Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1. n <br />APPLICANT STATEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION, AND STAFF COMMENT <br />(Addendum to Findings of Orange County Planning Board pertaining to <br />Z -8 -89 Envirotek, Inc.) <br />1. The Zoning Ordinance as it exists and the policies which <br />generated and administer this ordinance as they exist are in <br />error for the following reasons: <br />a. The present zoning fails to recognize negative impacts of <br />an interstate highway on adjacent properties and allow for <br />a reasonable, acceptable usage of these negatively impacted <br />properties. <br />Staff Comment: The completion of the I -40 corridor was anticipated in <br />the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan (JPA -LUP). The <br />Interstate was specifically identified as one of 8 <br />specific "growth shapers ". Intense development <br />pressure in the I -40 corridor, particularly at <br />intersections, was expected, due to the combination of <br />the I -40 extension and job growth in the Research <br />Triangle Park. <br />The designation of the area as Rural Buffer in the <br />JPA -LUP was a conscious one. The initial draft of the <br />JPA -LUP, presented for public hearing in January, <br />1986, included a Rural Industrial Activity Node at the <br />intersection of New Hope Church Road and I -40. There <br />was considerable public opposition to the New Hope <br />Church /I -40 node, as well as to nodes proposed at <br />Calvander, and along Homestead Road. <br />In April., 1986, a revised plan was presented for <br />public hearing. The New Hope Church /I -40 node was <br />eliminated in the revised plan.- <br />The JPA Land Use Plan received final approval in <br />November, 1986. The only commercial areas permitted <br />in the Rural Buffer area were Rural Neighborhood <br />Activity Nodes located at Blackwood Station and <br />Calvander. <br />The Zoning Ordinance does require a 100' buffer <br />adjacent to interstate right -of -way in the Major <br />Transportation Corridor providing some protection <br />against traffic impacts. There are also provisions in <br />the Subdivision Regulations allowing clustering of <br />residential lots. The buffer width which can be <br />achieved through clustering is sufficient to mitigate <br />visual and noise impacts of 1 -40, to a level <br />compatible with residential use. <br />b. The present zoning violates fundamental principles of <br />planning by not providing for a variety of residential <br />services available to the residential areas. The present <br />zoning does not allow for the orderly provision of services <br />to support desired residential usage of the area. <br />1 <br />