Tomorrow's rezoning hearing

[Sadie Rapp]

Dear Commissioners,

I'm writing to urge you to deny the proposed rezoning of 3531 NC Hwy 54 West for Forestar Real Estate Group. 

At the NIM and Planning Board meeting for this proposed development, the neighbors raised numerous concerns that were insufficiently assuaged by the developer team. Some of the most-repeated contentions included high-volume water use affecting the wells of the nearby homes and businesses, impacts to the streams that feed into Collins Creek by so much land disturbance and so many septic systems, the density of homes impacting wildlife (including bobcats!), and perhaps most significantly, traffic concerns. The well drawdown test was done very shortly after Chantal saturated the county, and their future use is completely unknown, so to say neighboring wells are safe is irresponsible. 

The group of 8 professionals presenting the project were pretty well-prepared. They had clearly been following the Fiddlehead rezoning debate, and used that as a comparison point to say "we're not like that project, we are doing things smarter." However, I believe they misunderstood some of the fundamental issues at stake in that fight, and are (knowingly or not) recreating them on a different parcel. 

Many of the neighbors, including a fire chief, disagree with what the developer claims the traffic impact will be. These are folks that, on the daily, deal with the reality of trying to turn left on 54. The changes we’ve felt in that area over the last 5 years cannot simply be captured by estimating the number of car trips increasing every day. There's no world in which adding 43 households to an already dangerous curve in the highway is going to have a modest impact. Particularly during rush hour, we would expect to see significant impact and increased traffic accidents. White Cross is already struggling with this issue.

Part of the challenge of not having any county staff present at the NIM is that we were reliant upon the developer to answer our questions about the process and the relevant statutes. Personally, I have concerns about the legal ramifications of the private water utility that would own the community well that they have already drilled. It's 1,000 feet deep, which puts it at risk of compromising the wells of the neighbors. Does the utility own the water rights? Could they, say, sell that to a bottling company and undermine water access for Bingham Township and beyond? Is there any possibility of holding the developer liable if there is a change in the nearby wells? 

It was also disappointing that the staff failed to provide the Planning Board with a Statement of Inconsistency, which I believe contributed to the Board voting to recommend rezoning. Despite that, many neighbors and I believe that rezoning this property is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan and existing patterns of development in this region of the county, and not in the public interest. The 20 lots that could be built there with the current zoning is plenty. 

I firmly believe that developments such as these, that benefit from no economy of scale besides a community well, are a deeply inefficient and short-sighted route to meet Orange County's housing needs. The reason they keep coming up before the board is because they are a standard way for a developer to leverage the least amount of cash (buying land that is cheaper because it’s rural and has no utilities serving it) to extract the most amount of wealth from the beauty and amenities of our community, regardless of harms. They claim to be "serving" our housing needs, but I believe that they are taking advantage of that need in order to turn a profit. I don't believe this is necessarily done in bad faith, but the result is inefficient use of land and resources being sacrificed for the sake of a project that does very little to relieve the housing burden, and does nothing for the need for affordable and accessible housing. Considering rezoning proposals case-by-case, parcel-by-parcel will never sufficiently address the housing need, and will essentially guarantee sprawl. It's a strategy that puts some of our county's most precious resources in harm's way, over and over and over.

I urge you to reject the Forestar/Rigsbee proposal for not meeting a standard in line with this property's value to the community. I hope we can instead address the need for housing in more thoughtful, top-down ways that give the intentional and careful consideration the issue requires. 

Thank you for reading,

Sadie Rapp

Morrow Mill Rd

[Jamezetta Bedford]

Ms Rapp,

On behalf of the Board, thank you for your comments on the proposed rezoning. I appreciate that provided time for us to read your email in advance of the meeting. 

Sincerely,

Jamezetta Bedford, Chair

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From: Sadie Rapp <sadie....@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 6, 2025 4:13 PM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: Tomorrow's rezoning hearing

 

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