Minutes 05-27-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

the rural buffer future land use map designation (of the Comprehensive Plan). It is also designated rural on the Growth Management System Map and is located within the rural buffer/rural residential area land use category as detailed within the Joint Planning Land Use Plan. The request is to erect individual solar arrays on the property, totaling approximately 19 acres. The typical array, according to the site plan, is anywhere between 6 to 10 feet in height, with approximately 2 to 3 feet of ground clearance. The arrays will be approximately 63 feet in length. They will be screened by an installed 50 feet land use buffer, which we will get to an example in a moment. And there will also be an 8 foot high chain link fence surrounding the perimeter of the array. The applicant is proposing to develop gravel paths and drives around these arrays in order to permit access. Vehicular access to the site is restricted by a 24 foot gate that will be posed off of Cascade Road. There has been some concern expressed to staff over an initial soils report. What I will stipulate is that the applicant, specifically beginning on pages 69 with their environmental assessment, has supplied topographic, slope, and hydrological maps detailing the project's ability to be developed on the property. The property is composed with Georgeville soil according to the Orange County soil survey report. What the applicant has specifically requested is that a final condition is that a detailed soil assessment, including geotechnical compaction data, be done after the SUP is issued. Rationale for this is there is a large expense incurred with respect to the production of this report, and they feel it is necessary that the SUP be issued before they go into that level of detail. My comment at this point in time is this condition - this request is consistent with other similar projects reviewed and acted upon by this Board where such a report is required. This is a copy of the site plan. A couple of things I want to bring to the Board's attention -You will note that there are streams that are located on the property. Both our comprehensive plan and the future land use plan —the joint land use plan between Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County- denote these areas as being resource protection areas. The applicant has been made aware, and there are notes in the site plan indicating that these will be buffered in accordance with article 6 of our unified development ordinance, the preservation of stream buffers. The array is located on an upland portion of property and again, as indicated, it is approximately 19 acres of coverage. This is the proposed access road off of Cascade, with the access point going through the project. You will note that the applicant is indicating their inverter and transformers. Transformers located at various key points of the property. This here is a temporary staging area that will be eliminated once the project is developed, if approved. And this green area here denotes the required 50 foot wide land use buffer, which we are going to get to in a moment. This is also from the site plan, providing the typical fence detail as well as the typical elevation for the array. And this actually gives you a typical detail of the proposed buffer. As required by the unified development ordinance, there has to be a 50 foot wide buffer Type D land use buffer developed on this property. That requires a certain number of plantings per every 100 linear feet. There has to be 7 evergreen trees. There has to be then 16 evergreen understory trees and then a grand total of 68 shrub trees. And that is, again, for every 100 linear feet of the property. The proposed fence will be located on this side of the landscape buffer, not here. So what you will see is the landscape buffer, and then you will have a fence here securing the site.