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~~~ <br />B. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS <br />Application requirements for an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan are contained in Articles <br />2 and 20 of the Zoning Ordinance. Listed below are the applicable requirements, followed by <br />information provided by the applicants and/or staff comments (shown in bold). <br />Amendment Rationale <br />Article 2.2.14 states the reasons for which the Comprehensive Plan may be amended: <br />a. "Because of changed or changing conditions in a particular area of the County." <br />The applicant cites the creation of the Lower Eno Protected Watershed in 1993 for <br />compliance with the State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Act of 1989. The <br />area included in the proposed amendment is within the only Orange County portion <br />of the Neuse River Basin that is currently not within a water supply watershed. <br />staff acknowledges this fact, but it is unclear as to the implications of the Watershed <br />protection Act on "changed or changing conditions" of the property. <br />b. "To correct an error or omission in the Comprehensive Plan." <br />No error or omission is cited by the applicant. <br />c. "In response to a change in policies, objectives, principles or standards governing the <br />physical development of the County." <br />The applicant cites the property's proximity to the proposed alignment to the <br />Western Bypass and two major arterial roads as shown on the Hillsborough <br />Transportation Plan adopted in 1997. While this rationale is not specifically <br />referenced by the applicant, the adopted Hillsborough Transportation Plan could be <br />considered "a change in...objectives...governingthe physical development of the <br />County." <br />Qualification of Amendment as Principal or Secondary <br />Article 2.2.14.2 describes the classification of Comprehensive Plan amendments as `Principal' or <br />`Secondary'. This proposed amendment is a Principal amendment under 2.2.14.2.c in that <br />principal amendment proposals are for new freestanding plan areas or additions to existing areas <br />that exceed one hundred (100) acres in land area. <br />The property involved in the proposed amendment adjoins an existing Ten-Year <br />Transition Area and is 391 acres in size. The connection with the existing <br />Transition Area occurs along approximately 420 feet of shared frontage with NC 86. <br />2 <br />