Agenda - 05-21-2007-c2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Rough Draft One - Small Area Plan 05/18/2007 KIN f1 1 In March 2006, the Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) began to review the need for re- starting the process for updating the Orange County Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. By October 2006, the BOCC adopted a new process for updating the Comprehensive Plan, which would include the Land Use Element and seven other elements, rather than focusing on an individual element. This process is scheduled to extend through August 2008. As the process was revamped at the Planning Board level, a major focus of initial discussion among staff and elected officials was initiation of several small area plans that would outline and detail specific initiatives focusing on development constraints and opportunities within defined areas of the County for inclusion within the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. As this discussion began, Planning Department staff identified several small area planning initiatives as being essential for completion, and for eventual inclusion within the revised and updated Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. An area identified as being essential for study was an area along NC Highway 57 near the Person and Durham county lines, specifically focusing on the impacts of existing non - residential developments within the area and identifying acceptable levels of future development of residential and non - residential uses. At the same time this discussion was occurring at a staff level, commercial property owners within the area expressed concern over the nonconforming designation and status of their property and the impact such a designation might have on their ability to continue to utilize their property. Several businesses in the area are considered to be legally non - conforming because they were in operation before County zoning jurisdiction was established in Little River Township. Staff determined that the development of a NC Highway 57 Speedway Area Small Area Plan, herein referred to as the Small Area Plan, represented the most appropriate course of action to begin addressing local residents and property owners' concerns over existing, and future, development trends within the area. The need to complete a comprehensive study of the area was based on several factors, including the following: 1. The existence of several non - residential, non - conforming, land uses within the area, specifically: Orange County Speedway (herein referred to as the Speedway), a go- kart track, a cement plant, and a rock quarry that was located within both Orange and Durham Counties, 2. The majority of undeveloped property within the area is located within identified protected watersheds thereby limiting the overall development potential of the area, 3. The County's desire to study the feasibility of encouraging additional non - residential development in designated rural areas of the County as a whole, and