ORD-2004-020 - Zoning Text Amendment for Land Clearing Waste Facilities

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Chair Jacobs made a clarification on page 212 where it says, "the property must be accessible from astate-maintained or a private road with a road maintenance agreement." He said that it does not have to be astate-maintained road and a farm road is fine. If it is a private road, there just needs to be some assurance that all parties to the private road maintenance agreement have agreed that it is ok. Commissioner Halkiotis asked why the property must be in the use value program. Robert Davis said that they decided they did not want these landfills in places where they would not be suitable. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if all large tracts of land in the County were in the use value classification and Robert Davis said no. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to some developers from Cary that came in and dumped a lot of things, mostly poison ivy. He said that we are adding to the cost of housing in the County and hurting a lot of people because of some bad people who do not live here. He said that DOT is finally paving the last bit of Lawrence Road and they are hauling the good material to Alamance County because they cannot afford to dump it in Orange County. This is evidence that this stuff is being hauled out of the County with the diesel-powered trucks. This is sending dollars out of the County. He would like to see where all of these sites are in the County. He said that there are responsible citizens in the County and they deserve respect. He said that he and Chair Jacobs went out and visited some sites and they were very responsible. Robert Davis said that the State is coming around and trying to educate people on these facilities. The State has put together some brochures of steps to take to get the notification and come into compliance. Commissioner Gordon asked if a farmer wanted to clear some more land to farm, would that farmer be permitted to push the stumps and the rocks and other things someplace else on their land and bury it and Geof Gledhill said yes. Commissioner Gordon said that she does not understand how this proposed LCWF amendment is an additional help to farmers. Geof Gledhill said that the farmers can sell the availability of these sites. Commissioner Gordon read from the first page which stated the problems with an LCWF such as igniting underground and above ground fires, environmental contamination, filling of drainage ways, increased truck traffic on rural roads, and dumping of materials other than land clearing waste. She said that the Planning Department has had a lot of trouble getting one elderly gentleman to get rid of his junk. She is not sure how this would work successfully. She is especially concerned about the dumping of materials other than land clearing waste. She said that it may be that a larger lot size could be required and that these LCWF sites should not be allowed in the higher density residential areas, including the Rural Buffer. She said that this is a potential nightmare and she feels really uncomfortable about it. Barry Katz asked about the organic material and if it had to be ground up. Robert Davis said that it could not stay over ground for more than 30 days.