Orange County NC Website
Glen Bowles then cited an example where a lady called and asked him far a letter to <br />give to the state of NC to establish an adult care facility in her house. He had to determine <br />what the zoning on the house was and if it met our zoning regulations. So they get their state <br />license first and then if there are any zoning issues they have to deal with them after they get <br />their license or while they are getting their license. <br />John Link said if there are problems with the operation of a facility once the zoning <br />aspects are examined, there are Social Services here in Orange County, active Day Care <br />Associations throughout the state, the State Division of Facility Services and they are the ones <br />who come in and look at the operation of the facility. Craig Benedict acknowledged that is <br />correct. He also said that zoning for certain caliber facilities might require a special use permit <br />B from the Board of Adjustment or in some cases a special use permit A which would go in <br />front of the Planning Board and the Commissioners. Craig also said that they are not really <br />sure if the state hasn't issued licenses to people without thoroughly checking with them <br />concerning zoning issues. <br />John Link said they are working closely with our own Social Services Department and <br />Glen Bowles said yes that is true. <br />2. Status Report on Building Activity - To provide an update of Inspections Division activity <br />and building trends within Orange County and Hillsborough. <br />Craig Benedict said that Susan Mellott, Building Inspections Division Supervisor <br />would go over a few charts that are in the Commissioners' packets. <br />Ms. Mellott explained that they permit, process, and inspect buildings built within the <br />unincorporated areas of Orange County and the Town of Hillsborough. Attachment 1, Chart A <br />reflects how many homes are built per year. The chart starts out at a little above 300 in 1995, <br />drops back down in 2001 and 2002 fiscal years, but that is not a true reflection of the work <br />they are charged with inspecting. Chart B reflects the average square footage that is actually <br />inspected. As the number of homes built went down in 2001 and 2002, the actual square <br />footage increased. The complexity of work increased along with large home size. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked if they are seeing fewer and bigger homes and Ms. Mellott said <br />yes that is true. Attachment 2 reflects in a graphic representation the townships, the number <br />of homes per township, the square footage, the number of bedrooms, and the valuation. One <br />interesting note, Cheeks Township had the largest number of homes, the smallest average <br />square footage so the smaller homes are concentrated in that area. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about units and Susan Mellot said multiply by 1 million. <br />Ted Triebel said the chart indicated one and two family dwellings and he wondered if <br />the two family dwellings meant a duplex. <br />Susan Mellot said that would be single-family detached dwelling, duplexes, mother-in- <br />law apartments, town homes, and modular homes. Attachment 3 reflects the volume of field <br />inspections, which is the heart of what they do. There are three reasons those inspections are <br />increasing: the complexity of single-family dwellings, an increase in commercial projects, and <br />code changes that took place in 2003. <br />Commissioner Gordan asked about the field inspections number that goes from 0- <br />20,000. Ms. Mellot said that the definition of a field inspection would be a building inspection, <br />a framing inspection, footing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical. The average number of <br />inspections has increased from a minimum of 11 to 18 with the new code adoption. <br />Susan Mellot said that the state adopted the international code and it increased the <br />number of inspections. <br />Commissioner Gordon said if you read among these charts they show in the year <br />2002-03 actual inspections of approximately 14,000, but the number of units does not reflect <br />this. <br />Susan Mellot said that the building inspections are total inspections that would include <br />residential and commercial. Commercial has not been introduced yet, but the majority of <br />inspections in Orange County are residential. <br />