Agenda - 05-20-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 Perdita Holtz said this is located on page 35 -38 of the handout. She said Commissioner 2 Gordon passed out the actual UDO amendments this evening. 3 Council Member Harrison asked if the listed uses are now allowed in a lot of other 4 districts. 5 Perdita Holtz said most of the uses are new. She said the microbreweries might be 6 allowed under a broader land use classification. She said Orange County's non - residential 7 uses are broad, so in some cases a use is not currently designated, and now it is being 8 specifically addressed in the regulations. 9 Council Member Harrison asked if the request is countywide or only in the rural buffer. 10 Perdita Holtz said there is an amendment going forward for areas outside the buffer as 11 well as an amendment that is specific to the rural buffer. 12 Commissioner Gordon said the first amendment package being considered tonight has 13 to do with things the staff felt needed to be done that are not specifically related to allowing 14 agricultural enterprises in the rural buffer. 15 She said this part of the meeting has to do with agricultural enterprises in the rural 16 buffer, and that is why she passed out the document with additional information on the 17 amendment package. She said the boards are being asked to make amendments to the joint 18 planning land use plan and the actual joint planning agreement, and her handout provides 19 context. She said the first pages of her handout give an overview of what is being proposed. 20 ( "Agricultural Support Enterprises Basic Zoning Program ") and then the rest of the document 21 gives the UDO and Comprehensive Plan Amendments for the Area Within the Rural Buffer 22 ( "Amendment Package for Agricultural Support Enterprises Within the Rural Buffer "). 23 She is hoping that the boards would look at her hand out and provide comments. She said the 24 Board of County Commissioners will not consider these amendments until September. She 25 said that certain proposed amendments, such as a community meat processing facility, winery 26 with events, community farmers market, and others really do allow a lot more uses in the Rural 27 Buffer than the current standards. She said in the interest of transparency she wanted the 28 boards to have this information. 29 Commissioner McKee said no one is being asked to make a decision tonight. He asked 30 Perdita Holtz to clarify that nothing is allowed by right, without review. 31 Perdita Holtz said very few uses are allowed, and there are five new ones. 32 Commissioner McKee said some the major things mentioned by Commissioner Gordon 33 are not staff decisions, but require multiple levels of review. He said this does allow a lot more 34 activity to happen, but his point is that there are multiple levels of review. He said the farmers in 35 this rural buffer area need the opportunities to generate additional revenues in order to remain 36 in farming. He said he seriously doubts there will be any meat processing facilities in Orange 37 County, much less the rural buffer, as it is a major undertaking. He said farm stands may pop 38 up, as this requires customers, so it fits in the area. He said he hoped people would not get 39 hung up on some of the proposed uses but will look at this holistically from a view of what it can 40 do for the agricultural community. 41 Alderman Slade said he would like to see a map of how many farms are in the rural 42 buffer area. He would like to find ways to support local farmers, and this proposal makes sense 43 to him. He said Carrboro is looking to allow light manufacturing in their town through a process 44 of zoning. He encouraged the Board of County Commissioners to use the' /4 cents sales tax in 45 support of agricultural enterprises. He would like to see how the money is being spent, and he 46 would like to see breakdown of the sales tax numbers throughout the County. 47 Chair Jacobs said parts of the monies are dedicated to agricultural economic 48 development activities. He said the County is in the process of hiring a new agricultural 49 economic development person who will be dedicated just to that portion of the economy. He 50 said the Board has been working on this since Maple View Farms ice cream store came into 51 existence. He said the County had to figure out a suitable process for engaging the flexibility to