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Attachment 11 27 <br />Revised 3/19/92 <br />ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT <br />GOAL - COMPLETE PREPARATION OF AN "ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT" <br />PROPOSAL <br />OBJECTIVE <br />As one of its FY 1990 -91 goals, the Board of Commissioners asked that <br />specific parcels be identified for pre- zoning in a manner consistent <br />with the Orange County Land Use Plan. In October, 1990, the Economic <br />Development Commission (EDC) and Planning Board (PB) adopted an <br />agreement which included the following objectives: <br />1. Identify appropriate locational criteria, land use categories, <br />and zoning designations to promote business; and <br />2. Develop performance standards and project size thresholds <br />which measure the impact of land development. <br />In December, 1990, the EDC Target Advisory Group completed a report <br />identifying preferred locations and types of businesses for Orange <br />County. Using construction cost data supplied by an area contractor and <br />a spreadsheet template to evaluate the economic feasibility of <br />development scenarios, the PB /EDC Work Group identified the preferred <br />distribution of land uses for selected target areas. <br />Rather than limit itself to traditional techniques, the PB /EDC Work <br />Group decided to evaluate other methods of controlling land use <br />intensity. Among the techniques were those promoted by performance <br />zoning advocates. To help the PB /EDC Work Group understand the <br />application of the standards, the staff conducted detailed analyses of <br />selected business sites to illustrate the relationship between <br />development character and intensity standards. <br />All of the work completed by the PB /EDC Work Group has led to the <br />formulation of a more definitive goal; i.e., to develop an "economic <br />development district" proposal with clear, acceptable performance <br />standards and streamlined approval procedures. The concept of an <br />economic development district is not new. The zoning district <br />designation currently exists in the Zoning Ordinance, and the purpose of <br />the district is "to provide locations for a wide range of low intensity <br />industrial, institutional, office and research use with no adverse <br />impacts beyond the space occupied by the use." Such districts are <br />normally associated with the Land Use Plan designations of "Industrial" <br />and "Commercial- Industrial" Activity Node, and designated in close <br />association with interstate highways. <br />