Orange County NC Website
b. The definition Extraction of Earth Products in Article Twenty-two (22) of the Zoning <br />Ordinance reads as follows: <br />The process of removal of natural deposits of mineral ores, soils or <br />other solids, liquid or gaseous matter from their original location. It <br />does not include any processing of such material, beyond incidental <br />mechanical consolidation or sorting to facilitate transportation to the <br />site of use or location of further processing. <br />c. By definition, `Extraction of Earth Products' does not include the processing of <br />extracted material on-site. As a result, manufacturing and processing operations are <br />not permitted to occur on such development sites. <br />2. As previously indicated, the quarry owners point to a letter written in July 1991 by Mary <br />Scarbo of the Orange County Current Planning staff, which stated that an asphalt plant <br />could be an acceptable accessory use associated with a quarry operation as justification <br />that an asphalt plan can be re-located at the quarry site. <br />In staff s opinion this letter is being misinterpreted by Hanson Aggregate officials. Staff <br />arrived at this determination based on the following: <br />a. The interpretation is inconsistent with the definition of `Extraction of Earth- Products' <br />contained within Article Twenty-two (22) of the Zoning Ordinance. This was the <br />same definition that appeared within the Zoning Ordinance in affect in 1991, when <br />the letter was authored, <br />b. The letter in question was written with regard to questions about the American Stone <br />Quarry operation along Highway 54 within the Bingham Township, not about the <br />Highway 57 operation, <br />c. The letter indicates that the proposed asphalt plant at this site: <br />`may be considered an accessory use, provided the development of the <br />asphalt plant is carried out in accord with the attached August 21, 1991 <br />memorandum from Everett Billingsley of Orange Water and Sewer <br />Authority' . <br />It is apparent to staff that the asphalt plant was being considered for location at the <br />American Stone site as a result of this specific proposal. As this proposal was <br />indicative of this site, this `approval letter' cannot be utilized to construe that the <br />County was making the formal interpretation that asphalt plants were customary <br />accessory uses to all quarry operations throughout the County, <br />d. The letter goes on to illustrate this point in the third paragraph where Ms. Scarbo <br />writes: `The asphalt plant, if developed in accord with the proposal referred to <br />above, would satisfy the definition of `accessory use' ...'. Staff contends that this <br />letter was never intended to serve as a formal policy position but to address a specific <br />development proposal on a specific parcel of property, <br />e. Section 4.3 of the Zoning Ordinance establishes a specific location for manufacturing <br />and processing operations, specifically within Industrial zoning districts. Staff <br />