Orange County NC Website
meeting. Or, there could be a meeting after number 6, "Orange County Staff and <br /> Planning Board review and recommend preferred Concept Plan subdivision design." <br /> Ken Chavious asked where the applicant would go first. He said that the preference <br /> would be to have Orange County's zoning first, and then get water and sewer. <br /> Geof Gledhill said that in Orange County's zoning ordinance, the developer is required to <br /> submit two plans —a flexible and a conventional plan. In most cases, the County will <br /> select the flexible development plan because there is open space included. Part of the <br /> process of the flexible development plan is that the developer has to present the <br /> capacity of the land if it is developed with septic systems. He said that just because the <br /> developer proposes to use public sewer for the project does not mean that the <br /> development changes or becomes denser. <br /> Mayor Phelps suggested that each board have the agreement brought back for changes. <br /> Chair Brown said that the County Commissioners want early intervention. <br /> Mark Sheridan said that this needs to be implemented and the two boards need to meet <br /> on large projects and it requires the willingness of the boards to meet more often - <br /> maybe four times a year. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs suggested to Craig Benedict that he bring back a proposal for the <br /> County Commissioners' May 20th meeting. <br /> 5. Eno River Capacity Use Agreement (Orange County & Hillsborough <br /> Planning and Orange County & Hillsborough Engineer) <br /> John Link made reference to attachment 5-a and said that the idea was to pursue <br /> common ground in the County's and the Town's water restriction stages. <br /> County Engineer Paul Thames distributed an update to the attachment from Kenny Keel. <br /> Eric Peterson said that the staff needs to set general parameters that are needed to <br /> work and then address the issues and then come back to the board. The staffs still need <br /> to get together in the next few weeks. The Town staff will get direction from their board <br /> on Monday night. <br /> Craig Benedict said that the second part of the agenda item is the master use plan for <br /> Orange County and the upper Eno basin (map). He said that the County is considering <br /> lowering residential density in areas around this area in land use recommendations. <br /> Water quality is one of the biggest reasons for lower density provisions. <br /> Mark Sheridan asked about other concerns such as turf farming as stated in the <br /> abstract. Paul Thames said that since the capacity use agreement was done, there <br /> have been three turf farms that take water out of the river to irrigate the turf farms. It is <br /> not known how much water is used, but it is at least a couple of thousand gallons a day <br /> and this changes the flow model for the Eno. If water is taken out in such quantities then <br /> a drought could come sooner. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis noted that a couple of the turf farmers had transitioned from <br /> tobacco farming. There must be a balanced view. <br />