Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
0 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date:November 27, 1995 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> item# C-1-b <br /> SUBJECT:CP-3-95 LAND USE ELEMENT AMENDMENT(NATURAL&CULTURAL RESOURCES) <br /> DEPARTMENT: PLANNING PUBLIC HEARING: X Yes No <br /> ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Planning Director X2592 <br /> Proposed Amendments <br /> TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br /> Hillsborough 732-8181 <br /> Chapel Hill 967-9251 <br /> Durham 688-7331 <br /> Mebane 227-2031 <br /> PURPOSE: To receive citizen comment on proposed amendments to the Land Use Element of the <br /> Comprehensive Plan. <br /> BACKGROUND: The current Section 2.2, Natural Environment, of the Land Use Element was initially adopted <br /> in September, 198 1.Only two amendments have been made to that section since then. The first <br /> amendment occurred in August, 1989, following completion of a staff-generated Inventory of <br /> Sites of Cultural. Historical, Recreational. Biologdcal. and Geological Significance in the <br /> Unincorporated Portions of Orange County. The second amendment occurred in December, <br /> 1993, and included changes to the"Water Resources" section through which to implement, in <br /> part,the State's Water&MIX Watershed Protection Act of 1989. <br /> Revisions to the above mentioned sections of the Land Use Element are proposed for the <br /> following reasons: <br /> • Inventories for historic sites(1992-93),archaeological sites(1993-1994),and natural areas <br /> and wildlife habitats(1987-1988) have been prepared but have not been incorporated into <br /> the Land Use Element. <br /> • With the adoption of the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan in 1986, and updates of <br /> various Township components in 1988, a new Land Use Plan category, Resource <br /> Protection Area,was introduced.The Land Use Plan is a composite of Township Plans,but <br /> the application of the Resource Protection Area category to the county-wide plan has not <br /> been accomplished. <br /> • As part of its recommendations, the Rural Character Study Committee (1993) advocated <br /> the preparation of a Comprehensive Resources Map to identify and overlay critical <br /> environmental,natural,wildlife, cultural, historic, archaeological,biological, and geologic <br /> resources to show land owners and developers the location of such sites,and encourage the <br /> voluntary use of conservation easements. <br /> • Recent initiatives by the Agricultural Districts Advisory Board have focused on the use of <br /> conservation easements as a means of voluntarily preserving agricultural lands, including <br />