Orange County NC Website
149 <br />PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT 2 <br />i <br />ORDINANCE: zoning Ordinance <br />REFERENCE: Article 22 - Definitions (Efficiency Apartment) <br />ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: X Staff Planning Board <br />BOCC X Public <br />Other: <br />STAFF PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION: _X High Middle Low <br />Comment : <br />PUBLIC HEARING DATE: May 29, 1990 <br />PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT: <br />To amend the definition of an efficiency apartment in Article <br />22 to allow flexibility as to the location of such units. <br />IMPACTS /ISSUES: <br />A single family dwelling unit with an efficiency apartment is <br />permitted by right in RB, AR, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R8, R13, <br />• LC1, NC2, CC3, EC5 and OI zoning districts. <br />By definition, the efficiency apartment must be located <br />within the single family residence and may not be detached <br />or separate from the principal residence. Planning staff has <br />interpreted an efficiency apartment to be "within a single - <br />.family residence ..." if it is connected to the principal <br />dwelling. <br />Planning Staff has encountered difficulty in determining if <br />an efficiency apartment is "attached" in a manner which <br />complies with the intent of the Ordinance. In one instance, <br />it was requested that the efficiency apartment be "attached" <br />to the primary residence via a 100 -foot long enclosed <br />walkway. <br />The proposed amendment would allow an efficiency apartment <br />as a separate structure, provided that the total area of the <br />unit did not exceed 25% of the area of the residence, with a <br />maximum size of 800 square feet. It is also required that <br />the efficiency unit remain in the same ownership as the <br />principal residence. Individual sale of the efficiency unit <br />or the primary residence, or expansion of the efficiency unit <br />in excess of the maximum allowable floor area would not be <br />permitted until the property was subdivided in accordance <br />with the Orange County Subdivision Regulations. No more than <br />one efficiency apartment is permitted on a lot. <br />The amendment would allow more flexibility in the location of <br />the efficiency apartment, yet through size restrictions, <br />