Orange County NC Website
1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />I <br />shared open space in the rest of the development. He said now about ninety percent of local <br />subdivisions have this conservation cluster design, with at least thirty three percent open space <br />and an HOA. <br />Commissioner Dorosin said HOAs are already required or encouraged through <br />incentives. He said this structure is already a part of the development model, and having HOAs <br />engaged does not seem unreasonable. He said the HOA fear of not having money to maintain <br />the system is the same fear as not having money to maintain the open space. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said this requires a higher degree of maintenance, responsibility <br />and open space. He said there are debates within HOAs about whether residents want to pay <br />for things ranging from maintaining private roads to maintaining the community systems. He <br />said this is where he finds more potential problems. He said if HOAs are to be more relied <br />upon, then the County may want to have more say over HOA responsibilities. He asked if such <br />oversight is even within the legal purview of BOCC. <br />Craig Benedict showed the Board a copy of the latest edition of Rural by Design by <br />Randall Arendt. He said Orange County is mentioned in the book. The author has visited <br />Orange County occasionally over the past twenty years since his first edition of the book. He <br />said part of the open space and flexible design idea came from Arendt's ideas in the mid 1990s. <br />He said that Arendt currently sees the thirty -three percent open space concept as a minimum. <br />He said Arendt is leaning more towards fifty or sixty percent open space. He added that in <br />some cases the open space could be farmed, forestry, stream buffers, etc. He said that Arendt <br />also suggests lots as small as 10,000 square feet to minimize roads and impervious off site <br />septic systems. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said in the past developers were using the setbacks required in <br />the ordinance as open space and thus offering almost no additional open space. He said this <br />continued until the ordinance was changed. <br />Craig Benedict presented the following slides: <br />Zoning Regulations — septic system (tanks and nitrification fields) <br />• PROHIBITED FROM BEING LOCATED: <br />• Within stream buffers <br />■ Staff Comment: Section 4.2.2 (1) of UDO establishes a waiver provision <br />where lots created prior to January 1, 1994 or October 19, 1999 (lots in <br />Cane Creek Overlay) can get an exemption from this prohibition. <br />• Within 300 feet of the reservoir in the University Lake Critical Watershed Overlay <br />(tank and field). <br />• Within Cane Creek and Upper Eno Critical area new septic tanks are prohibited <br />within 150 feet of the reservoir. Nitrification fields cannot be within 300 feet of <br />reservoir. <br />■ Staff Comment: Health regulations only require a 100 ft. setback from a <br />reservoir and 50 ft. from a stream <br />• Within 100 feet of a perennial or intermittent stream. <br />■ Staff Comment: Again we have a waiver requirement to ensure we are <br />not denying a property owner use of their property. <br />Zoning Regulations — septic system <br />On -site versus off -site installation <br />• OFF SITE SEPTIC TREATMENT AND /OR DISPOSAL PROHIBITED WITHIN <br />UNIVERSITY LAKE CRITICAL AND PROTECTED WATERSHED OVERLAY <br />DISTRICT(S). <br />