Orange County NC Website
place to discuss the clustering. He suggested receiving an annual report so the County Commissioners <br />can see what is happening in the watershed. <br />Commissioner Carey said that he has a concern with having a carrying capacity in excess of <br />what is proposed. He supports option two because it accomplishes a number of different goals. <br />Craig Benedict said that the carrying capacity would work in option one or two. <br />Commissioner Brown feels that option two did not show the dramatic increase in the number of <br />lots that also increases the impervious surfaces. She said that she was on the Cane Creek Watershed <br />Study Committee and her recollection was that the report came back and it recommended the acreage <br />that should be zoned, and after that was the discussion of mitigation and clustering for the property <br />owners. She thinks that the five-acre lot size can accomplish open space and wildlife corridor protection. <br />Craig Benedict said that the best scenario for water quality issues is option one. He said that <br />even though option two is an increase over option one, it is a 33% decrease over the existing zoning. <br />Commissioner Brown would rather have the zoning be consistent with the University Lake <br />watershed. She made reference to page 15 where it talks about density bonuses. <br />Craig Benedict said that if option one was chosen there would not be any flexible development <br />provisions and density bonuses. <br />Commissioner Brown asked if any kind of alternative system for the clustering would be <br />allowed or would there just be a conventional system. <br />Craig Benedict said that the clustering would be designed for a minimum three bedroom <br />conventional system. <br />Commissioner Brown said that she supports option one. She believes that option two is a very <br />large increase in density. <br />Commissioner Jacobs suggested approving the five-acre lot zoning, with the understanding <br />that the Board would direct staff to work on option two and see if it can achieve the County's water quality <br />protection goals and come back to the County Commissioners with further modifications. <br />Commissioner Carey said that he feels that option two has the potential for addressing water quality <br />issues. He said that the Board should remember what the property owners said at the public hearing. He <br />feels that option two comes closer than the existing scenario to addressing all of the concerns including <br />water quality. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to table this <br />discussion and direct staff to pursue further analysis of option two for November 16tH <br />Commissioner Halkiotis noted that Orange County has been a leader in watershed protection. <br />He supports the five-acre minimum lot size. <br />VOTE: AYES, 2; NOS, 3 (Commissioner Halkiotis, Commissioner Brown, and Chair Gordon) <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Brown to approve <br />option one to implement a five-acre minimum lot size in the Cane Creek watershed. <br />Chair Gordon made a friendly amendment to the motion to approve option one tonight, but <br />have the staff bring back option two, without another public hearing, to be sure that it has substantially <br />equivalent water quality standards. <br />Geoffrey Gledhill said that the Board could adopt those ordinance amendments that relate to <br />option one and not take any action on ordinance amendments to option two. <br />Commissioner Jacobs explained his reasoning behind moving to table this discussion and said <br />that he did not want to preclude something because it was not fully explored. He is comfortable with the <br />present motion. He does not think that what was proposed as an alternative to option two was done to <br />undermine water quality protection. <br />Commissioner Brown made reference to open space and said that the County Commissioners <br />have never really discussed open space. She feels that adding the issue of open space tonight would be <br />premature. <br />VOTE: AYES, 4; NO, 1 (Commissioner Carey) <br />d. Proposed Zoning Atlas Amendment - Z-3-99 - Ernie McBroom <br />The Board considered a request by Ernie McBroom to rezone a 10.01-acre tract in Cedar <br />Grove Township from Agricultural-Residential (AR) to Agricultural-Service (AS).