Orange County NC Website
ORANGE COUNTY SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS TEXT AMENDMENTS <br />a. Amend Section III-D-1 to require notification of adjacent property <br />owners, pasting of a sign on property proposed for major subdivision <br />development and a Neighborhood Information Meeting for all Concept <br />Plan applications for major subdivision development including the <br />Rural Buffer. <br />Craig Benedict explained some maps. Presently there are certain processes <br />for subdivisions. Before a major subdivision comes forward in Orange County's <br />jurisdiction outside of the rural buffer, there is a neighborhood information meeting. The <br />purpose of this amendment is to standardize what occurs in both sections of the County, <br />so there is equity in the rural buffer and Orange County jurisdiction areas. The <br />suggested amendment is a sign on the property when major subdivisions came forward. <br />The sign will notify people of the Planning Board meeting to consider the subdivision. <br />Chair Jacobs asked about where the sign has to be located and Craig <br />Benedict said they will be visible from the public road. <br />There was no public comment on this item. <br />b. Delete the entire text of Section III-D-2 and reserve far future use. <br />c. Amend Section III-D-3 to require Class A Special Use Permit in addition <br />to Preliminary Plat Approval for Major Subdivisions creating 20 or mare <br />lots or involving 20 or more acres. <br />Craig Benedict said that, presently, a major subdivision goes through the <br />process of a concept plan where developers bring in a conventional plan and a flexible <br />option plan. This is brought forward to the Planning Board and the board decides which <br />plan is the best. The developer then brings forward a preliminary plat. The Planning <br />Board makes a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners and the County <br />Commissioners make the decision. The purpose of the new process is to be able to <br />more comprehensively review the preliminary plat part of the subdivision and put it in a <br />special use process. He described the different standards far subdivisions. The <br />Planning Board is discussing the traffic impact study for subdivisions. Presently, a traffic <br />impact study is required for an 80-lot or above subdivision. This could be changed, <br />depending on which road the subdivision is proposing. Other issues include fire <br />protection, mitigation for resource damage, drainage and storm water management, <br />solid waste management, irrigation, open space maintenance, Crime Prevention <br />Through Environmental Design, etc. These aspects can be added to the subdivision <br />review process during the preliminary plat stage and the special use class A stage. <br />Before final adoption, there needs to be adequate public input. <br />The County Commissioners and the Planning Board have discussed the <br />threshold for the special use process being 20 lots. It could also be 20 acres. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked if Craig Benedict was recommending all of the <br />standards if the project is large enough. Craig Benedict said that they have discussed <br />this with the Planning Board and the County Commissioners in detail. They thought that <br />it would be best for this meeting to have the all inclusive list of the different options and <br />then pare this down or have a phase one or a phase two investigation. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that this would probably need some fine tuning <br />because that is a lot of standards for a small developer. She is especially interested in <br />groundwater availability. Some of the standards should apply to all subdivisions. <br />Commissioner Carey said that if the threshold would be 20 acres rather than <br />20 lots, then he is concerned. If there is a small project, it could be very daunting. <br />