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threshold used for other areas. EDC will look at these and submit some <br />specific recommendations for the different land uses. The ordinance has <br />an open ended approach for projecting traffic impact of future <br />development in a study area during the period under which a development <br />is under construction. EDC would like for this approach to be <br />standardized to reduce the potential for misunderstanding during the <br />entire review process. The existing ordinance under 13.3 provides a <br />general exemption which is to be deleted. EDC feels there may be <br />certain instances in which this provision may be needed. EDC is <br />presently in the process of making a recommendation for prezoning of <br />certain areas in the County that would be suitable for economic <br />development. The extent to which the traffic impact study ordinance <br />provisions are going to be required for the areas they have under <br />consideration is an important concern. Money will need to be included <br />in the budget to pay for the traffic impact study on these areas under <br />consideration. He stated that a written statement from EDC will be sent <br />to the Planning Board before they consider this item and make a <br />recommendation to the Board. <br />Barry Jacobs made reference to an area in Durham County which was <br />prezoned without taking into consideration the impact of the traffic and <br />how this adversely impacted the neighborhood. The only way he would <br />feel comfortable with prezoning would be to consider the impact of the <br />development in the area and a way to include that in the approval. <br />Larry Meisner from Kimley Horn stated that the thresholds were put in <br />as a guideline. Rather than have a developer come in and take a look at <br />the trip generation of 800 trips a day or 100 trips in a peak hour and <br />determine if his development meets that and then wonder if he has to go <br />through an impact study to find out if he needs to do one, the TAS <br />suggested putting in these typical thresholds. These are not <br />necessarily the final guidelines. They are based on the Institute of <br />Transportation Engineers trip generation report which is a standard for <br />the number of trips generated per one thousand square feet of office, <br />per thousand square feet of retail, per unit of single family or multi- <br />family units, etc. <br />Chairman Carey questioned the necessity of having the transportation <br />plan certified, stating that this increases the cost of doing the study. <br />Meisner indicated they want the study to be done by someone who is a <br />registered engineer or certified planner. It is a way to protect the <br />applicant and the public. The cost of a traffic impact study will <br />depend on the location, the intersections involved, the complexity of <br />the project, etc. Usually the minimum cost would be $2,500 to $3,000 <br />for a small project. For a medium size project it could cost from <br />$3,000 to $5,000. <br />JAY ZARAGOZA stated that what Chapel Hill or Durham does should be <br />irrelevant to what Orange County does. Wake County seems to function <br />very well without a traffic impact analysis. He feels that hiring a <br />certified engineer to come up with figures that can't be all that <br />accurate is unnecessary. <br />Motion was made by Commissioner Marshall, seconded by Commissioner <br />