Orange County NC Website
NC Highway 57 Speedway Area Small Area Plan <br />Policy. The County should encourage stone quarry operation to bring the property into <br />compliance with provisions of Article 8 of the Zoning Ordinance and work with local <br />officials to address off -site impacts by means of the following standards: <br />1. Noise. No blasting activity shall occur within five hundred feet (500') of perimeter <br />property lines. The stone quarry managers shall have developed and submitted a pre - <br />blasting survey of all structures within 3,000 feet of the quarry operation. The stone <br />quarry managers shall develop and maintain a blast notification directory and inform all <br />persons within the directory when blasting activities are scheduled to occur and shall <br />utilize the most current, noise - reducing blasting techniques authorized by the State of <br />North Carolina. The stone quarry managers shall establish limits on blasting activities to <br />coincide with provisions of the Orange County Noise Ordinance. At a minimum quarry <br />and rock crushing activities shall not exceed 60 dBA as measured at any perimeter <br />property line. <br />Noise baffling systems shall be installed at the stone crushing plant. All stone crushing <br />equipment shall be operated within an enclosure, and any stone crushing activities shall <br />only occur between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. <br />2. Buffers and Berms. A one hundred foot (100') Type -F buffer shall be erected and " <br />maintained around the perimeter of the property and a natural buffer or man-made berm <br />to ensure that there is no quarry activity within 200 feet of a stream or other protected <br />water body. No extraction activities shall occur within three hundred (300') of any <br />occupied residential dwelling. The stone quarry managers shall install and maintain <br />necessary earthen berms or screens, which shall not exceed twenty feet (20') in height <br />from the existing natural contour line and shall be constructed utilizing native soils from <br />the property or of inert material, to prevent flying rock as the result of blasting activities. <br />A six -foot (6') high security fence shall be erected around the entire circumference of <br />active mining areas and shall be posted with warning signs advising of the dangers of the <br />site. <br />3. Groundwater and Property Impacts. The stone quarry managers shall locate and <br />describe all monitoring wells on the quarry property and make all data collected from <br />said wells available to Orange County personnel for review. The stone quarry managers <br />shall work with the BOCC to establish a "No Fault Well Repair Fund" to cover the costs <br />of repairing wells damaged as the result of stone quarry activities. <br />The stone quarry managers shall work with the BOCC to develop a `Loss of Fair Market <br />Value program' for property owners who lose market value on their property as the result <br />of quarry operations and shall maintain insurance coverage for any blasting damage to <br />surrounding residences. <br />4. Operational Characteristics. The stone quarry managers shall use only defined <br />access points along Highway 57 and Mile Branch Road and shall work with NCDOT, the <br />State Highway Patrol, and County officials to address traffic management issues by <br />making improvements to the Highway 57/Mile Branch Road intersection. <br />The stone quarry managers shall develop an education program to continuously remind <br />all drivers of existing local speed limits along local roadways and provide adequate <br />notice, to all drivers to keep their loads covered. The stone quarry managers shall install <br />spray bars and rumble strips to control and regulate truck traffic before they exit the <br />31 <br />