Orange County NC Website
14 <br />where required by Building Code. Nearby fire points (ponds) will continue to provide adequate water for <br />fire - fighting requirements associated with a larger campus. <br />Stormwater collection and treatment for improved areas of campus will meet current State <br />requirements which are above those that were in place during the initial development. Low impact <br />stormwater collection in disconnected systems will be promoted to allow more infiltration of <br />stormwater run -off into the on -site soils. <br />(2) The Use will maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property (unless the Use is a public <br />necessity, in which case the Use need not maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property). <br />Future campus expansion as part of this master plan is planned to continue to develop in a low impact, <br />pedestrian focused manner as all previous development on the campus. The goals of promoting <br />walkability and on campus student safety, as well as minimizing the impact on the wooded, residential <br />setting of the existing campus and on the surrounding residential areas will remain the mission and the <br />development trend of the EWS. Parking and internal traffic improvements will reduce potential conflict <br />and congestion on surrounding roads. Due to the fact that the existing property use is not changing, it is <br />highly anticipated that the values of contiguous properties will be maintained as their current values are <br />based on the fact that a school is already in the proximity. An outside expert has been obtained to <br />provide additional material and expert testimony on this issue. <br />(3) The location and character of the Use, if developed according to the plan submitted, will be in <br />harmony with the area in which it is to be located and the Use is in compliance with the plan for <br />the physical development of the County as embodied in these regulations or in the Comprehensive <br />Plan, or portion thereof, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners. <br />The master plan improvements proposed to the campus are intended to be constructed in such a <br />manner as to minimize visual, acoustic and aesthetic impacts on the surrounding area and to keep the <br />expanding campus in harmony with the surrounding residential properties that it now strives to achieve. <br />Again, the existing use of the property as a school minimizes, if not omits any potential concerns of the <br />proposed use violating the harmony of the existing area. <br />3. SPECIFIC STANDARDS OF EVALUATION: <br />3.1.1 Harmonious and Efficient Organization <br />This master plan has been strategically prepared, to the greatest extent possible to promote <br />harmonious and efficient organization in relation to existing topography, existing vegetation, the <br />character of adjoining property, the type and size of existing, and proposed building(s) by incorporating <br />like sized structures in a sprawling type organization so as to minimize disturbance to the natural <br />environment. This allows EWS to preserve the topo and natural portions of the site to the greatest <br />extent possible. <br />3.1.2 Preservation of Natural State <br />Based on a review of the various school parcels, Rich Shaw, the Orange County Land Conservation <br />Manager, states; "There is no significant natural heritage area known to exist on or adjacent to the <br />subject property. However, there is a stream that flows through the southernmost parcel (PIN X -1935) <br />