Orange County NC Website
053 <br /> PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT <br /> ORDINANCE: Zoning Ordinance <br /> REFERENCE: Article 8.8.7 Golf Courses <br /> 8.8.7.1 Intent <br /> ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: Staff Planning Board <br /> BOCC Public <br /> __Other: Golf CART,County Attorney <br /> Expected Public Hearing Date: August 25, 1997 <br /> Purpose of Amendment: To a) provide consistency in the ordinance regarding expansion and <br /> modification of existing golf courses and b)to establish appropriate criteria for evaluating changes <br /> to Special Use Permits issued for golf courses. <br /> Background: During preparation and review of the recently adopted standards and approval <br /> procedures for golf courses,the Golf Course Amendment Review Task Force(Golf CART)and the <br /> County Attorney recommended review of other sections of the Zoning Ordinance. The two sections <br /> noted are 1)Article 8.7.1 which affects changes to a golf course approved with a special use permit <br /> under the new regulations in Article 8.8.7 and 2) Article 11, Non-conformities, as it applies to <br /> existing golf courses. <br /> Article 8.7 of the Zoning Ordinance contains provisions for changing a Special Use Permit after the <br /> original approval. Minor changes may be approved by the Zoning Officer, while modifications <br /> defined by the ten criteria in Section 8.7.1 are subject to review at a public hearing before the Board <br /> which approved the original application. The Golf CART was concerned that some of the criteria <br /> used to distinguish a Special Use Permit modification requiring Board approval from a minor <br /> change would not be appropriate when applied to a project with the size and complexity of a golf <br /> course. <br /> For example,an increase in usable floor area or an increase in the size or number of approved signs <br /> constitutes a modification requiring a public hearing. Given that 1) floor area is not an appropriate <br /> measure of the intensity of a golf course as a land use, and 2) a golf course typically includes <br /> numerous signs that are not visible from a public road, it is reasonable to re-evaluate the current <br /> criteria listed in Article 8.7.1 in the context of a golf course so that changes which are small in <br /> proportion to the use are considered minor and eligible for administrative review. The proposed <br /> amendment is incorporated in the"Applicability" section of the new golf course regulations, rather <br /> than include provisions for changes to a specific type of Class A Special Use Permit in Article 8.7, <br /> which applies to all special use permits. <br />