Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
5 <br />and multi - family projects disappeared. Such a set of circumstances would substantially <br />reduce County revenue. <br />There have been few complaints about the fees Orange County charges. Most have come <br />from the family type subdivisions. The big developers seem to assume it is the cost of <br />doing business in Chapel Hill and the potential return is worth it. <br />Out of necessity, the County provides a lot of service on these sites that should be <br />provided by the developer, so an increase in fees seems reasonable. <br />Staffing <br />Warren advises that in order to increase oversight, additional staff is needed in the <br />Erosion Control Division. The projects received in the past five years are more intensely <br />developed on more difficult land, requiring more involvement and time on the site. Staff <br />have not been able to keep up with reviewing and responding to proposed development <br />plans and commenting on erosion and sediment control. This is an important function so <br />that problems are caught early in the design process and corrected. County standards have <br />not been able to keep up with the increased level of development and the more difficult <br />sites that cause most problems and take up much staff time. The current level of plan <br />review, supervision, administration, and experiments do not allow adequate time to <br />ensure that the plans presented are not just compliant, but also successful in controlling <br />sediment pollution. <br />A new position soon would help address new, large projects, like additional phases of <br />Southern Village and the proposed Meadowmont that are starting and will require more <br />review and inspections. In addition, more time and effort is needed to address violation <br />and citizens complaints about sites not under County jurisdiction, such as those <br />conducted by the Department of Transportation, school sites, timbering, and claims of <br />agricultural exemption. <br />Warren says that current sediment control measures, particularly sediment basins, <br />perform poorly. The standards used in Orange County are an effort to improve <br />performance but there is still need for improvement. The State's standards are even more <br />out of date than the County's, and the State is slow in moving to improve their standards. <br />So, the County needs to move forward on its own. There are no jurisdictions using more <br />effective controls, that he is aware of and has examined, that Orange County can just <br />copy. During the past four years, the County has been conducting experiments to improve <br />sediment basin performance and has seen great improvement using these devices. In <br />some cases these devices can save developers money. Additional experiments are being <br />performed on measures that can further reduce sediment pollution. However, time and <br />effort are required to write the standards and specifications needed to formally adopt <br />these measures so that the water quality benefits can be provided on all sites. <br />Warren indicates that the person in a new position would perform inspections and review <br />erosion and sediment control plans submitted for permitting. The grade for the position <br />