Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
3 <br />PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT <br />ORDINANCE: Zoning Ordinance /Private Road Standards <br />REFERENCE: Article 22 - Definitions (Efficiency Apartment) <br />ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: X Staff Planning Board <br />BOCC X Public 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 22 to <br />allow flexibility as to the location of such units. <br />IMPACTS /ISSUES: <br />A single family dwelling unit with an efficiency apartment is permitted <br />by right in RB, AR, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R8, R13, LC1, NC2, CC3, EC5 and <br />OI zoning districts. <br />By definition, the efficiency apartment must be located within the <br />single family residence and may not be detached or separate from the <br />principal residence. Planning staff has interpreted an efficiency <br />apartment to be "within a single - family residence ..." if it is <br />connected to the principal dwelling. <br />Planning Staff has encountered difficulty in determining if an <br />efficiency apartment is "attached" in a manner which complies with the <br />intent of the Ordinance. In one instance, it was requested that the <br />efficiency apartment be "attached" to the primary residence via a 100 - <br />foot long enclosed walkway. <br />The proposed amendment would allow an efficiency apartment as a <br />separate structure, provided that the total area of the unit did not <br />exceed 25% of the area of the residence, with a maximum size of 800 <br />square feet. It is also required that the efficiency unit remain in <br />the same ownership as the principal residence. Individual sale of the <br />efficiency unit or the primary residence, or expansion of the <br />efficiency unit in excess of the maximum allowable floor area would not <br />be permitted until the property was subdivided in accordance with the <br />Orange County Subdivision Regulations. No more than one efficiency <br />apartment is permitted on a lot. <br />The amendment would allow more flexibility in the location of the <br />efficiency apartment, yet through size restrictions, assure that it <br />remained accessory to the primary residence. Furthermore, an <br />appropriately - equipped unit as small as 750 square feet is considered <br />accessible and usable by the physically handicapped (based on N.C. <br />Department of Insurance, Engineering Division recommendations.) <br />