Orange County NC Website
WHEREAS, Community Health Centers like those operated by Piedmont Health Services promote 100% <br /> access and zero health disparities to help achieve primary health care for all people; <br /> NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners do hereby <br /> proclaim the week of August 18 through 24, 2002 as "Health Center Week" in Orange County and urge <br /> all citizens to recognize the important contributions of the health centers operated by Piedmont Health <br /> Services, Inc. to the improvement of the general quality of life of the residents and citizens of Orange <br /> County. <br /> This, the 20`h day of August 2002. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 6. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS <br /> a. Tuscany Ridge Preliminary Subdivision <br /> The Board received a special report on issues and answers concerning the approved <br /> Tuscany Ridge subdivision. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that, despite what it said in one of the documents received from a citizen, <br /> the Board does want to listen. He said that the Board agrees with Commissioner Gordon in that it was a <br /> surprise to the Board that our regulations did not include notification to people in the rural buffer as they <br /> do to people elsewhere in Orange County. He said that the Board regrets that this was an oversight on <br /> the part of Orange County government for almost 20 years. He said that in the future, residents would <br /> be notified about developments. He said that this is not a public hearing. He asked that residents <br /> signed up to speak to address the concerns that have not adequately been addressed by the staff or by <br /> the County government so that it can be referred to the staff to get some answers. He asked the citizens <br /> to keep comments to three minutes. <br /> Commissioner Brown said that this is being brought up because of the joint planning <br /> agreement with Chapel Hill and Carrboro that created the rural buffer. This is an inter-local agreement <br /> with our municipalities and usually we do not tamper with this document. She asked Craig Benedict to <br /> describe the inter-local agreement to the public and explain the rural buffer. She personally would not <br /> like to see the inter-local agreement tampered with because there was a lot of opposition to it by <br /> developers who wanted to break the rural buffer agreement and extend water and sewer. Her position <br /> has always been to have a rural buffer and to maintain it so that Chapel Hill and Carrboro do not grow <br /> and create a huge urban area all the way to Hillsborough. She thinks it is very nice to see citizens that <br /> enjoy the rural buffer and feel a sense of what it is all about. <br /> Planning Director Craig Benedict spoke on the joint planning agreement and how this project <br /> fits in. The joint planning agreement was adopted in 1987. It set an area together of about 48,000 acres <br /> on the north and west side of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. It was one of the first in North Carolina to set <br /> some urban growth boundaries. Also, the rural buffer set some density standards. Only one lot per two <br /> acres is allowed in the rural buffer. Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County were partners in this <br /> agreement. He said that he is not suggesting major changes to the agreement, but we do need to look <br /> at it and improve it in some ways. He referred to a hand out with about nine issues, which he will <br /> address later. He went on to give a history of the Tuscany Ridge project. In November 2001 a concept <br /> plan was submitted for 22 lots on 55 acres. It was processed by staff for about five months and in March <br /> 2002 it was brought to the Planning Board. The concept plan was approved unanimously by the <br /> Planning Board. It then moved to the preliminary plan stage. On June 6`h the Planning Board <br /> unanimously approved the subdivision because it met all conditions of the code. The subdivision was <br /> brought to the Board of County Commissioners on June 27`h. It was reviewed and approved by the <br /> Board of County Commissioners. He described how some sections of the code have neighbor <br /> notification and other sections of the code do not. Major subdivisions within the rural buffer do not <br /> require neighborhood notification. He said he could informally notify neighbors about a subdivision but <br /> that it is not a part of the code. He does agree that similar notification requirements throughout the <br /> County would be fair and equitable. He said that we could proceed with a rule change to the land <br /> development code in the subdivision process and make neighborhood notification a requirement. <br />