Cates Landing
Carol Hostler
My name is Carol Hostler and I’m a homeowner in Cates Landing, the new development off of highway 70. My family and I have lived in Hillsborough since 2016, and we absolutely love it here. When we had the opportunity to build in Cates Landing it was a perfect option for us with the larger wooded lots, the beautiful homes, etc.
However, since closing, we’ve had a number of issues with the neighborhood as a whole. I’ve spoken to our developer and builder and both are disclaiming responsibility for landscaping outside of our stormwater ponds and the actual owned parcels. Our neighborhood frontage and the areas in between lots / setbacks are muddy and have severe erosion issues. It is not sustainable for these areas to remain in their current condition for both the aesthetics of the neighborhood and with respect to the eno catchment area.
In reviewing both the commissions conditional approval of our neighborhood and the OC UDO, it appears to me that 1) there is an obligation to provide level E landscaping along the 75’ front buffer and 2) there is a requirement in the UDO that street trees b/c planted. Can you please let me know if my understanding is correct and/or any exceptions have been granted to the development? Whether the first obligation has been met is questionable (they literally just planted 20 pine trees in a tiny stretch), the second absolutely has not been met (we have no street trees in the entire development).
I want to make sure that our HOA doesn’t end up bearing the brunt of landscaping costs that should have been paid by other parties, so any help or insight you all can provide would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Carol Hostler
1745 Eno Ridge Dr.
Sent from my iPhone
Bonnie Hammersley
On Mar 18, 2022, at 7:50 PM, Carol Hostler <cwho...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,
Craig Benedict
Ms. Hostler,
Thank you for your concern. I visited the overall site today. As you noted, the subdivision is a beautiful site with some elevation changes and natural tree buffers. The erosion control measures are in place which handles the ongoing construction activity, albeit there is a transition phase for each house which can create some mess in the short term. The number of homes completed are beginning to become the majority, so erosion should settle down. The rain event last week was intense.
My erosion and storm water field staff will continue to monitor. We will check the situation regarding the street tree requirement. This will be on a lot by lot basis due to some existing trees being preserved.
Thank you again. We agree that the long term maintenance of a subdivision is important. We have a required developer to HOA transition meeting which will identify all regulations.
Craig
Director of Planning
Craig Benedict
Ms. Hostler,
We met with the developer and are developing a plan.
Thank you for your patience.
Craig
From: Carol Hostler <cwho...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 12:27 PM
To: Craig Benedict <cben...@orangecountync.gov>
Cc: Bonnie Hammersley <bhamm...@orangecountync.gov>; ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>; Patrick R. Mallett <pmal...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL MAIL!] Re: Cates Landing
Hi Craig, just wanted to follow up on my additional inquiries below. Thank you!
On Mon, Mar 21, 2022 at 3:35 PM Carol Hostler <cwho...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Craig,
Thanks so much for your response and for taking the time to come out and drive through today! The rain last week was super intense - we’re right next to one of the stormwater ponds and definitely had a river in our front yard! I do understand this will become less impactful as construction wraps up.
What is concerning to me is the following:
1. The front area - where we have been told nothing more will be done. I’ve included some pictures. Does this truly meet the UDO objectives in terms of preserving natural aesthetics? I’m not sure what this giant concrete square is, but I assume some sort of water containment? It is incredibly ugly and completely visible from the roadways. Also the tree plantings look pretty ridiculous since they just stuck in 20 pine trees in a group.
2. The unfinished spaces between finished lots. Example below. We’ve been told nothing will be done here. It’s completely eroding and there is no ground cover to address it. Simply finishing construction isn’t going to fix this stretch without ground cover.
3. Street trees - I completely understand that this will be lot by lot. But the developer has not agreed to address this for any lot, and I want to make sure that it gets taken care of as part of his responsibilities. I would also like to understand what distance retained trees need to be from the road to count as street trees.
The transition meeting sounds great and very helpful, I really appreciate that you all do that! It just important to us as a neighborhood that we are not left holding the bag for regulations that it should be the developers responsibility to meet.
Thank you,
Carol
