Agenda - 02-23-1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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a, t- o- 2. Physical Environment a. Geography, climate, soil types.--Orange County is comprised of 254,720 or 398 square miles. The greater portion of undeveloped land is in thE Northern portion of the county. -Approximately 30% of the land in the county is used for pasture and cropland, according to a 1975 report, terrain is mostly rolling, with elevation varying from 200 feet in Sout Orange,. to over 700 feet in Northern Orange. The most significant aspect of the climate is the periodic drought particularly in the summer, which has in recent years led to mandated conservation measures in the more densely populated southern portion of county. The soils in Orange County tend toward the clay types and approxim 40% are unsuitable for ground absorption sewage disposal systems. This figure of 40% is based on new standards adopted by Orange County in Jul 1977. Because the former standards permitted use of soils not now acceptable, more of the currently undeveloped land has been found unsuitable than was the case before July 1977. b. Major industries/occupations/health hazards.--In North Carolina, manufacturing constitutes 35. 5% of employment; for Orange County, this figure is considerably lower--15.9%. On the other hand, educational services constitute the employment of 28.4% in Orange County, but only for North Carolina as a whole. Related to, skill level, 37.4% of employment is in a professional or managerial capacity in Orange County, compared to 18. 5% for the State. Low skill, level is reported as a probl in 6% of Orange County households (1978-1979) compared to 14% in all of North Carolina. c. Housing.--According to 1978-1979 data, Orange County has fewer household experiencing unsanitary conditions (8%) or substandard housing (7%) than the rest of the State (10% and 15% respectively). However, other data estimates 18% of Orange County households experience an unhealthy living environment (North Carolina Department of Human Resources Needs Assessme Re.ort 1979: An Anal is of Human Needs). d. Transportation.--The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are served by an extensive bus system consisting of several routes. Special services are available for the elderly and handicapped through the public transportat system. In addition there is taxi service available at all hours. In Hillsborough a taxi service operates from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. A bus company out of Burlington stops in Hillsborough on its route between Burlington and Chapel Hill in the early morning and late afternoon. In addition, several public and private non-profit organizations provide transportation for their clients. A coordinated human services transportation system has been planned under the auspices of the County Government. Teens in Northern Orange were transported to Family Planning Clinics until school board policies prohibited this activity. e. Other.----N/A,