Objection to Proposed UDO amendments

[Bryna Rapp]

Dear OC Commissioners,

I have just learned of dramatic changes being proposed to the UDO. These changes would take the Commissioner & Planning Board review out of the process for subdivision approval and put all of the decision power in the hands of planning staff. As an architect and 36-year resident of Orange County, I do not support the change and do not understand the impetus for it.

The current system has worked well from a citizens perspective: The staff are charged with giving you the ways in which a given proposal is consistent with the UDO and ways that it is inconsistent so you can weigh the pros and cons. On top of that, there is an opportunity for community input so you can gauge the ever-changing priorities of the community in real time. With all that information at hand, you can make a reasoned decision that can be publicly defended.

To put all the decision making in the hands of a single staff member is to risk subjugating the concerns of the masses in favor of a single person who may be influenced by the developers and VC investors who have the most to gain from their proposals and the deep pockets to potentially corrupt what is ultimately a subjective decision making process.. It will be impossible for average citizens' voices to be in the room at that level.

We have seen this happen just down the road in Alamance county where planning staff who clearly oppose outsized development are forced to approve those that check a limited list of technical boxes or risk lawsuits from the developers. No one seems to worry about lawsuits from the citizens as that is rarely possible, even though they are the ones with the most to lose. Commissioners, who may also oppose the developments, have no say in the process. Their hands are tied and we end up with a situation where an inconsistent massive development has to be approved in an inappropriate location, against the desires of staff and commissioners who know that it risks putting an undue burden on taxpayers, schools, the environment etc. All because they adopted a system in which they are powerless to stop it.

I urge you to hold on to the power you have, as elected officials, to make the sometimes difficult decision to protect the limited and precious resources of the unincorporated areas of the county against powerful developer interests. Otherwise I foresee an endless sea of suburban sprawl like Chatham county is currently facing and all the problems that come with it.

Respectfully,

Bryna Rapp
Morrow Mill Road