Agenda - 12-15-2009 - Information Item 1

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reviewing the Zoning Ordinance, specifically Section 11.9 Nonconforming Uses of Major Structures, or Structures and Premises in Combination, staff has discovered the following: 1. Such uses may not be enlarged, extended, altered or replaced, except for a change to a use permitted in the district in which it is located, and 2. If a nonconforming use ceases for more than one hundred eighty (180) days in any two (2) year period, subsequent use shall conform to the regulations of the district in which located. Asphalt plants are not specifically listed in the Permitted Use Table (Section 4.3) as a permitted or special use of property within the AR zoning district. The only district where asphalt plants are considered to be permitted uses of property is the Industrial One (I-1), Industrial Two (I-2) or Industrial Three (I-3) zoning districts as a Manufacturing and Processing Operation. It should be noted that the location of a manufacturing and processing plant within one (1) of these three (3) zoning districts depends on the potential for adverse impacts to be experienced beyond the boundaries of the lot where the operation is housed. CONCLUSIONS: In reviewing the timeline of events of the Highway 57 quarry operation, and addressing issues concerning the possible operation of an asphalt plant from the property, staff has reached the following conclusions: QUARRY OPERATION: That the quarry operation has a `de-facto' Special Use Permit issued in accordance with Article Eleven (11) Nonconformities, specifically Section 11.6, of the Orange County Zoning Ordinance, 2. That the expansion of the quarry operation in 2004 constituted a `modification' to the Special Use Permit in accordance with Article Eight (8) Special Use Permits, specifically Section 8.7, of the Orange County Zoning Ordinance, 3. This modification would have been reviewed by the Orange County Board of Commissioners as a request to modify an existing Class A Special Use Permit, 4. Hanson Aggregates claims that the County was notified of the proposed modification through a certified letter sent to Mr. John Link, former County Manager, and signed for by Mr. Travis Stevens. Staff has been unable to ascertain what happened to this letter or verify what information it contained. ASPHALT PLANT: 1. Staff has determined that an asphalt plant is not a customary accessory use to a quarry operation. Staff arrived at this interpretation based on the following: a. The quarry operation is classified as an `Extraction of Earth Products' under Section 4.3 Table of Permitted Uses of the Orange County Zoning Ordinance,