Agenda - 10-18-94-IX-A - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

60 Adopted 8/17/93 Draft Revision 9/13/94 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT GOAL: COMPLETE PREPARATION OF AN"ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT" PROPOSAL STATUS REPORT This initiative has been completed and represented the continuation of an objective included among the Commissioners' goals for FY 1992-93.This initiative carried over into FY 1993-94 due to the amount of staff time required to address issues related to the completion of watershed protection standards, zoning of the two northern townships, and rural character strategies. Completion of this initiative resulted from adoption of the economic development district proposals in March, 1994 by the Board of Commissioners.Additional work will be required, however,which involves: (1) a cooperative planning effort,with the Town of Hillsborough, on the I.40/Old N.C. 86 district and a proposed I-85/N.C. Highway 86 district; (2) clarification of concerns related to Land Use Plan categories and locational criteria, and approval procedures; (3) adjustment of district boundary lines to eliminate "split" properties; and (4) a cooperative planning effort, with the City of Mebane, on the proposed expansion of the I- S5Buckhorn Road district. BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES As one of its FY 1990-91 goals,the Board of Commissioners asked that specific parcels be identified for pre-zoning in a manner consistent with the Orange County Land Use Plan. In October, 1990, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and Planning Board (PB) adopted an agreement which included the following objectives: 1. Identify appropriate locational criteria, land use categories, and zoning designations to promote business; and 2. Develop performance standards and project size thresholds which measure the impact of land development. In December, 1990, the EDC Target Advisory Group completed a report identifying preferred locations and types of businesses for Orange County. Using construction cost data supplied by an area contractor and a spreadsheet template to evaluate the economic feasibility of development scenarios, the PB/EDC Work Group identified the preferred distribution of land uses for selected target areas. Rather than limit itself to traditional techniques, the PB/EDC Work Group decided to evaluate other methods of controlling land use intensity. Among the techniques were those promoted by performance zoning advocates. To help the PB/EDC Work Group understand the application of the standards, the staff conducted detailed analyses of selected business sites to illustrate the relationship between development character and intensity standards. All of the work completed by the PB/EDC Work Group has led to the formulation of a more definitive goal; i.e., to develop an "economic development district" proposal with clear, acceptable performance standards, and streamlined approval procedures.The concept of an economic development district is not new.The zoning district designation currently exists in the Zoning Ordinance, and the purpose of the district is"to provide locations for a wide range of low intensity industrial, institutional, office and research use with no adverse impacts beyond the space occupied by the use." While such districts are normally associated with the Land Use Plan designations of "Commercial" and "Commercial-Industrial"Activity Node,and designated in close association with interstate highways, some changes to the Land Use Plan were required to "target" economic development districts at specific locations. Thus, a new land use category entitled "Economic Development Activity Node" was proposed.