ORD-2001-023 Rural Guest Establishments Zoning Ordinance Amendments

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zoning ordinance. Craig Benedict said that this issue was also presented at the public hearing in May. These are changes to the actual ordinances that apply to all property in the County. Previously a bed and breakfast was only available for historic properties. The staff and the Planning Board brought to the public hearing a creation of a now section of the code, which is called "Rural Guest Establishments". It has three tiers of approval—a bed and breakfast with one to three guestrooms, a bed and breakfast inn with four to twelve guestrooms, and a country inn with four to twenty-four guestrooms. With all of these changes, it sets a stringent system of standards for these establishments. Administration is recommending amendment of the ordinances to include these new categories and the new standards of evaluation for the three new types of bed and breakfast facilities. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the landscape plan on page 14 where it delineates the kind of plan required for a bed and breakfast and said that the explanation was intimidating and that he feels there should be one sentence indicating that a simple drawing of the tree line which is required would suffice. In answer to a question from Commissioner Brown, Craig Benedict explained which plan would have to go to the Board of Adjustment. Commissioner Brown said that she feels these plans should come before the County Commissioners instead of the Board of Adjustment. She would like to monitor the requests. She thinks the Board of Adjustment is sometimes a longer process. Commissioner Gordon asked which zoning districts rural guest establishments are allowed. Craig Benedict said that the bed and breakfasts are allowed in RB districts, AR districts, and R1 districts; the bed and breakfast inns are allowed in AR districts and RI districts but not allowed in the critical area of University Lake, protected watershed of University Lake, Cane Creek critical area, or Upper Eno critical area; and the country inns are allowed in the same areas as the bed and breakfast inns. Commissioner Gordon agrees with Commissioner Brown's idea of having the County Commissioners approve the rural guest establishments. Commissioner Jacobs asked if it would suffice if we received a report on the applications that have been received by the Planning Department annually. Craig Benedict said that he would do an annual report for zoning permits and give reports on Class B special use permits online. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the RB and asked if this was the RB in the JPA and Craig Benedict said yes. She suggested adjusting the Class A Special Use Permit for the bed and breakfast inn from four to twelve to four to eight. She said that twelve is a lot for a bed and breakfast. County Attorney Geoffrey Gledhill suggested to not take action on allowing these bed and breakfast establishments in the rural buffer until we get some reaction from the Chapel Hill Town Council. The Joint Planning Agreement does require text amendments to be provided to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Brown to approve the proposed amendments without the rural buffer component. In terms of the Class B special use permit, the number of guestrooms in a bed and breakfast inn will be reduced to four to eight guestrooms and the Class A special use permit will be for nine to twenty-four guestrooms. VOTE- UNANIMOUS C. Gold Mine Property—Preliminary Plan The Board considered a preliminary plan for the Gold Mine property in Bingham Township. This is a nine-lot subdivision off of Gold Mine Road, a state maintained dirt road. The average lot size is three acres,which is over three times the minimum lot size. This is an open space flexible subdivision that provides 33%open space. The open space is along the roadway corridor and along the perimeter of some of the lots where there is a small stream. This subdivision did meet the private road justification. There will be individual wells and septic systems. The recreation requirement is being fulfilled by paying $455 for each lot for the district park requirement. The Planning Board approved this project and the administration also recommended approval. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page six and the certificate of declaration and maintenance and asked if that is for the road and Craig Benedict said yes. This declaration would be enforced by the Homeowners Association, Commissioner Jacobs said that there is no place in the resolution where the Homeowners Association is required to maintain the road. Geoffrey Gledhill said that it was not stated because it may I I -