Minutes 02-28-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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and raising equine has long been an accepted agricultural farming practice and should not be excluded from that category. The monetary expense to conform to the UDO as written is too prohibitive for many businesses which would be require in the very near future to make pretty/feel good adjustments to structures, landscaping, etc. The standards the UDO are excessive and too expensive for any business. Moments before this meeting, I was assured the UDO would not affect our current operations, but it was agreed the UDO is up for interpretation. Therein lies our main concern. The Ordinance as designed continues the practice of unduly restricting the rights of all property owners. Businesses will not be able to expand or develop other means of generating revenue which will grow the county coffers as well. This is not perfect world and the stringent requirements of this ordinance will not create one. Laura Streitfeld is Chair of the Board of Preserve Rural Orange. She thanked the Planning staff for explaining the UDO to her and answering some of the questions she had about zoning and how it affects the rural community. She asked the County Commissioners to consider specifically the key role that the County plays and can play in providing increased accountability, oversight, and public notice and limiting permitted uses for government entities including the County itself, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, OWASA, and others. She said that the University, at present, is permitted by right in agricultural/residential zones, in particular, the Bingham Township community, a research facility that was built years ago and had an expansion that was planned without any public notice to surrounding neighbors or the general public. She asked the County Commissioners to look at alternatives and look at ways to approach the UDO in this and future phases to approve the accountability and the oversight of such projects. Public notice is key for community members. She said that the County Commissioners should look at ways, in the case of special use permitting and conditional zoning, to increase the ability of citizens to be a meaningful part of the conversation and be able to request conditions that would have prevented the kinds of incidents they have seen with wastewater spills in the watershed, multiple malfunctions, and dramatically affected property values in the surrounding properties. She agreed with notifying neighbors beyond 500 feet in rural areas and seeking to extend public notice for upcoming development projects. She said that in the Town of Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina is not permitted by right to develop in residential zoning without a special use permit or rezoning. She asked the County Commissioners to consider looking at government uses in ways that would protect the rural community and the watershed so that agricultural and residential zoning might not be areas in which large-scale projects by government entities might take place. Pat Karow said that she is speaking on behalf of Darryl Chandler and they live in Rougement on NC 57. She read a statement from Darryl Chandler. Mr. Chandler has been working on trying to have some type of commercial zoning for almost seven years. The County put together a small area task force that he was part of. He thought that the conclusion was that the area around Orange County Speedway, go-cart track, concrete company, and the quarry should be allowed to have some type of commercial use. It has gone on for years and there has not been one thing done as far as getting something finalized. The County has spent a lot of taxpayer's money looking into this area and it is time to sign some conditional use into law. The parcel of land that he owns is 37 acres. Approximately four acres is adjacent to the concrete company, with loud trucks coming and going all day. On the other side of the concrete company