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January 20, 2009 (Regular Meeting) Page 1154 would like to buy a farm. If you pass this tonight, he said he will be able to buy a farm for less money since the value is going down. Next, he said he understands the fact that the County does not want to become a bedroom community and that a balance between industrial, commercial and residential is needed. He said because of a financial scheme, we saw a resurgence of residential development--where you can buy a house with no money down and that he does not have to tell you about that. Industrial is the basis and "you guys" (the City and the County) seem to like Philip Morris, Pillowtex, Corning --the big guys seem to be interesting. (Note: The timer went off signaling the end of the 15 minute segment for the opponents.) He said he always found that the small industrialists that live here, that spend here, that bank here and that have their kids here, is what the United States is about. If you look at Philip Morris, he said the money has been long gone from New York. Related to the down zoning, he said you will have people coming to talk about this because their property is going to be affected. He said he talked to Kevin Blackwell of Old Castle Precast and they need I-2 zoned property to do their business. He said if you showed them I-1 property today and asked them "why don't you establish your business there", they could not do it. He said they called the County and was told that nothing has changed and that you will be able to continue your business. He said that is true, as a nonconforming use. He asked what is going to happen if they need to expand. He said Old Castle has rented land next door to make sure they have room to expand and if the property is rezoned to I-1, they cannot put their concrete pipes there. Chairman White asked Mr. Beaudry to wrap things up. Mr. Beaudry continued, saying the County told him it was because residential asked for that condition; he said there is no residential touching that property. He said "you" are taking away the industrial base of the county and that Old Castle has to decide if they are going back to Atlanta or staying here. He said if you put sticks in their wheels, they will go to Atlanta. He said down zoning industrial is the wrong thing to do and does not know why it is in the plan. He said the County needs to keep its industrial base here because every time a house is connected, the County has to pay. He said when industrial comes here, they create jobs and if Old Castle leaves, 25 jobs are gone. In closing, he asked the Board to separate the industrial land from the plan; and said as far as the rest of the land goes, he does not care because he is looking for a farm. Chairman White announced the Board has heard from Mr. Newton and Mr. Beaudry during the first 15 minutes and asked if there is anyone else to speak against the rezoning that has a different viewpoint. James Mann, resident of 4500 Old Salisbury-Concord Road in Kannapolis, said he owns a 140 acre farm and in the last few years, there were several developers interested in his land, but he has put too much hard work into it, to sell to a developer. He said he discovered there were green space programs that were willing to buy the development rights and it was going to be a win-win situation for him. He said now they are not as interested as they were originally because of the rezoning. From his point of view, he said this rezoning is taking money directly out of his pocket. Plus, he said his taxes have increased every year with no hope they will go back down. He said his farm has historical value and he would certainly hate to see it get developed. In closing, he said the Board took his win-win situation away. Chairman White thanked Mr. Mann for his comments and asked if there is anyone else to speak that is generally against the rezoning. He stated specific parcels will be addressed shortly. Darrell Furr, resident of 3800 Cold Springs Road South in Concord, he is kind of general for this rezoning but he is confused. He said he does not understand. When you look at this, (this is one of the pictures in the rezoning right here) he said you have multiple houses on Zion Church Road, it does not make sense. He said you want to rezone where you can keep houses from being built there, he agrees, keep it more open space. He said these people already got their money out of this deal and have already sold out. Moving onto the next picture, he said this is a picture of farmland; it should be out in the open, right? He said five days ago, the county rezoned that property to put a school there (A. T. Allen). He said it did not matter what anybody said; itis a bad location on a dead-end road. He said location wise, you are going to have to try to get land to add roads into it, there are areas that are not useful for ball fields and it is on a dead-end road. He displayed another .picture coming into the school site from Miami Church Road, facing east if you make a left-hand turn. He said this does not seem right because you have houses on one side, multiple businesses on the other