Minutes 03-27-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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