S ORD-1997-025 Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment EDDDesign Manual Article 3.2-Landscape Design

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21 b. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments (1) Economic Development Districts Design Manual a) Article 3.2 Landscape Design Presentation by Mary Willis. This amendment is to consider an amendment to eliminate the 100-foot buffer requirement along the perimeter of an Economic Development District(EDD)which abuts an EDD adopted by another planning jurisdiction. Article 3.2 Landscape Design(page 3.2.6)of the EDD Design Manual requires a 100-foot buffer around the perimeter of an EDD in order to separate incompatible uses. The northernmost portion of the Orange County I-40/Old NC 86 EDD on the west side of Old NC 86 between Cates Creek and Oakdale Drive consists of a narrow strip of properties,ranging from 300 feet to 500 feet in depth. The area bounded by the east side of Old NC 86,Cates Creek and I-85 is in the jurisdiction of the Town of Hillsborough and is also zoned Economic Development District. Since Old NC 86 forms a perimeter boundary for both the Orange County and the Hillsborough EDDs between Cates Creek and Oakdale Drive,it is applied on both sides of Old NC 86 where the two districts abut. However,the uses which would be allowed adjacent to Old NC 86 in both districts are similar and not incompatible,thus the protection which the perimeter buffer is intended to provide is not needed. Property owners in the narrow strip of the Orange County EDD requested that the application of the perimeter buffer in that area be reconsidered due to the extent of development constraints it creates. On August 28, 1995,a proposal to eliminate the buffer requirement between two adjacent EDDs was presented for public hearing. On October 2, 1995,the Board of Commissioners tabled the item. There has been no further Board action. The previous discussion on the issue of the perimeter buffer by the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board indicates concem for creating a desirable entranceway into Hillsborough. The Design Manual includes other standards that relate more directly to this concern. The perimeter buffer was created for a specific purpose not directly related to entranceway issues. The issue of the perimeter buffer was raised again by affected property owners during the recent development of a proposed site plan for the State Employees Credit Union. The Planning Staff recommends that it be reconsidered in the context of its purpose for separating incompatible uses rather than in the context of entranceway design.