Orange County NC Website
0 <br />development standards are also proposed in order to minimize any adverse impacts <br />on adjoining and nearby properties. The ASE program within the Rural Buffer land <br />use classification will potentially allow for development of more agriculturally - related <br />uses in the geographic area of the county designated "Rural Buffer" by utilizing a new <br />conditional zoning district (ASE -CZ) and by expanding agriculturally - related uses in <br />the Rural Buffer general use zoning district. <br />2. Analysis <br />Readers are encouraged to also view the companion Amendment Outline Form for <br />"Agricultural Support Enterprises Outside of the Rural Buffer Land Use Classification" <br />to gain more information about the entire ASE program (available as part of item #5 -a <br />on the May 20, 2014 BOCC <br />agenda: http: / /orangecountync.gov /occlerks /140520.pdf). <br />Because a text amendment to the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and <br />Agreement was necessary in order to apply the ASE program to the Rural Buffer, this <br />Comprehensive Plan /UDO text amendment was proposed separately from the <br />companion text amendment which applied to the County's planning jurisdiction that is <br />not designated "Rural Buffer." The required amendments to the Joint Planning Area <br />documents were heard at the March 27, 2014 joint planning public hearing and the <br />amendments were approved by the three local governments as of April 7, 2015. <br />The ASE concept, as it pertains to the Rural Buffer, was discussed at the November <br />21, 2013 Assembly of Government meeting. Meeting materials are available <br />at: _http: / /orangecount�nc.gov /occlerks /131121.pdf <br />As required under Section 2.8.5 of the UDO, the Planning Director is required to: <br />`cause an analysis to be made of the application and, based upon that analysis, <br />prepare a recommendation for consideration by the Planning Board and the Board of <br />County Commissioners'. The following information is offered: <br />The Rural Buffer is a geographic area of the county, under Orange County's planning <br />jurisdiction, that is also part of the Joint Planning Area (JPA) Agreement which is an <br />agreement between Orange County and the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro <br />(see for links to JPA <br />documents and maps). Agricultural uses are located in the Rural Buffer and <br />"Agriculture," as a type of use, was "folded" in to the Rural Buffer land use category in <br />the JPA Land Use Plan when the plan was developed /adopted. The Rural Buffer is <br />"further defined as being a low- density area consisting of single - family homes <br />situated on large lots having a minimum size of two (2) acres." Changes were made <br />to the JPA documents in 2014 to clarify that agricultural uses exempt from zoning <br />regulations are allowed in the Rural Buffer. The changes made to the JPA <br />documents in 2015 allow low- intensity agricultural support uses in the Rural Buffer. <br />The County UDO amendments for "ASE within the Rural Buffer" could not be <br />considered for adoption until after the amendments to the Joint Planning Area Land <br />Use Plan and Agreement were adopted by all three local governing bodies. <br />The existing Rural Buffer (RB) zoning district includes the following Pu <br />2 <br />