Agenda - 03-06-2014 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment 3 26 Office of the County ORANGE COUNTY Attorney P.O.BOX 8181 200 S. CAMERON STREET �r � HUI SBOROUGHf,NC 27278 October 17,2013 Mr.Jerett Yan OCR External Compliance Program U.S. EPA, Office of Civil Rights (Mail Code 1201A) 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20480-1000 i Re:EPA File No.: 13R-07-R4 Dear Mr.Yan: On June 20,2013 you informed me in a letter sent via email that the Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA")Office of Civil Rights had accepted for investigation an administrative complaint received by EPA on April 18,2019 Three months have passed and I have heard nothing regarding this investigation. For that reason I am writing to address the allegation that Orange County's Planning and Inspections Department "discriminated on the basis of race by denying water and sewer service to the African American Residents of the Rogers Road Community." Specifically, your letter states theinvestigation is based on a complaint that alleges Orange County is complicit with the Orange Water and Sewer Authority ' ("OWASA"),an independent governmental unit,in a race-based denial of water and sewer service to residents of the Rogers Road community because Orange County's Planning and Inspections Department did not seek grants similar to the grants received for Buckhorn and Mebane projects. This allegation is baseless and approaches the level of being a fraudulent misrepresentation. By way of background both the Buckhorn and Efland(Mebane project)areas are within Orange County's ; jurisdiction so noted within its Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Atlas. The area that is the subject of the complaint(i.e.Rogers Road Area)is partially within the town limits of the Town of Carrboro and partially within an area controlled by an adopted interlocal agreement known as the Joint Planning Agreement ("JPA") between Orange County and Chapel Hill. The Joint Planning Agreement deals with land use. The two primary areas of the JPA include Transition'areas(i.e. areas transitioning to a future urban character)to be administered by the towns and'Rural Buffer;to remain a lower housing density area. This created an Urban Services delineation which also set the boundary of future town annexations. The local governments assigned transition areas to implement land development ordinances"...just as if the land were located within the respective Town's planning jurisdictions." The role of the County In JPA areas is to comment on land use consistency with the common land use plan map but not to direct development activities in areas anticipated for municipal annexation. The Town of Chapel Hill has notified the county on.its intent to formally change these areas to add them to its extraterritorial jurisdiction in the immediate future. • - l r I