussing this and basically promoting it, our thinking was that Orange Gounty needed. 48 economic development, it didn't have anything going in the way of economic development, and 49 the logical place was the I-85/I-40 corridor. It is still the logical place for economic development. SO I think we chose our geographical placement correctly at that time, and I think this is where we S 1 do need development in this County. I don't think there's any question that we need some kind ~~~ 28 1 of economic development, not just to become a county of houses. Eventually, we would be like 2 fihe elite Poughkeepsie area, where basically people have houses that they use for property 3 taxes, and they all commute down to New York City for their jobs. I don't think that is the future 4 for us. I think we do need, within our County, economic development. I think this is the logical 5 place to have it. I think the proposal is very solid, and I'm very pleased that they are local 6 developers that are planning ifi, and that they are planning to have local businesses included in 7 this. I do think it would provide us jobs and taxes and bring more revenue into the County. 8 Thank you. 9 10 Margaret Cannel[: I have been sworn in. I am the Director of the Hillsborough/Orange County 11 Chamber of Commerce. However, I'm not here to represent the Chamber of Commerce, I'm 12 here to represent myself. There's been a lot of things that people have said that I would like to 13 rebut one way or the other, but that's not my position. I do want to say that I think it's very 14 important that the economic development districts have been in existence for 14 years with 15 virtually no economic development going on. One of the maxims of economic development is, if 16 you have a property that does not have infrastructure, water and sewer, then you really have 17 nothing. l think that it's very important to provide that, and of course Orange County does not 18 have the ability to provide water and sewer, because that's not the business that Orange County 19 is in. The City of Mebane has offered through the work of these people to provide water and 20 sewer to a very large area, and I think that this project has the potential to jumpstart the 21 economic development district, and potentially to get some activity going there.. While retail is 22 not the highest and best use potentially of this project, and it would be really nice to have 23 something where Ph. D's could go to work, no one has come forward and said, "You know, I 24 think we'd like to put IBM out here." This is what has been presented to us. I think at is a great 25 use, and f say that not just because I'm a rabid shopper, but because I think that this is 26 something that the people of Orange County could really get behind. and potentially enjoy. 27 Some of the things that the project proposes are to have entertainment in addition to shopping, 28 restaurants. Yes, Southpoint is one of those places that you go to, but I was out there the other 29 day, I was' up there Saturday, and interestingly enough, I had to go to Southpoint to return some 30 items that I had bought at Alamance Crossing. So I drove through Orange County both ways to 31 do this shopping. And when I was out at Southpoint on a Saturday afternoon, it was a beautiful 32 day, and 1 had to park an entire parking lot away from the shopping center because it was 33 packed. Thase people, I would guess that a great number of them were not from Durham 34 County, they were from Orange County, they were Chatham County, and they were from Moore 3S County, Harnett County. But, if we have a facilifiy with destination shopping, we could capture 36 some of those dollars that are coming from other parts of the state. In addition, we could 37 capture those people to come back and visit the wonderful tourist attractions that we have here. 38 We already have over a million visifiors that come every year to visit Orange Gounty. If they 39 came and did some shopping; that would be great. These people are going to be driving down 40 I-40 and I-85 anyway, so perhaps we can capture some of their dollars while they're here. I do 41 have a question. too. Some of the documents that other speakers have made reference to, will 42 those be part of the public record as well? It was answered yes. 43 44 Karen Pratt Morris: 1 have been sworn in. I'm just speaking as a property owner, a mother, 45 and a grandmother. I live in Timberwood Trail, which is-off of West Ten Road; very close to 46 Gravelly Hill Middle School. One of my first and main concerns is safety. It is a proven fact 47 when malls go in, crimes go up. We're talking about firemen, how many policemen .are you 48 going to put on the payroll, and will they protect our properties and properties away from the 49 mall. Number two, one of the main. places throughout the country far child abduction are 50 amusement parks, malls, .and country roads now, just within the last two or three years those 51 kinds of abductions have increased. So you are building a mall right next to a middle school in ~. 29 1 the country. So please think about that. ~ Drainage, we have multiple concerns about drainage. '2 We have a flow going down West Ten Road, and you ask for legal and whatever examples, my 3 example would be Crabtree Ma(I back when we had rain. Every time there was rain, they had 4 flooding and drainage issues, and that may impact us. The other thing, we moved to where we 5 are because we liked country life, we like clean, green living. All of us in our neighborhood have 6 pets, we do organic farming, organic bee-keeping. This will all be threatened by the pollution 7 and traffic, and I still have to talk about the traffic coming off of Buckhorn Road, and we're going 8 to widen it. I mean, we have to be in a dreamland to think that people are not going to take side 9 roads like West Ten all the way down past where we live. We're just going to have traffic, 10 pollution, and have you thought about, back to Gravelly Hill Middle School, the affect of this 11 traffic in December and November and shopping times on school bus trafEc. My last thing, so 12 many people have already covered, again, so many intelligent people here, and this is all we 13 can think of is a mall. I can guarantee you that all of us that are driving out of the County are 14 not going to stay here to work, because we will not be working in the mall for minimum wage. 15 The last thing is, my husband and I used to live in Pittsburgh, and I talk about the shortcuts. 16 The one thing they did in the mall that was abandoned, it grew up and was a beautiful mall, and 17 literally five to six years later, it was abandoned and an eyesore. homebody went in there and 1$ redid this mall, and some of things they did would have music festivals. And the other thing I 19 thought -make this a green area, make it a park where people can come in and play volleyball, 20 ping-pong tournaments -things like that where you have other areas where they can still come 21 in, still spend money. A theater, for heaven's sake, maybe Carrboro and Chapel Hill do, but we 22 don't. I'm not talking about movies; I'm talking about a theater with plays, both outdoor and 23 indoor. There are thousands of good small businesses coming in here. Try to find other 24 businesses that will develop in this area in a green atmosphere, but not a mall. And don't ruin 25 our homes, please. 26 27 Becky Bolinger: I have been sworn in. I'm a resident of Efland. I"m Karen's neighbor. Mostly 28 what I wrote down has already been said, but I just wanted to be on record that I do not think 29 this would be very good for our community. I don't think it's the right direction to go when we're 30 in a big global warming crisis. Mike Collins, I think everything he said is something you should 31 really consider. 32 33 Mike Swaim: I have been sworn. I live a mile from the proposed development site. What I 34 would like to do tonight is propose an idea for the developers and for the County 35 Commissioners. 1 apologize to you in advance if this idea is something you're fairly sick of 36 hearing about. Asa 20-year. resident of Orange County, the general Buckhorn area, I've been 37 hearing proposals for this region west of Orange for quite some time. Initially, l was extremely 38 dismayed that one of the plans was to turn the Jockey lot into a giant retail center. It seems that 39 that would just increase congestion in an area that locals have been avoiding on weekends for a 40 long time, due to flea market trafFic. Over the years, l've watched Hillsborough and Mebane 41 struggle with decisions regarding big box retailers and ever-expanding retail sprawl, with Efland 42 caught right in between. It seems to me that simply attempting to halt proposed retail space 43 expansion rarely works well. If anything, in this case, it might just move the project down the 44 interstate a few exits in neighboring Alamance, meaning that once again, Orange could see no 45 benefits but still experience the negative consequences of increased trafec. So, I have an idea 46 on how this area might be developed in a manner that would benefit residents in both Orange 47 and Alamance Counties and still meet the larger goals of The Village Project and distinctly 48 different than Buckhorn Village. What Buckhorn Village needs is a regional farmers' market, a 49 regularly daily schedule coupled with a restaurant featuring locally-grown products and an art 50 consignment gallery featuring works by local artists and craftspeople. There are a number of 51 reasons why Buckhorn exchange area is neatly suited to a regional farmers' market. Both the ~~ ,~~ 30 1 Raleigh and Piedmont NCDA farmers' markets are currently at capacity, both for growers and 2 for buyers. Buckhorn is sited between these two giant markets, drawing people from 3 Greensboro to Durham, actually decreasing the amount of driving necessary for residents of 4 Orange, Alamance, Caswell, and Person Counties, which would shop or sell there. While the 5 individual farmers' markets in Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Durham are quite successful on the 6 weekends and selective evenings in season, there is no local daily market or private outlet such 7 as Weaver Street or Whole Foods for growers to sell wholesale. These .individual farmers' 8 markets cannot keep up with current demand, either from consumers or from growers that 9 would like to sell there. A regional farmers' market/restaurant/artist gallery complex at Buckhorn 10 would not only draw more people to Buckhorn Village, but would encourage Buckhorn Village 11 patrons to spend some money at the vendors that would be more likely to keep that money 12 local. A farmers' .market retail space for locally-produced items would make this project a whole 13 lot more palatable to many of us that live in the area. 14 15 Robin Taylor-Half: I have been sworn in. My family has actually lived in this County at least 16 five generations. ('m a taxpayer, and I represent the Efland heirs, which Efland was' named 17 after. They are very excited that this project has been proposed. They have 180 acres in the 18 EDD, and they also have another 80 acres that is a proposed commercial development. This 19 was from the water and sewer that is moving in the area and just growth and money that would 20 be coming to the County. So they wanted me to speak and say that they are very much in favor 21 of this project. Martha Brown, I represent her too, she also is in favor of the project. 22 23 Tom (3'Dwyer: 1 have been sworn in. I serve on the Orange County Commission for the 24 Environment, I'm a member of the U. S. Green Building Council, and I am an avid believer in 25 principles of sustainabi(ity, where the economic, environmental, and social impacts of our 26 actions are measured for our future. As a design builder and small developer, I am a committed 27 participant in an architecture program called the 2030 initiative, where everything 1 build is 50% 28 energy efficient. I'm finding we can do it. This is why I personally believe, this is an aside, I 29 personally believe that sustainability should not only be a policy, but it should be institutionalized 30 for the purpose of coordinating and implementing adopted goals with developments such as 31 these. More on this subject hopefully in the future. Regarding the Commission for the 32 Environment's letter that you all have a copy of, 1'll give some highlights about it. The proposed 33 Buckhorn development would be located in the Seven-Mile Creek area of the Upper Eno 34 Protected Watershed. Now, we can reduce the environmental impact of a large complex such 35 as this by streamlining traffic flow, reducing vehicle miles traveled, reducing wastes through less 36 generation and recycling, and encourage water and energy efficiencies and low-impact design 37 principles. In our advisory role to the Board of Commissioners on environmental matters, the 38 Commission recommends the following: 39 Plan and build according to the LEED Neighborhood Development Standard, at a minimum 40 using the current LEED ND pilot standards. Right now, they're not accepting anymore 41 programs, but one of the developers here is participating in East 54, and they're using LEED ND 42 guidelines for that development. I feel .it's important that there should be a set of standards that 43 you ask them to follow. There is a historical tract of developers and builders at UNC and other 44 places, I'm not accusing these .people of anything, they are doing good things, but sometimes 45 what people say they're going to do, does .not verify. So commissioning verification of the things 46 that are standards can be asked of you to these developers. So, what we're recommending is 47 the LEED ND pilot standards for the revised adopted standard plan for release in 2009. You 48 have an attachment of the guidelines and frequently asked questions about what that is about. 49 These standards address things in transportation, bicycle use, bicycle storage for commercial 50 and residential, reduction of water. Commission for the Environment is recommending a 30% 51 less use of water than the water use baseline calculated for the building after meeting the i~ 31 ~' 1 Energy Policy Act of 1992 fixture performance requirements. This is an obtainable goal, and if 2 they're asked to do this, you'll find that it's possible. It's being done in State buildings right now. 3 And 30% energy efficient. 4 5 There's more for you to read in the submittal, but this is the gist. Thank you. : . 6 7 Ruffin Slater: I have been sworn. I'm the General-Manager of Weaver Street Market, we have 8 grocery stores in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and soon we'll have one in Hillsborough. I've been 9 involved in economic development in the County for the last 20 years as a businessperson. I've 10 been on various boards and commissions, including serving as the Chair of the Economic 11 Development Commission, where {became familiar with retail leakage and other economic 12 development issues. While this project may provide solutions to some economic development 13 challenges, it may well exacerbate others. I urge you to consider the project's net economic 14 impact and whether or not it will truly be beneficial for our local economy. While it's likely a 15 development of this size will attract some stores that we don't have in the County, it's equally 16 likely it will house other businesses that.are in direct competition to our traditional, downtown. 17 Southpoint has. had a dramatic negative impact on our downtown businesses; not just retail, but 18 restaurant and entertainment businesses. Another center of this size on the other side of our 19 downtowns will further erode the fortunes of our downtown businesses, especially in 20 Hillsborough and Mebane. This development is specifically sited to attract national chains, 21 which, although they pay the same taxes as local businesses, beyond that, have dramatically 22 different economic impact. About 85 cents of every dollar spent in the national chain leaves our 23 community, and the 15 cents that stays typically goes to pay low-wage jobs. By contrast, about 24 50 cents of every dollar spent in a local business stays in the community and supports other 25 local businesses and typically pays higher wages. I urge you to consider the true economic 26 impact of this project, the impact not just on new business, but the impact on existing business, 27 and also to consider the difference in the economic impact on national chains and local 28 businesses. . 29 30 Janine Zanin: I'm a property. owner on Timberwood Trail in Efland. I was sworn. I have not 31 yet made up my mind about how I feel about this development. I came here tonight to learn 32 more about the developers' intent and just to get some specifics. I am leaving here with some 33 questions that I'd like to ask, and also some concerns that I didn't have before I came. There's 34 been a lot of talk about two different ideas, one is keeping Orange County dollars in Orange 35 County and getting Orange County residents to stay at home for their shopping. On the 36 surface, this sounds like a fabulous idea. I question whether this specific location is appropriate 37 for that goal. We just built some new.soccer fields next to the middle school, and all I've been 3$ reading in the paper is about how the folks in Chapel Hill don't want to drive to those soccer 39 fields. f'm not really convinced that they're going to want to come to the Buckhorn Village 40 shopping area. I do think that one thing that might encourage that travel is if this was a unique, 41 green, local development. I haven't heard who's going to be there, 1 haven't heard enough 42 details to really make up my own mind whether I think that's what it's going to be. I did move 43 and buy property though in Orange County because I trust the leaders of Orange County more 44 than surrounding counties to base their decisions on priorities of Orange County residents, and I 45 think you've heard some of them here today. Those are transportation issues, the environment, 46 and keeping local folks in good business. One thing {heard that concerned me today, that I 47 hope is not the goal of the developers, is that one of the great things about developing this 48 particular location is that they will access the 84,000 cars a day that travel through the area 49 without degradation to the rest of Orange County. Does this mean that they're going to be 50 degrading the place where I live? And I certainly hope that's not the case and that it's not the 51 intention of the developers. That was one of my concerns, a lot of what's been in the paper and ~~ ~`~/ 32 1 a lot of what was presented tonight was designed with catch phrases and key wards to make 2 me feel good about sustainability~ and jobs and things like that, but that ane phrase is the one. (`~ 3 that gave me the most pause. Some specifics, I'm concerned about commercial traffic, 4 obviously there's going to be tractor-trailers to load these stores and the products they're going 5 to sell. Where will they be accessing the property? Will it be restricted to the interstate 6 exchange, or will this traffic be coming down West Ten Road past the middle school that my son 7 is one day going to be attending? I'm somewhat concerned about the traffic on West Ten Road. 8 I'm also concerned about noise, air, and light pollution coming from the highway. Their plan 9 shows that they're basically going to take down most of the trees in the area, and those trees, in 10 addition to helping with air pollution also provide a lat of noise reduction to those of us who five 11 on that side of the highway, and I'd like that to be taken into consideration, particularly since the 12 economic development district marches all the way down West Ten basically to the middle 13 school, providing a great deal of buffer of sound and noise and light as well to those of us who 14 live south of it. Thank you. 15 16 Mark Zimmerman: I have been sworn. In the past few weeks, there's been an awful lot of ~ . 17 discussion about revenue, and I've been involved in a lot of that discussion with you all. But, 18 through all of that, there's actually one thing that stuck in my mind that wasn't about the issues 19 that we're talking with taxes, it's the parallel process that's going on with your CIP ten-year plan. 20 It's the one thing I kind of think back on an awful .lot. Pages and pages, dozens and dozens of 21 projects that will improve the quality of life here -schools and parks, social services. Despite 22 our tight property taxes,. we don't have enough money for those .projects, and I know you're 23 keenly aware of that. My question really is, if we're going to accomplish those'goals, where are 24 we going to get that money? Here we have a group of people who have stepped up and said 25 that they can help us with that. According to their projections, upon full buildout, this project will 26 generate about $6 million a year in sales tax revenue. To put that in context, if my memory (\. 27 serves me correctly, that's about 20-25% of the sales tax we take in in this County right now. 28 It's not often that someone steps up and gives you a 25% raise. If you combine that with the 29 million dollars plus in commercial property taxes that are going to come with this project, at $7 30 million a year, that equals the two revenue choices that we've ail been talking about for the past 31 couple of weeks. With that having.. been said, it's not really the money itself that's important, but 32 what that money will go to. You just have to go back to your CIP document to look at those 33 projects -all of thane services that will help citizens across Orange County, and at the same 34 time provide more diversity to our tax base to alleviate this relentless pressure on our property 35 taxes for residential property. Thank you very much. 36 37 Bob Ward: I have been sworn. I've been a resident here for 60 years, and my family goes 38 back prior to the Civil War. Orange County EDDs have been. sitting for almost 15 years. The 39 only tangible development we've seen at this point is a soon to be open branch of the 40 community college,,and we're proud of that. The Buckhorn Village presents an opportunity to 41 develop awell-planned, coordinated, substantial improvement to that area of the County. The 42 commercial tax base is in desperate need of being expanded. Commercial property equals 43 money for schools and public safety. We've heard how commercial development pays for itself 44 with a 4:1 ration, where residential development actually has a negative cost factor. There are 45 :many residential units that are proposed ar planned now iri'vvestern Orange County jurisdiction 46 in the Town ofi Mebane. That is going impact our schools and our public safety. Most 47 importantly, the track record of the people involved in this development should give us 48 confidence that this project will be done in a way that we can all be proud. 49 SO (~_ 33 1 Bryant Colson: I have been duly sworn in. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to talk to ~2 you tonight. I'd also like to applaud the residents that are here at this haur and who were here 3 earlier for exercising an important and cherished civic responsibility of being here. I am 4 currently the Economic Development Commission Chair. The EDC is not at this time taking a 5 position on the issues tonight, we have a meeting on Thursday at which time we wil{ review and 6 advise. At that meeting, I plan to let our commissioners know or remind them of our purpose, 7 that is to make Orange County a smart, innovative place, a great place in which to live. We . 8 encourage private and public investments to provide jobs for the County residents and to 9 increase the non-residential fax base. Through these investments, we enhance the financial 10 well-being and quality of life of County residents, and the ability of the local government to 11 provide high-quality services. 1 know you guys know that that's the EDC mission on the Orange 12 County, North Carolina website. I also plan to advise them of all the calls and meetings that I've 13 had with individuals in Orange County where the common concern with these individuals was 14 the residential tax burden that Orange County residents are feeling, and the need for 1S commercial development to offset the tax base. I personally am in support of this controlled, 16 sustainable economic development at Buckhorn Village. It is my hope that, with developments 17 like this, it would draw us one step closer to the County's Five-Year Strategic Development 18 Plan, and that is 5,000 new private sector jobs and adding about $125 million in new 19 commercial property by June 2010. I'm advising them of all of this information in hopes that we 20 do not let opportunities like this slide by and continue to have our hands tied, and once again let 21 economic development pass us by. 22 23 Karen Bley: I have .been sworn in. There are a few things that I'm really confused about. I've 24 been a resident in Orange County for almost 40 years. I've lived on Buckhorn Road, and now I 25 live on Bradshaw Quarry Road, which is right down the road from Buckhorn. I'm really ??6 confused, I live in Mebane, but I think there's a drought going on in Mebane right now. I keep 27 hearing about all this wet water that's going to be coming from Mebane, and I don't understand 28 that, how does that work, where is this water. Why isn't Raleigh, why isn't Durham, why aren't 29 all of these other communities that are starving for water saying, "Ok, Mebane, send us the 30 water." It just doesn't make any sense to me. The other thing that really doesn't make any 31 sense to me at all is the transportation plan that was presented tonight talked about expanding 32 the bridge on I-85 and 1-40 and the left turn into the BP station and all of that, there was no talk 33 at all about all the roads that leave from Carrboro, Saxapahaw; Chapel Hill up to this 34 development. If I live in Garrboro, I'm going to be going down through Calvander, Dairyland 35 Road, up Orange Grove Road. All of those roads are. so overburdened right now. What's the 36 plan'for all of the roads that are leading into the Buckhorn Village? What really scares me is 37 that anytime there's a development that's called "village", it really makes me scared because it's. 38 not a village. I think there needs to be a lot of answers and a lot more discussion along these 39 lines. 40 41 Heather Main: I have been sworn. I live on Buckhorn Road, on that part that Karen's talking 42 about. I'm also concerned about the transportation issues. She asked Tyson Graves about the 43 southern end of Buckhorn Road. 44 . 45 -Tyson Graves: I have been sworn in. Basically, the southern end doesn't generate as much 46 traffic as the northern because of the highway. That's where most of the development trafl=tc 47 would be coming from. Therefore, there are some improvements for West Ten and Buckhorn, 48 but otherwise, it doesn't need any other improvements. 49 50 Heather Main: I've put together a petition, which people have signed. She read this petition, 51 as follows: ~~ v\ 34 1 Concerned Citizens of Orange .County Responding to the Buckhorn Village Project in Northern 2 ~ Orange County 3 4 As concerned citizens of northern Orange County in the district surrounding the proposed 5 Buckhorn Village development, we would like to petition the Board of County Commissioners of 6 Orange County to consider the following issues: 7 8 1) We do not with to see irresponsible and environmentally degrading development in 9 this area. New development should contain "green buildings and landscape." 10 Natural resources degradation is a concern with large-scale development in Northern 11 Orange County. 12 2) As stewards of our county, we ask the Commissioners to consider improving the 13 Efland and Northern Orange County communities by requiring the developers of the 14 Buckhorn Village plan to include enhancements to the community by donating the 15 following at or near the "Village" complex: 16 a. A community recreational sports complex for youth of Northern Orange 17 County.. This would include soccer fields, baseball fields; a playground, 18 outdoor and indoor pool facilities and an indoor gym and basketball courts. 19 This would be free to youth in the community. 20 b. Within this complex, include a Senior Center, which would have a small gym 21~ complex and meeting areas. 22 3) Donate a parcel of land and build a charter school for Orange County. Please 23 preserve our land and resources and enhance our communities when considering 24 development of Northern Orange County. 25 26 27 Aaron Nelson: I serve as the present CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of 28 Commerce. I had planned to put something on the overhead, but it seems like that has long 29 since passed. So, let me just give you my comments and I'll turn in the slides. First, I just want 30 to say congratulations. For almost. my entire life, you have wanted that section developed. You 31 have three times reconfirmed your interest in that. You dispatched your Economic Development 32 Director to find somebody who could do that. She didn't have to go far and all over the place. 33 Most communities. have to go outside before they can find someone to develop a project like 34 this. She was able to go to people with tried and true records in our community. So I wanted to 35 say congratulations, you did it. You piqued the interest of local developers to bring forward a 36 project in along-identified economic development node. And I also want to say thank you to the 37 developers. This is a great deal of risk for them to come forward and be the first to propose 38 something in an economic development node that has sat empty for a very long time. It is a 39 risky proposal and it risks their professional record. I have confidence, I have $een their 40 projects, these are the folks who go above and beyond and bring twice the amount of affordable 41 housing, when there's a standard that most people object to or who are excellent at downtown 42 redevelopment or developing city centers, so I'm real pleased that you've found great partners. 43 Sustainability is a balanced approach, and unfortunately it is a word that's being used a lot, and 44 I'm worried that because it's said so often, it loses its meaning. What it really means, I believe, 45 is a triple bottom line -environmental stewardship; social equity; and economic prosperity. I 46 want to look at that not just project by project, but also to back that out and look at our entire 47 County. You all have. done a remarkable job with environmental protection in our community. 48 You are doing a remarkable job with respect to your social responsibilities. We have work to do 49 on our economy and balancing that. We are close to accomplishing the $125 million in 50 additional development in five years. I think the new issue of environmentalism is that we are 51 going to have to go dense and develop along our transit corridors. If we're going to protect the ~~ ~~ 35 1 green stuff, then we're going to' have to develop on the stuff that's already messed up. So, this ~2 is a brown field in existence at the intersection of major transit corridors, and is the exact sort of 3 place that you in your good wisdom in 1981 began talking about. Many of the previous 4 speakers spoke eloquently on the nexus between successful economy and successful 5 community, and that's one that's going to get more and more important, and we need to 6 generate revenue to support the things that we want. What I'm going to hand into you is, at our 7 expense we hired a graduate student of the Department of City Regional Planning to use a 8 software program to project a construction grid and all of the economic impacts of the project. 9 Many of the numbers you have heard here today, with an estimated total of 2,465 jobs created 10 both through the construction phase as well as the retail sector, 1,700 of those filled by Orange 11 County residents; the sales tax revenue of almost $900,000 during the construction phase for 12 Orange County, and $2.5 million totally; and another $5.5 million in sales tax revenue projected 13 every year once it begins, plus million of dollars in property tax revenue. That's an extraordinary 14 opportunity to do the things that you all have long set out and desired for the County. I'm 15 pleased to be part of it and to be here expressing our organization's support and 16 congratulations. He added that he had not been sworn in. 17 18 The Clerk swore in the remaining speakers. 19 20 Tom Studemayer: We've heard lots of testimony, a lot of it very moving, and a lot of it very 21 emotional. I don't have a lot of details, I don't have a lot of charts, I don't have a lot of facts. I 22 bring simply my experience growing up in a community not in Orange County that did not have 23 a plan for smart growth. I also bring it as a local businessman. who deals with residents of 24 Orange County daily. In my business, I do a lot of tax planning.. The one tax plan that I can't 25 help them with is their property tax, and it is about the single biggest complaint that I hear. So ?6 my question simply is, if not here, where? If not now, when? And'if not these folks, who? I 27 enjoy the rural nature of Orange County just like everyone else. Clients give me the pleasure of 28 the use of their land during hunting and fishing seasons and I enjoy it immensely. It's how I 29 grew up, and I would hate to see that go away. This property and the~decisian to develop this 30 property was made long before I took residence here. If not now, when? As stated, the 31 residential property tax burden that the citizens of Orange County are bearing is crushing. Our 32 school systems are crushing under that burden as well. This is a small parcel of one EDD that 33 would bring infrastructure, which I .hope will make room for the small businesses and the start- 34 ups that don't have the shoulders and the Ph. D's that are leveraging our homes and our 35 mortgages to start businesses and putting their~families at risk that are now taking those 36 businesses outside Orange County because they don't have room to build inhere. I would 37 prefer to see this in downtown Hillsborough or downtown Carrboro. That's not your fight. If not 38 these folks, who? Business, from a transactor's point of view, is a one-time deal. You come in, 39 you either buy what you want or the service you receive, and then leave. But from my side of 40 the desk, it's my lifetime pursuit. The assumption that folks that live here and work here are 41 somehow going to ravage the communities that they serve is just bad business. 1 leave you 42 with those three points - if not here, where? If not now, when? And if not them, who? Because 43 growth is coming, and if you squeeze it out of Orange County, your problems are going to get 44 worse. 45 46 Tanana Jones: I live at 610 Buckhorn Road. If you would look at section 3, I am part of the 47 road front that is not included in the development. I have two small children -one who is three 48 years old, one that is five months old. My children can't play outside as it is now on the 49 weekends because of the traffic from the flea market. If this comes in, being that we are not 50 included, my house will still be there. My children could still not play outside. Another thing that S1 someone touched on earlier was the traffic. No one mentioned anything about the traffic on I- ~~ 36 1 85. Yes, there are 84,000+ people on the highway going south and north, but they're not all 2 getting off the exit at the same time. There are already traffic issues. I can't get out of my (~ 3 driveway if I wait after 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday. I have to wait 20-30 minutes to exit out , 4 of my driveway as it is. If this development comes in, it might be longer than that. During busy 5 shopping season, Thanksgiving and Christmas, 1'd have to stay in my house all day long. The 6 truck stop. is already enough traffic. The flea market is too much trafFic. There is a taco stand 7 across the street from my house that causes chaos early in the morning. There's loud music 8 early in the morning until late afternoon. I do not have peace and quiet now. If this 9 development comes in, it will be worse than what it already is now. Like I said, to touch on the 10 weighing station; the weighing station is right there going northbound if you get on the interstate. 11 Saturdays and Sundays there's already problems that the trucks have to merge to get in the 12 weighing station. No one touched on how that's going to back up Buckhorn and 70 from both . 13 ends from people trying to get on northbound 85. 14 15 Tom Darnell: I'm an Orange County landowner. I have two questions and one comment. The 16 gentleman mentioned a national, unnamed tenant. What if they lose the tenant? Do they lose 17 the budget? Would all of this work be~ in vain? The second thing,. there was an amendment, I 18 got this on the intarnet, they added a couple of acres, which an acre and a half of it adjoins my 19 property and it's on the east side of Buckhorn. What are they going to do if it wasn't addressed? 20 The acre and a half that was not even mentioned, but it's going to be zoned the same as the 21 west side, and it absolutely adjoins my property. That affects me, and I don't mind it, I just 22 would like to know what their intentions are with that property. The third thing that wasn't 23 addressed when the firemen were here -they're asking for six-story buildings. A five-story 24 ~ building is as far as a ground ladder will go. They'll need a ladder truck and you're going to 25 26 have to come up with about $1 million for a ladder truck. Some company, either Mebane or Efland is going to have to maintain that ladder truck. I don't know if anyone has thought about j ~ c 27 that. If they donate a place for a fire station, well that's the place it needs to be. The last 28 comment is that I've owned the land for ten years or so, but since 1981 or so, you or your 29 predecessors have worked diligently to put approximately 600 or 900 acres in an EDD and told 30 everybody that it's going to be economic development. If not these guys, next week there will 31 be somebody else. This is not going to stop. Basically, I'm for it, because the next one will be 32 right down the street. If they leave and don't get the approval, six months from now we'll be 33 back in here for another go. So, you can control with all your rules and regulations and come up 34 with something good, but they are coming because you've already told them, "Here's our EDD." 35 36 Chair Jacobs: Can someone answer the question about the .property adjoining Mr. Darnell's. 37 38 Jim Parker:.. I believe the property he is referring to is a piece of property that resides on the 39 west .side and the east side of Buckhorn Road and is not two .separate parcels; it is one parcel 40 that is connected. The. portion of that parcel on the west side, which is shaped somewhat I'tke 41 an "!.", we anticipate that that will be used for access in some form or fashion to Rabbit Drive 42 and/or the Petro. 43 44 Chair Jacobs: I don't know if you can or want to answer the question about what happens if 45 you don't get the anchor tenant. 46 47 Jim Parker: We keep trying. That's my answer. 48 49 50 End of public comment. ( C 51 37 1 Chair Jacobs said that the remaining items would be deferred to the next public hearing. ~ 2 He asked Craig Benedict to walk the Board through page 4 of the agenda abstract. 3 Craig Benedict said that the staff received the application for Planned Development and 4 Class A Special Use Permit. Part of the package was the Zoning Officer's assessment of the 5 report. As part of that report, the staff also submits for evidence the County's existing zoning 6 code or land use element and EDD Manual. The staff conducted at least part of the public 7 hearing on the applications tonight. Iterri 4 is when the Board intends to adjourn this meeting to 8 a time certain to hear additional public comment. The process timelines are on the bottom of 9 page 4. The staff suggests that on March 5th some additional questions can come forward in 10 writing so that the developer can answer those questions or staff can research in the short-term. I1 Depending on when the Commissioners would like to decide on this item, there is a timeline that 12 sets up when the various meetings can occur. It is recommended that this meeting be 1'3 adjourned to a time certain where the Planning Board would have to come back and meet jointly 14 with the County Commissioners at a regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. At IS that time, staff would, be able to provide any additional information that they have uncovered. 16 Also, it's very important to understand that the special use permit part of this -all of the 17 evidence and all of the information that comes forward. needs to be held very closely so that the 18 informafion can be spread equally to all parties concerned (elected bodies, appointed bodies, 19 developer, and the public). 20 Chair Jacobs suggested trying to put this item back on the agenda on April 15t. The 21 Board agreed. 22 A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to 23 adjourn this meeting (11:08 p.m.) to April 1st at 7:30 p.m. at the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in 24 Hillsborough, North Carolina. 25 VOTE: UNANIMOUS j26 Z7 28 The meeting was adjourned at this point, so the below items will be on the re-convened meeting 29 on April 15` 30 31 2. Zoning Ordinance Text .Amendments: 32 a. Telecommunications Towers: Amendments to promote consistency with 33 December 1, 2007 revisions to NC General Statutes concerning Wireless 34 Telecommunications Facilities. 35 b. Planned Development: Amendments to address inconsistencies between 36 existing ordinance requirements and NC General Statutes, specifically the 37 requirement that imposed conditions be mutually agreed upon by the 38 County and petitioner. 39 40 Barry Jacobs, Chair 41 42 Donna S. Baker, CMC 43 Clerk to the Board 44 ~~ ,. ~~ ~~~~ RESPONSES FROM 2-25-08 QUARTERLY PUBLIC HEARING I~A.~CI-119, 200 d: ' ~ t '~ . f .. x ... ...............:...... ~. ~.~ .... ~. ......... ~P~~t~~~1~~.~ ~~Hi~~f'l~~~~ 5'U~4'f9~~. (\ ~'~ I~f CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCNITECTURE ®SURYEYING March X99 200E Buckh®~-n R®ad puss®ciat~s Response t® Pa~b~ac HearBng ~om~ents 1. Jack Adams Board of Development Efland Fire a. Annexation Issues -Need Mebane Contact: Homeowner Burden Response: The Buckhorn project as presented is in accordance with the water and sewer agreement between ®range County and the City of nflebane. This property will generate significant tax revenue to assist with current funding or increased funding of rural fire service. Unce this project is eomplete it will be petitioned for annexation into the iVlebane jurisdiction and IVlebane services. 2. Norman Urnstead -Happy Water and Sewer Shopping ok; Traffic Church Extent of roadwork, timeframe ' ~ Difference flea market vs. retail Benefit to Orange County Response: The current traffic volume at peak times on Buckhorn Road is greater than the current capacity of Buckhorn Road. The lack of proper traffic controls into and out of the current Jockey lot increases the delays, backups and congestion. The Buckhorn ~/illage project will be guided by the traffic impact analysis. for roadway improvements; entrance and exit locations, and signalization. These infrastructure improvements will increase the current capacity of Buckhorn Road and thus reduce the current delays and traffic jams that exist on a under capacity road. Widening of Buckhorn Road will predominantly occur within the existing right-of-way. Should additional right-of-way be required the property will be purchased based on fair market value to the owners. It is too early to determine if additional right of way will be needed. ~` SiT • CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE a SURVEYING 3. Naola Femngton - 710 Buckhorn Property Tax going up and Mebane Response: Buckhorn Road Associates will provide an appraiser to speak at the April 1st Public Hearing. 4. David Perman-BP Station 1980's Access -left turn -problem Widening, additional right-of--way 1. keep existing traffic pattern 2. stay within right-of--way Response: Widening of Buckhorn Road will predominantly occur within the existing right-of-way. Should additional right-of-way be required the property will be purchased based on fair markefi value. It is too early to determine if additional right of way will be needed. The specific roadway area in front of the BP Station was recently widened and improved in conjunction with the 1-8511-40 widening in the mid 1990's. It is doubtful that additional right-of-way will be required in this location, although roadway improvements will occur. Based on previous experience these improvements will necessitate a change to the access to the BP Station. Potentially prohibiting left turns "rnto the station by southbound motorists. These requirements shall be dictated by the IVCDC)T in conjunction with the approved Traffic Impact Analysis and not at the discretion of Buckhorn Road Associates. March 19, 2008 (\ l ~~ ~s~i~ -. CONSULTING ( ~ ENGINEERING o ARCHITECTURE a SURVEYING 5. Michael Collins Intra-city Sustainability Think local, mixed use type•of development 1. Tenants Living Wage 2. Local First 3. Incentives for local 4. Comprehensive Plan adherence Response: Bucdchorn Road Associates will aggressively recruit existing Orange County businesses that wish to expand and local residents who wish to start new businesses. fVlixed Use is the overall development strategy far this project, which will promote a variety of opportunities for local businesses. This application is in strict compliarDCe with the current Orange County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. 6. Anthony Corbitt -107 Frazier Timeline for development, traffic North Buckhorn What woodlands Special District location Response: The current projected timeline for Buckhorn is a mid 20'14 construction start. The overall build-out would last 4-5 years, with traffic improvements occurring during that span of time. t3ffsite road improvements will be coordinated in conjunction with each district build- out; . 7. John Fugo Breaking Gorund . Mid 2010 and 4 % years Response: Not needed March 19; 2008 ~~~ S MIT ~~ CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE ®SURVEYING 8. Debra Elmore -1015 Buckhorn Road Damage property value Taxes go up . Response: Buckhorn Road Associates will provide an appraiser to speak at the April 1St Public Hearing. 9. Al Haylou Response: Not needed 10. James Cannahari - 2 Documents Village Project Global warming Carbon Emissions Impact - 46,000 trips ~ . Public Transit, Outdated Comprehensive Plan and EDD Response: Buckhorn Village will not create significant additional.. traffic volume. Instead, significant existing traveling from point A to point B on the interstate would have the opportunity to make a shorter trip to point C, Buckhorn Village. A major mixed use center located half way between Alamance Crossing and South Pointe should reduce vehicle miles traveled far many shoppers, thus reducing overall carbon emissions. Buckhorn Village is designed to integrate with the future mass transit routes and be a destination point along future transportation corridors. 11. Mayor Stevenson Water and Sewer Service Agreement Not industrial high water use ' Tax base of Orange County and Mebane Benefit of Neighborhood Septic 1 MGD regional sewage L.S. Response: Not Needed March 19, 2008 1 ~ '~ I'~ ~~~ CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCHITECTURE ®SURVEYING 12. Al Rosen - In Favor of Economic Development Long time in coming, build bridges with community Social equity dimension, AH additional housing; Plan B concentration Small Road, Comp Plan synergism Resps~nse: The Buckhorn application is consistent with the EDD requirements. The applicant is requesting a waiver of requirements to permit a residential component. 13. Sally Gunner -Mike Collins Local Economies, Smart Growth good Need copy of comments Need new Economic Development model GDP growth low enterprise network Response: Buckhorn Village is primarily a retail development. Based on statistics presented by the county this is a sector of the (7range Gounty economy that is underserved. In accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and the EDD section of the Orange Gounty ordinance these proposed uses are in concert with those expected and desired within the EDD. The Buckhorn EDD is.appraximately 900 acres of which Buckhorn Village will use approximately '12%, providing the infrastructure and road improvements necessary 'For other economic development uses in the future. Retail deve!oprrlent is the mast efficient sector to shaulder the burden of the up-front casts associated with utility infrastructure and road improvements needed to support the other~uses without using al! available land within the EDD. 14. Bill Bunch -CPA Chapel HilUCarrboro, arterial Revenue, Local Developers Proactive Collaboration 950 members Response: Not Needed ~~ March 19, 2008 ~~ - , MIT CONSt1LTING ENGINEERING ®AP,CHIiECTURE ®SURYEYING ~__ 15. James Stock - Carrboro Would benefit but is appalled by a mall Big boxes are dead, cost of services . Response: The proposed plan for Buckhorn Village is not a mall facility. This development will have three distinct areas, all accessed and interconnected by streets and walks. Buckhorn Village will provide a pedestrian friendly experience with three distinct design approaches. Please refer to our application and note the design concepts far Promenade, Commons, and Free Standing Anchor. Buckhorn Village is proposed as a mixed use development. Though retail would be the largest use, the Village would also include residential, entertainment.uses such as theaters, hotels and numerous services, such as banks, offices, real estate, insurance and financial sales centers, dry cleaners,. spas and salons. As mentioned previously, locally owned businesses will be recruited. The cost of county services delivered to Buckhorn Village will be vastly outweighed by the property and sales tax revenues and lodging fees generated by the site and activities there. A January 2006 study entitled "The Cost of Community Services in Orange County," by Mitch Renkow of N.C. State University, concluded that the revenues/expenditures ratio for commercial properties in Orange County is 4.2~t. In other words, commercial properties generate more than four times as much revenue as they require in local government service costs. It is reasonable to predict that at completion, Buckhorn Village will be annexed by the Town of Mebane. At that juncture, Mebane would be providing virtually all local government services to Buckhorn Village, and the Village's revenue/expense ration relative to Orange County would be far higher than four to one. 16. Anita Badrock -Economic Development Commission 130 of 900 acres, Spend money in Orange County Other uses in other areas, jumpstart Response: Not Needed March 19, 2008 ~; UIT ` CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCHITECTURE d SURVEYING 17. Ben Lloyd Live and Work, Bring people home Lower trams c and pollution Property Taxes Response: Not Needed 18. Joan Yebsus -Bushy Cook Support the project - 6 year Planning Board Response: Not Needed 19. Margaret Wood Cannell Provide Water and Sewer, Jumpstart EDD Great Use, Help Tourism Need all documents -Cooper 213 Mt. Willing Response: Not Needed 20. Karen Platt Moms -Timberline Trail Safety, Crime, Police and Fire Child Abduction, Drainage Crabtree Mall Flooding, County life Traffic re: school, Green Theater. Ping Pong Response: The Buckhorn application meefs all requirements and standards for public services and safety. l `~ March 19, 2008 " `~ SUMMIT CONSULTING ENGINEERING a ARCHITECTURE A SURVEYING 21. Becky Bollinger - Efland Global Warming Mike Collin Response: Buckhorn Road Associates will aggressively recruit existing Orange County businesses that wish to expand and local residents who wish to start new businesses. Mixed Use is the overall development strategy for this project, which will promote a variety of opportunities for local businesses. This application is in strict compliance with the current Orange County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The Master Plan for Buckharn Village (Section 2-3-3 Environmental Factors) addresses the applicant's commitment towards sustainability. It identifies many design objectives established by the LEED-Retail Rating System to serve as minimum standards along with others that will be pursued with future tenants through the architectural review process. 22. Mike Swain -1 mile from site Increase traffic, big box Regional farmers market/Local Artist Response: Buckhorn Associates will aggressively recruit existing Orange County businesses that wish to expand and local residents who wish to start new businesses. Mixed Use is the overall development strategy for this project, which will promote a variety of opportunities for local businesses. This certainly eQUld include a farmers' market and a venue for local artists and crafts people to sell their works, if area farmers and artists wish to pursue such ventures. Traffic from the development will increase the traffic on Buckhorn Road, but the improvements to the offsite roadways will be in accordance with the required Traffic Impact Analysis and will improve the capacity of Buckhorn Road. This will create a level of service superior to what is now experienced on Buckhorn Road during peak usage times. March 19, 2008 ~\ f t~ D ~T ;,•~ CONSULTING ENGINEEP.ING ~ ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING 23. Robin Taylor Hall Spur Water and Sewer expansion Efland Heirs -Martha Brown Response: Nat Needed 24. Tom O'Dwyer -Commission for the Environment 50% Energy Efficient sustainability 7 mile creek Protected Watersheds, less Waste LID, LEED pilot, ND (2009) . Set of Standards Proof Transportation, Bike, 30% Energy Efffcient Response: Buckhorn Village is striving to implement sustainability methods that are applicable and economical for the type of development. Emerging market development presents unique challenges to sustainability, but Buckhorn Road associates is committed to adapting as many design standards as feasible from the LEED-Retail Rating System. Reuse of storm water for irrigation and treatment of storm water will be ~' ~ used through out the project, as will water saving plumbing devices. Buckhorn Village is designed as a walkable community, where visitors can park and walk to a wide variety of establishments. Provision for bicyclers and mass transit are important factors in the design. March 19, 200$ ~~ SUMMIT ~~~ CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING 25. Ruffer Slater - 20 Years EDC Net Economic Impact Compete with downtown businesses National Chains 85 leaves county/Local Businesses/50 leaves county Response: The economic impact projections of Buckhorn Village have been presented in the application. In addition, we have emphasized that the project will welcome local businesses, It is our opinion that downtown businesses in Hillsborough are unlikely to be negatively affected by Buckhorn Village. Downtown businesses are very dependent on downtown pedestrian and vehicular traffic and downtown residents. These are specialty shops and stores that are seven to eight miles from Buckhorn Village. The Baal of Buckhorn Village is to compete wifh other regional shopping centers, such as Alamance Crossing and The Streets at South Pointe. This sector is underserved in Orange County, and will provide few competitors to fhe type of business found in downtown Hillsborough. 26. - Timberwood Keep Orange County dollars, unique green Transportation, environments; capture 84,000 truck traffic restrict Noise air light from Hwy trees Response: Buckhorn Village is striving to implement sustainability methods that are applicable and economical for the type of development. Emerging market development presents unique challenges to sustainability, but Buckhorn Road Associates is committed to adopting as many design standards as feasible from the LEED-Retail Rating System. Reuse of storm water for irrigation and treatment of storm water will be used through out the project, as will water saving plumbing devices. Buckhorn Village is designed as a walkable community, where visitors can park-and walk to a wide variety of establishments. Provision for bicyclers and mass transit are important factors in the design. 27. Mark Zimmerman -Revenue a. CIP Need money to accomplish goals and services more diverse tax base Response: Not Needed March 19, 2008 (~ ~~ ~~~ SIT ~~ CONSULTING ~ ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE a SURVEYING 28. Bob Ward Well-planned Money for schools and public safety Response: Not deeded 29. Bryant Colson -Economic Development Commission Thursday review and advise Smart Innovative Residential Tax Burden Personally Response: Not Needed 30. Karen Bleg - Buckhorn and. Bradshaw Where is Water coming ,' ~ Expand Bridge, other rural roads capaci ty Response: The Buckhorn project as presented is in accordance with the water and sewer agreement between (Jrange Gounty and the- Gity of fVlebane. The Buckhorn `~i!lage pr oject wi!! be guided by the ~raf€ic imlaact analysis regarding roadway improvements, entrance and exit locations, and signallzation. These infirastructure improvements wi!! increase the current capacity of Buckhorn Road and thus reduce the current delays and traffic jams that exist on a under capacity road.liVidening of Buckhorn Road will predominantly occur within the existing right-of-way. Should additional right-of-way be Cequired the property will be purchased based on fair market value to the owners. It is too early to determine if additional right of way will be needed. March 19, 2008 ~\ - u iT ' CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE 0 SURVEYING 31. Heather Main -Buckhorn Transportation Green Building Not Cane Creek? Enhancements Youth, Aging Charter School Response: The Buckhorn project as presented is in accordance with the water and sewer agreement between Orange County and the City of Mebane. The Buckhorn Village project will be guided by the traffic impact analysis regarding roadway imp.rovernents, entrance and. exit locations, and signalization. These infrastructure improvements will increase the current capacity of Buckhorn Road and thus reduce the current delays and traffic jams that exist on a under capacity road. Widening of Buckhorn Road will predominantly occur within the existing right-of-way. Should additional right-of-way be required the property will be purchased based on fair market value to the owners. tt is too early to determine if additional right of way will be needed. Buckhorn Village is striving to implement s,ustainability methods that are applicable and economical for the type' of development. Emerging market development presents unique challenges to sustainability, but Buckhorn Road Associates is committed to adopting as many design standards as feasible from theLEEI~-l~.etail RatirZg System. Reuse of storm water far irrigation and treatment of storm water will be used through out the project, as will water saving plumbing devices. Buckhorn Village is designed as a walkable community, where visitors can park and walk to a wide variefy of establishments. Provision for bicyclers and mass transit are important factors in the design. 32. Aaron Nelson Balanced Approach Dense along corridors ' Economic Analysis 2465 1700 jobs Response: Not Needed March 19, 20(18 ~~ ~~ .~ ' ~ ~~ .. CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCNITECTURE ID SURVEYING 33. Tom Struckmeyer Smart Growth Tax Planning If not here, where If not now, when If not by these follcs,who: Response: Nat Needed 34. Tatiana Jones Children cannot play Traffic onlBetter traffic situation Weighing station? Response: The current traffic volume at peak times on Buckhorn Road generated by the Flea Market is greater than the current capacity of Buckhorn Road. The lack of proper traffic controls into and out of the current Jockey Lot increases the delays, backups, and congestion. The Buckhorn Village project will be guided by the traffic impact analysis regarding roadway improvements, entrance and exit locations, and signalization. These infrastructure improvements wilt increase the current capacity of Buckhorn Road and thus reduce the current delays and traffic jams that exist on a under capacity road. 35. Tom Darnell -lives on west Response: Not Needed 36. National unnamed tenant What if couple of acres on west side? Five story building ladder truck Maximum let them go Response: Not Needed March 19, 2008 ~~~ S IT CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING Planning Director - Graiq's comments 200 DUS D-2 DUS d-3 Response: Residential use in District 2 will be condominium, townhorne, and/or apartment dwellings. The residential will be located above retail or office uses. Residential uses in District 3 will be free standing units with a maximum density of 12 units to the acre. The land use plan depicts a "block" of residential use. This is only a "place holder" and does not represent the exact location or footprint of the proposed total use. Definition uses service? 1 C Response: Service Use contains the following requested land uses; convenience 1 fuel- service, hotel, office, theater, financial, real estate sales, dry cleaners, salons, spas, and restaurants. This list is intended to provide illustrative examples and is not intended to be limiting or exhaustive. ~. What is capture off (-85 of 40,000 trips Response: Eighty percent of the total daily trips would come from 1-85. Of the approximately 40,p00 daily trips, 32,000 would come from I-85. The peak hour captures are shown in the Future Year intersectian breakouts for each District. TIA needs to include US 70 and Buckhorn Response: Arcadis, our traffic consultant has been asked to include this intersection in the TIA. TIA needs to reflect new land use program Response: TIA analysis does reflect the current land uses. A new land use plan will be incorporated into the T[A document, March 19, 2008 (\.. ~~pp ~~pp 2 ~~ CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~ ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING Burkdale Village -outside Gharlotte Mayfair -Wilmington Compares to Southpainte 1.3 mil Response: See Attached -Tab 1 Committed major fenant? Timeframe 4 to 5 year buildout Notice to property owners Competition with Alamance Response: Nat Needed RDS Big Boxes 25-50 Miles Rooftops Gars gas captures trips Live workspace, local economy . Ask for questions per topic: Transportation Land Use /Mix Open Space Utilities Response: Not Needed March 19, 2008 ~~ ~. 1T CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARChiIiECTURE p SURYEYING 3 Written Comments from Economic laevelopment Corhmissi®n Steve Brantley 1. Has the state's NCDOT committed funds or approval necessary to add the additional ingresslegress lanes? Response: The NCDOT has not committed funds for any improvements. They are currently in the process of reviewing the TIA as submitted. 2. Is the Buckhorn Amoco, which has some environmental issues (contarninatiQns due to .underground ftael tanks?) listed as a superfund site? Has indemnifications by the gas station's owners been received, if available? What is the expected cost of a full clean-up? Response: Please see the submitted environmental report in the application by Robert Miller of GEL, Inc. Randee Hwen-O'Donnell ~ . 1. What does Buckhorn Road hope to offer in retail that is not already ; C present down the road? 2. What unique retail is envisioned that does not already exist along the I-40 /1-85 corridor? I'd like to see a 30-mile radius impact of the area. Density/rooftops Response: Buckhorn Village goal is to attract new types of retail that does not exist in other retail areas along this corridor. The large anchor tenant is envisioned to be a destination retailer. A destination retailer would attract hotels and entertainment businesses, such as theaters. Please see the attached demographic reports for population and density surrounding Buckhorn Village. March 19, 2008 SMf~ CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCHITECTURE ®SURVEYING Written Comments from Planning and ®UT13oard (Sasn Lasris~ 1. Is there current data for West 10, and 70 west traffic counts both weekdays and weekends? Response: Caunts are currently only for weekdays, our traffic consultant has been asked to include weekend counts in the T1,4. 4 '~ 2. Is there a certain radius or area around and commercial development in which the developers are responsible for road improvements? Response: County to respond 3. exhibit 7 Transportation - On the site plan, there is a stub out at the south-end what is the significance of this? Response: This stub-out was requested by County Planning Staff, in accordance with county policy. 4. Can developers be required to pay for bikelanes and/or sidewalks beyond the borders of their development. If yes -how far? Response: County to respond 5. Would this project become more sustainable of the surrounding properties were rezoned far housing and commercial? Response: The requested zoning complies with the EDD and Land Use Plan. 6. Why can't the siting of buildings be much closer (denser) to avoid the need for an automobile once one has arrived at this center? Response:. Please see the "Transportation and Walkability" plan. A[I buildings within a 5-'1D minute walk. March 19, 2008 ~.,/~ . - S IT CONSULTING ENGINEERING ~! ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING 7. Which has a smaller carbon footprint - a parking deck or a parking lot - both with the same amount of spaces? Response: We do not know the answer to this question. We do not have access to any approved methodology that quantifies "carbon footprint." 8. Why have the parking decks been eliminated from the plan? 5 Response: Parking decks are still envisioned as feasible around hotel sites and in District 2. They have not been eliminated from the plan. 9. Does public transportation currently serve this area? If not, will it and how would that be paid? . Response: Currently there is no public transportation serving the Buckhorn Road area. The plan provides bus stops, bike lanes and pedestrian pathways on-site to integrate with future mass transit service. 10. If the secondary roads are not improved, now to accommodate future traffic (or the anticipated traffic at buildout) who pays to make the road improvements to handle the extra capacity? Response: Proposed road improvements are in accordance with the Traffic Impact Analysis. 11. For comparison; what are the number of daily trips to Heritage Square (Hillsborough), Patterson Place (Durham) and Alamance Crossing (E[on)? Response: County to respond 12. What financial obligations will the county have at this site? Response: County to res~oncl March 19, 2008 (~ ~ilT CONSULTING ENGINEERING m ARCHITECTURE ®SURVEYING /~ 6 13. Comprehensive Plan Update - Obj ED 2.1 - "Encourage compact and higher density development in areas served by water and sewer." Should this objective be applied to this project and the areas around it? Response: County to respond currently not served by water and sewer. 14.Comprehensive Plan Update - Obj ED 2.2 "Encourage mix use and support walkability." Same question as above. Also think ED 2.5 and 2.7 apply. Response: This project is mixed use and does promote walkability within the site. Please see the "Transportation and 1iValkability" plan. 15. Comprehensive Plan Update -page 47 chapter ~ Housing Element - "New housing should be located proximate to needs, services, shopping and employment centers..." Shouldn't there be rezoning around this development fio conform to this objective? Response: This application includes only 12% of the entire Buckhorn EDD. It is anticipated that those types of uses will follow. 16. Exhibit 4 - In a period of 100yr drought are retention ponds sufficient for capturing and, holding water? Shouldn't a more effective method of gathering and storing water be utilized? Response: County to respond a. Appendix D page 6 - Please define "Internal Capture Rate" Response: Trips that are generated from internal visits already on site. Internal Capture is the traffic that stays within a site. Basically, if you. have a mixed use site with office, retail, and housing, the trips generated by these three groups will have a certain percentage that will staywithin the site, since there will be same that live there, work there, and shop there, and will not really leave the site for the basics necessities to live/work recreate. March 19, 2008 ~~ 7 S CONSULTING j ENGINEERING ID ARCHITECTURE ID SURVEYING f 17.Appendix D Page 11- Wi11 aligning the development and main entrance with the truck stop and main entrance cause backups on the interstate exit ramps and bridge? Response: The TIA Traffic Impact Analysis has determined an acceptable level of service (no backups beyond normally acceptable conditions) with the. indicated roadway and bridge improvements. 18.Appendix D Page 11 -Shouldn't there be a "truck only/ right turn only" lane on southbound Buckhorn info the truckstop? Response: The TIA Traffic Impact Analysis has determined an acceptable level of service (no backups beyond normally acceptable conditions) with the indicated roadway and bridge improvements. It is $he responsibility. of the NCDOT and .Orange County to review the Traffic Impact Analysis and require additional improvements based on their specific reviews. 19. Appendix D Page 11 -Should there be 2 left turn. lanes into the development from Southbound Buckhorn? Response: The TIA Traffic Impact Analysis has determined an acceptable level of service {no backups beyond normally acceptable conditions) with the indicated roadway and bridge improvements. Dual lefts into the site from Buckhorn at the main entrance are planned. 20.Appendix D Page 11 -Should there be 2 right turn lanes from the. development designated for 1-85 / 40 East only, onto Buckhorn Northbound. Response: The TIA Traffic Impact Analysis has determined an acceptable level of service (no backups beyond normally acceptable conditions) with the indicated roadway and bridge improvements. March 19, 2008 ~A 8 ~I~i~~ CONSULTING ' '" ENGINEERING ID ARCHITECTURE a SURYEYtNG 21.Appendix D - Wha pays for the auxiliary lane from the weigh station on ramp to Buckhorn Road off ramp? Response: All pr®posed improvements that are needed to supporfi the development of Buckhorn Village are the responsibility of the developer. 22. Will NGDOT conduct traffic assessments on West 10 and 70 West? Response: The current submitted Traffic Impact Analysis shalC be amended to include these areas if required. 23.Appendix D- Arcadis G&M -The November 2007 traffic counts were all made on weekdays. Why weren't weekend counts performed? Response: Counts are currently only far weekdays, we have requested that our traffic consultant include a set of weekend counts in the TIA. The vast majority of the current traffic on weekends is generated by the Jockey lot, which will not be operating once the Buckhorn Village is developed. ;' 24. Chapter 1, bottom of page 8 - "Should land use of adjacent properties change, access into the properties can be established". I only see one stubout to the East. Will there be other stubouts? Response: The requested zoning is compliant with the EDD and Land Use Ilan. No other stub-outs are planned, as the remainder of the property is bordered by existing roads and the existing Clearview subdivision. 25. Exhibit 2 -Will there be a "wall" to prevent Clear View Subdivisions from entering on foot or bicycle directly fram the south. Is there a utility line easement or path between 36 and 37? Response: At this time a wall along the Glear View Subdivision is not planned or required. The access to lots 2 and 3 are between tots 36 and 37 of Clear View Subdivision. This is not a utility easement. March 19, 2008 ~~ IT CONSULTING ENGINEERING ®ARCHITECTURE ®SURYEYING C 26. Exhibit 2 - Wiil property owners 8-12 have a foot or bicycle access to the property? Is the developer trying to buy these properties? If the developer were to own these, would they automatically be considered part of the site plan? Response: At this time no access is contemplated. The applicant has made purchase offers for these properties. At this time, the applicant and the property owners have been unable to negotiate mutually acceptable transaction terms. If these properties were purchased by the applicant, a new Planned Development and Special Use Permit application would be required prior to development. 27. Exhibit 4 -Wouldn't it be a better scenic view if the retail/multi-family or residential multi-family were sited to overlook the retention ponds rather than parking lots? Response: County to Respond ;~ 28.Appendix B Lodging Taxes -Lodging taxes: On what basis was $90 deemed to be an average daily rate? A check of room rates slang the interstate shows that mast roams rent at $60 or less per night. Response: The hotel(s) at Buckhorn Village would have higher demand as a result of the amenities and attractions of the retail and entertainment portions of the project, as apposed to generating traffic solely as a result of interstate traffic. Additionally, the new construction of the hotel(s) would provide a competitive advantage over older 1-40/85 hotels. 29.Appendix D page 1 -Does traffic. analysis at build-out take into consideration the additional growth that will occur in the, surrounding areas? Response: Yes March 19, 2008 ~ \\ ~7~ -~~~ ~~ ~ o coNSU~~rit~~ I ENGINEERING n ARCHI5EC7URE ®SURYEYING 30.Appendix D page 1 -What is a four legged intersection? Response: Four-way, four directions approaching or leaving the intersection. 31.Appendix D page 5 - Is it fair assumption that future development will occur in this area? Shouldn't accurate projected traffic counts reflect the growth beyond the borders of this project? If growth is anticipated beyond the projections, shouldn't there be more road improvements then currently planned? Response. The Traffic Impact Analysis accounts for steady growth of existing, traffic. Any future development plan that impacts these roads will require an additional Traffic Impact Analysis and the developer will be responsible far any additional road improvements. 32.Given that as currently sited, this development being automobile ~ dependent within the borders of the project, is there a way to project the number of vehicle trips within the development? Response: See Traffic Impact Analysis "Internal Capture Rate" and chapter 3, exhibit 7A, "Walkabi[ity Plan". 33. If drive through window service is allowed at food restaurants, can an estimate be made of the number of vehicle trips to these and the average wait time. Can these restaurants be sited to maximize traffic flaw within and without the borders of this project?. Response: See Traffic Impact Analysis. Trip generation takes into account these specific types of uses: Average wait time will depend upon the specific restaurant, and cannot be estimated at this time. Siting will be considered along with internal traffic flow. Specific internal traffic analysis shall be conducted to maximize flow. March.l9, 2008 ~~~ Landscape Archifiecture Land Planning MEMORANDUM To: Tracy Parrot From: Scott Murray Date: March 17, 2008 Re: Buckhorn -Responses to Comments Responses to Notes form Public Hearing & Staff Meeting: Concerns and Recommendations -General: Several concerns were raised regarding sustainability, global warming and green building practices in general. Additionally a recommendation was made by the Commission for the' Environment to adopt the USGBC's LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System as a standard for the proposed development. Accompanying this recommendation several specifirC "design standards" were noted for consideration. Applicants Response: The Master Plan for Buckhorn Village (Section 2-3-3 Environmental Factors) addresses the applicant's commitment towards sustainability. It identifies many design objectives established by the LEED-Retail Rating System to serve as minimum standards along with others that will be pursued with future tenants through the architectural review process. The most successful trends towards "greener" retail combine key sustainability objectives that focus on site selection, water conservation, efficient building energy systems, environmentally friendly materials, and indoor air quality.- While it is impractical to achieve the level necessary for certification in emerging markets the Rating System provides guidance for developers and administrators. Responses to Specific Recommendations: Transportation: Locations for 4 bus loading stations have been identified on the master plan along with a site reserved for civic or public use. The Village Center area (District II) as identified on the Land Use Plan allows the construction of parking decks and will be planned to provide for the future construction of this type of facility. However current market demand is not likely to support construction ~' parking decks in the early phases of development. Concerns for the heat island effect l partially mitigated through proposed landscape standards that exceed those required oy Orange County for all surface parking areas. Runoff from the impervious surfaces is retained/detained on-site for reuse and infiltration. ~~ Bicycle lanes and shared facilities (sharrows) are planned as an integral component of the transportafion network in Buckhorn Village. Bicycle storage will be provided in both the mixed-use and commercial areas within the project. It is unlikely that the addition of bicycle access across I-85 can be integrated beyond what will be provided as walkways and shared travel lanes. The applicant supports the need to encourage carpooling and public transportation not only for employees but also for patrons and residents. Buckhorn Village will provide at least one major information-kiosk in a central location that will list transit and carpool information. Waste: Buckhorn Village is committed to working closely with Orange County and future tenants to minimize waste during construction and to facilitate trash sorting and recycling on an ongoing basis. The Master Plan (Section 2-3-3 Environmental Factors) identifies specifics relating to this concern. Waste recycling facilities will not only be provided at primary collection points but also at numerous locations suitable for end user convenience. Food composting on-site is not considered an appropriate activity in the context of Buckhorn Village. Water Efficiency: The Master Plan (Section 2-3-3 Environmental Factors) establishes the following minimum design standards for Buckhorn Village: 1. Use only captured rainwater, or water treated and conveyed by a public agency specifically for non-potable uses for irrigation. OR Install landscaping that does not require permanent irrigation systems. Temporary irrigation systems used for plant establishment are allowed only if removed within one year of installation. 2. Provide low flow fixtures (i.e., toilets, shower heads, etc.) 3. On-site storm water retention will be provided and no potable water will be used for irrigation: Energy: The Buckhorn Village Master Plan (Section 2-3-3 Environmental Factors) establishes the following design standards and objectives: 1. Reducing Energy Needs by Use of Day-Lighting in Architectural Design 2. Engage in 2 yr. Contract for 35% of Energy from Renewable Sources 3. Work with Tenants on Requiring Commissioning of Building Energy Enhanced Energy Performance Refrigerant Management 4. Use High Reflective Roofing Materials in Architectural Design The applicant also agrees to comply with the standards established by Orange County for area lighting to minimize nighttime light pollution and light trespass. ~~ Concerns and Recommendations -Planning and OUTBOARD: lot- with the same amount \ 7. Which has a smaller carbon footprint -~ a parking. deck or a parking of spaces? Applicant's Response: While it is generally accepted that decked parking is more efficient (i.e. a smaller carbon footprint) one must also consider the following influences: 1. Parking lots with shade trees that ultimately provide up to 60% shading will have less heat island "footprint" than a 2-level deck of the same spaces. It will also have less "mass" and therefore less heat retention after sundown. 2. Parking lots where stormwater runoff is captured for on-site reuse and where infiltration is encouraged through the use of bio-swales, etc. do not pose additional negative impervious surface impacts -over parking decks. 3. The construction of parking decks requires substantially more material; transportation of materials, and generates more construction debris than a .parking lot of the same capacity. 4. Parking lots consume far less economic resources making available more capital for other improvements that promote sustainability and financial viability. 8. Why have parking decks been eliminated form the plan? Applicant's Response: (See answer to Transportation concerns noted above} ~ \. 15. Exhibit 4 - In a period of l OOyr. drought are retention ponds sufficient for capturing and holding water? Shouldn't a more effective method of gathering and storing water be utilized? Applicant's Response: The proposed storm water retention/detention ponds are designed to provide a multiple use benefit of stormwater quality (filtration/settlement) and stomwater reuse (irrigation and chiller supply opportunities). The use of drought resistant plants in the landscape will minimize the need for irrigation beyond initial establishment. At times of severe drought a management a program for rationing irrigation use will be implemented. An on-site well will be developed as needed for back-up in the event inadequate reclaimed water is available for building coolipg. /( t~~. Cmr~cems ar~d Racc~snrr~endations - Pfannir~g Departmerafi: Prirna~y i[7 Signage: Concerns raised over the height of the proposed Primary ID Sign are best addressed with the following examples. The concept for Buckhorn Village is intended to integrate architecture with environmental graphics in a manner that compliments the architectural theme of the development. In this way "landm'ark identificafiion" can be both attractive,.unabtrusive and serve to provide necessary orientation to the passing motorists. Further definition of this proposed sign type might incorporate the language that "rio freestanding sign that is not associated with and/or attached to a building. or architectural element will be allowed for the Primary Entrance ID Sign". ~~ Buffer to Adjacent Properties: A concern over the proposed 25' buffer to adjacent properties was noted. (~ Applicants' Response: It is proposed that this proposed design solution be modified to reflect a 50' buffer. In the event these properties are incorporated into Buckhorn Village or that they are developed in a use compatible. with that of Buckhorn Village then the buffer would cease to exist. MTC Buffer -Proposed Design Solution: A concern was noted regarding the proposed landscaping and clearing within the buffer area. Applicant's Response: The proposed clearing within the MTC buffer is needed to enable the construction of essential storrnwater quality and refiention ponds. This landscape will be defined by a natural transition from the existing pines to that of aquatic. vegetation and vegetation in keeping with the "pond side" setting. The landscaping proposed in these disturbed and inundated areas will follow the standards and guidelines listed below. . (Source: Dr. Bill Hunf, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, NCSU) Plantin~,s and Ve et~i ation An often overlooked item in the maintenance of a stormwater pond or wetland is the care of the trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plantings that are .growing (or trying to grow) in the impoundment area of a pond: Not only do such plantings perform a key water quality function in that they filter: out and soak up pollutants, but they also provide food a.nd cover for wildlife and add immense interest and aesthetic value to the pond landscape. The introduction (or reintroduction) of wetland anal wet meadow plantings to any pond,. even a "dry" pond,. can improve markedly the aesthetic, water quality treatment; anal wildlife habitat aspects of the facility. Many wetland plant species will perform well in water depths of up to 12". Cattails (Typha sp. ), which are natural (and, in many instances, beneficial) to a wetland environment, can sometimes choke out other, more desirable vegetation. As such, cattails. should be controlled in the earlyphases of colonization by wiping them with aquatic formulations of the systemic herbicide glyphosate. To maintain a dense, herbaceous, vegetative state in your pond or wetland (e:g., to keep if it a "suspended state of adolescence"), avoid planting large shrubs or trees that tend to shade out herbaceous species. Larger trees and shrubs should, for the most part, be reserved for those areas that surround the pond. Trees, such as river birch, red maple, sycamore, and swamp cypress will do well in a wetland area, and eastern redbud and sweet baymagnolia canprovide significant aesthetic interest in the zones surrounding a pond or wetland (e:g:, upper bank areas). When planting trees in a wetland, a tree density of no more tb:aii 3 to 4aees~ er 10 000~s uare_feet ofwetland surface area is recommended. p .. ,... q "Volunteers" should be ]im~ted, and any invasive trees, such as black willow, should be eliminated as soon as practicable. With respect to the introduction (or reintroduction) of herbaceous plants to a stormwater pond or wetland, provided below, are two lists of suggested wetland/wet meadow plants that appear to colonize well and survive in such devices. Given the complex nature of wetland plant selection and ecatyping, planting, care, and maintenance as well as how such plants respond to various permanent and intermittent pooling levels, it is recommended that all significant plant activities be conducted under the ~~ watchful guidance of a registered Professional Engineer anal a wetlsnd ecologist or local •~ landscape specialist with particular expertise in wetland planting and management. Internal Wetland Zones Defined Zone 1: Deep Pool: 18- to 48-inch normal pool water depths Zone II: Deep Pool-to-Shallow Water Transition: 6- to 18-inch normal pool water depths Zone III: Sallow Water: 0- to 6-inch normal pool water depths Zone IV: Temporary Inundation: Water quality temporary pool areas (e.g.; 0-inch normal pool water depths to approximately 12-inches above normal pool) Zone V: Upper Bank: Pool areas above the water quality temporary pool Tier 1 Table -Stormwater Wetland Vegetation Plants Found to Reliably Colonize in Stormwater Wetlands from the Highest to Least Water Tolerant Common Name Scientific Name Zone/s Comments Fragrant Water Lily Nymphaea odorata I and II (deepest fringe) Spatterdock Nuphar lutea I and II (deepest fringe) So$stem Bulrush Schoeneplectus II and III Former Scientific tabernaemontani Name: Scirpus Tjalidus Pickerelweed Pantedaria cordata II and III Produces a bright and showy purple/blue flower. Broadleaf Sagittaria latifolia III Produces broad Arrowhead Leaves, and produces white flowers in the summer. Bulltongue Sagittaria lancifolia III Produces white. Arrowhead flowers in the summer. Burreed or Bur-reed Sparganium III Tolerates flowing spamericanurn water zones near inlets and outlets.. Lizard's Tail Saururus cernuus TII and IV Can dominate in dryer years; produces a distinctive thin white flower. Woolgrass Scirpus cyperinus LII and N Produces a tall, brown seed head in the summer. Makes tall border. Common Rush Juncus spp. III and IV Grows best at the water's edge. Grows well near evergreens in the Coastal Plain and ~ `- Piedmont (eastern Tier 2 Table -Sformwafer Wetland Vegefatiou Plants Found to Survive in Sformwafer Wetlands, Often Adding Color, from the Highest to Least Water Tolerant (Source: Dr. Bill Hunt, Assistant Professor and extension Specialist, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, NCST~ ' Common Name Scient~c Name Zone/s ~ Conaanenfs Water (American) Nelumbo lutea I and~Il (edge) Protrudes from deep Lotus pools. Good for mountain wetlands. . There is some concern that this plant is too aggressive. Arnow Arum Peltandra virginica 'III Similar is appearance to Sag-ittaria. Swamp Mills Weed Asclepias incarnata III and IV Produces an orange flower in the fall. Blue Flag Iris Xris virginica or III and IV (edge) Produces a showy versicolor blue (or other color) flower in late spring. Grows at the water's edge. Sedge ~ Carex spp. III and IV There are many species available. This plant is a good izufial colonizer. Cardinal Flower Lobelia cardinalis N Produces brilliant red flowers in late summer. Hibiscus (Rose Hibiscus IV Produces beautiful, Mallow) moscheutos and showy white and red grandiflorus flowers in mid/late summer. Swamp Rose Rosa palustris N Produces an off- whitebloom in the spring. Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium N and V Produces a purple- purpureurn like bloom in the summer and fall. Note: The denser the initial planting, the more quickly the vegetation will establish, and the less likely invasive species will dominate a stormwafer pond or wetland. For most of the r ~~ plants listed above, a planting density of about one plant on 24-inch centers (one plant/four ~ square feet) is recommend if the goal is full colonization within twelve months of planting. A planting density of one plant an 36-inch centers (one plant/nine square feet) should produce a fully colonized wetland within. 24 months. To minimize invasive species colonization, the minimum planting density should be at least one plant/nine square feet; lesser planting densities may result in. a monoculture of invasive plants that may overtake or prevent the effective colonization of desired vegetation. End ~~ ~ 1 274 BOTEI'OURT COURT ' BOYDTON, VIRGINIA 23917 252-213-9501 434-689-2925 (Fax) smurray@stmtandplan.com ~~ ~~ b~~~ (~ V~~ ~j 4~~ \~ ~~ ~~ C ~~ ~~ ``~ ~~Z~~~~G ~ruN=Lrj~'xi`:.Tvv:: j:.~~c~ ~IVn.J-ri. ~.}; `. 'T`} ~=c"' m =it.a . ~,. 7 ~'''l~y ra~~ 1'~iu+' ~'• ; ' ~,,. r ~*'~;tSEY~I5t~3~3 ~tY1~4~Z11~' ~~1~`~it' ,,~wr~~~,~.. ~,,;~ f >• ,~ ~^..'"~ :~,::s ~' t ~i ~~~ Height ~~ -~ ~:::~.. ~N~,.. ~_` ~( ~,: ~~ f~ ~~