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-51- In the space provided below, or on an attached letter, present your interpretation of the ordinance provision in question and state what reasons you have for believing that your interpretation is the correct one: On February 1, 2012 the Orange County Planning Department approved a site plan application. submitted on December 9, 2011 for the University of North Carolina's Animal Research Facility in Bingham Township. UNC's site plan includes a replacing and. modifying a failed wastewater system with anew wastewater treatment and spray irrigation system with a design capacity of 3,55.6 gallons per day. Due to the size of the proposed UNC wastewater system (3,000 gallons per day or more), the University is required by county ordinance to apply for a Special Use Permit. Without an approved Special Use Permit, UNC's 3,000+ gallon per day wastewater system is prohibited in the Agricultural Residential district (UDO Section 3.3.). In April 2010, Planning Department staff determined that UNC was required to apply for a Class A Special Use Permit for the facility. Planning staff later reversed the determination in November 2010. Preserve Rural Orange believes that Planning Department staff's first determination was correct in requiring UNC to apply for a Special Use Permit. In its letter of October.28, 2010 to Mr. Benedict, UNC states that G.S..153 -347 (presumably citing to G.S. 153A -347) precludes the County from regulating the wastewater system and that State water quality rules pre -empt the County's ability to regulatethe system. Both interpretations unreasonably and unlawfully restrictthe County's authority to regulate wastewater systems with a capacity greater than 3,000 gallons per day. There are multiple areas of concern regarding UNC's site plan forthe animal research facility, including public health; safety, , security, impacts on the. watershed and water supply, and storage, transport and disposal of animal. waste. The Special UsePermit application and review process provides the Board of County Commissioners with the ability to fulfill "its responsibility to protect the public health safety and.general welfare" (UDO 5.1.3) and allows county citizens to share concerns. In 2009 and 2010 the UNC facility's wastewater system was found in violation of county, state and federal regulations. County Planning Department staff issued a notice to UNC that a the UNC facility's 3,000+ gallon per day wastewater system was installed and operating without the required Special Use Permit. In 2010, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality issued three notices of violation, a revocation of a deemed permit and civil penalties on UNC facility's wastewater systems in four months following a series of wastewater equipment failures, chemical contamination of the septic system, incursions into previously undisclosed wetlands, and illegal discharges, including an illegal discharge from a leaking waste lagoon into a tributary of Collins Creek that went unreported for 52 days. The Army Corps of Engineers issued a notification of unauthorized activity/permit noncompliance to UNC for failing to submit a Nationwide Permit Pre-construction Notification when constructing wastewater spray irrigation fields and a new access road in wetlands, in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. The 2006 Environmental Assessment submitted for the project in 2006 states that there will be no significant impacts and that there are no wetlands on the UNC property. On April 9, 2010 Planning Department staff sent a letter to UNC requiring the University to apply for a Class A Special Use Permit, citing the following determination: fn answering the University's question relating to the necessary process to review proposed modifications to the previously approved site plan(s), and based on available information, staff has determined thatthe University will be required to submit and seek approval of a Class A Special Use Permit Application allowing for the development of a facility requiring a ground absorption system with a design capacity over three thousand (3,000) gallons per day. The April 9`' Planning Department letter cited the following Orange County ordinance: