Orange County NC Website
as a transition area as it is in the path of urban growth. Then you designate it <br />without any consideration of anything else. The way this is done and the way that it <br />was addressed in the Hillsborough Comprehensive Sewer Plan, is to project the <br />population for that area. Then that population is converted to the land needed for <br />new housing units based on some assumptions about densities. Those densities may be <br />on an average in the range of two and one-half units per acre for transition areas. <br />The outcome of this is protection based on population projections. This is then <br />allocated around the community based on where growth is likely to occur or where you <br />want to see growth occur. <br />Jacobs asked about what would be the limit in terms of extending the transition <br />area. Collins stated that this would actually, with the exception of a few parcels <br />immediately adjacent on the east, be the limit of the transition area from a 20 year <br />planning perception, because therein lies the limit of the 20 year Hillsborough <br />service area. Beyond that point, is another drainage divide and the cast for service <br />into an area like that becomes more prohibitive than serving this particular project <br />because your pumping over one ridge and then over another ridge. This project, if <br />developed, would require the installation of pump stations. <br />Commissioner Marshall pointed out that Hillsborough created this plan without <br />consulting with Orange County about what we expected to do for land use. <br />PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPEN FOR CzTIZEN COMMENTS <br />Gordon Brown, an attorney representing University Station Associations and a <br />resident of Orange County, stated that the Land Use Plan Amendment was first brought <br />forward in July.. It was heard at a Gommissioners meeting in August and then withdrawn <br />by the applicant in September. The driving farce behind this withdrawal was a concern <br />that the County's water and sewer policy had not yet developed to the point that the <br />developer could ascertain whether the project would be feasible in relation to public <br />' water and sewer. The hallmark of these developers is they want to do this project <br />right. They believe that public water and sewer should be available. They share the <br />distrust of a lot of people about package plants and community water systems. The <br />technology to date just may not be there. The soils on some of this project do not <br />lend themselves to septic tanks and drainage fields. They feel that to get a quality <br />development there, and one that is reliable and in the public interest, that public <br />water and sewer should be available. That explains the hiatus between the summer and <br />today. The County's water and sewer policy is a long way toward realization and with <br />respect to that realization the developers felt that they should take advantage of the <br />once a year Land Use Plan Amendment which this hearing is on tonight. Consequently, <br />they are applying for a change to bring this property within the transition area which <br />is also coterminous with Hillsborough's 20 year water and sewer plan. It is important <br />to realize that in the fall there was no guarantee that whatever was done on this <br />property, the public water and sewer would be extended to it. Under the proposed <br />water and sewer policy, water and sewer can be extended to this project if it is in a <br />10 year transition area. This does not mean if this is changed to a transition area, <br />that developers can come in and automatically alter the density in this area. They <br />would came in under the existing R1 classification that allows approximately 1 lot per <br />acre. A lot of things would then have to be looked at to determine what they apply <br />for as the next stage. One option available is to simply apply for a planned <br />development at a density of one unit per acre. Another option would be to apply for a <br />rezoning change to a higher density. If that happens then it would be for only very <br />specific reasons. It may be to take advantage of the affordable housing policy that <br />the Board may be in the process of adopting now. It could want to take advantage of <br /> <br />