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VOTE: UNANIMOUS The closing of the public hearing was implicit in the motions Craig Benedict said that they would be holding township meetings to take comment on the County's comprehensive plan. Commissioner Gordon said that the materials are available to the public from their township meetings and Craig Benedict said that they were available on the website as well as some hard- copies. D. NON-PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS Chapel Hill Town Council Members Edith Wiggins, Mark Kleinschmidt, Ed Harrison, Sally Greene and Cam Hill left the meeting at 8:45 p.m. Carrboro Town Aldermen Alex Zaffron and Mayor Mike Nelson left at 8:45 p.m. 9: 1. Agricultural Business Options/Rural Enterprises - To receive a brief report on a proposal to allow a greater range of agricultural enterprises in the rural areas. Although this is a countywide planning jurisdiction initiative, the report will focus on the Rural Buffer portion of the Joint Planning Area. This item is informational only and no action by the three governing boards is needed. Tina Moon made this presentation, which follows: In May of 20Q2 (May 28, 2iJ02}, Orange County staff presented the Commissioners with a proposal to provide more agricultural business options for local farmers. The project was a response to an increasing number of inquiries, in the planning and economic development departments, on haw to develop operations that were agricultural in character but not specifically listed as permitted in the County's current Table of Permitted Uses. Some examples included: corn mazes, teaching farms, composting operations, and rodeos. Staff's initial work focused on: • Identifying uses that are not allowed per our present ordinance but may be appropriate; • Considering the needs of smaller farm operations-5-2Q acres in size, including cultivated or pasture lands within subdivision open space; • Addressing facilities that process andtar sell agricultural products, which may ar may not be produced on site; • Determining where such special agricultural operations and facilities are best suited, and perhaps • Revising our existing zoning district categories-creating a potential new district far Agricultural Businesses or modifying our existing Agricultural Services district. Proposal: The simple color progression chart, (which was just handed out) provides asnap-shot overview of the direction that we have been heading--categorizing uses based on the strength of their link to agriculture, their intensity (size and scale), and creating permitting procedures accordingly (hence the progression from green to brawn). Since the purpose of this project is to make it