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W:1C <br />I. SPECIAL USE PERMIT ISSUES: <br />Your letter addresses staff s determination, as referenced within our aforementioned <br />letter, that the existing facility would require a Class A Special Use Permit (hereafter `SUP') to <br />allow for the approval and installation of a proposed septic system for the facility. We <br />understand that the presently installed system, now taken out of service from a ground absorption <br />standpoint, is over 3,000 gallons per day. As you may recall the County has a provision within <br />the Orange County Zoning Ordinance (hereafter `the Ordinance') mandating that development <br />projects requiring a septic system with a design /processing capacity of over 3,000 gallons a day <br />of ground absorption are required to obtain a SUP. <br />Staff had determined that the existing and proposed septic system exceeded the <br />established `threshold' requirements and, as a result, a SUP was required to allow for the facility <br />to operate with the revised system. In rendering our decision, based on the information we had <br />on hand at the time, staff further determined -that the property should have gone through the SUP <br />review and approval process back in early 2000 with the review and approval of the last site plan <br />modification request. <br />However in reviewing your response, dated October 28, 2010, planning staff, the <br />Planning Director, and the`County'Attbrney's office has determined the following with respect to <br />your contention that a SUP is not required to allow for the continued operations- of the existing <br />facility: <br />1. NCGS 153A.- 347..limits the applicability of the imposition of zoning regulation(s) <br />by counties to the: `erection, construction, and use of buildings' owned by the State. <br />2. The prroposed wastewater project does not involve the `erection, construction, and <br />use of buildings' on the property. It involves the installation, and upgrading, of a <br />septic system in accordance with-the requirements associated with the North <br />Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. <br />For our records, please accept this letter as a formal request for a copy and all <br />relevant information associated with this State permit. <br />3. Existing. case law. does not support the conclusion that a wastewater treatment <br />facility is a `building' and as such is not regulated by the County's zoning <br />ordinances. <br />While staff continues to maintain that we are not seeking to regulate the proposed septic <br />system through a zoning dj)prdval process, and We reserve the right to continue monitoring the <br />L= of the existing facility in order to evaluate its compliance with existing development <br />regulations, through this letter we hereby modify our original determination and fnld that a SUP <br />is not required to allow for the installation/modification of the septic system on the property as <br />currently proposed by the University. . <br />Please note that all required State and local permits and inspections will be required to <br />allow for the septic system to be modified. We encourage you to remain in contact and <br />coordinate efforts with the Orange County Health Department and Building Inspections <br />