Orange County NC Website
3 <br /> <br />after the amendments to the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and Agreement are <br />adopted by all three local governing bodies. The analysis that follows for the <br />proposed Comprehensive Plan and UDO amendments presume that necessary <br />changes will be made to the JPA documents before adoption consideration of the <br />Comprehensive Plan and UDO amendments. <br /> <br />It is noteworthy that the existing Rural Buffer (RB) zoning district includes the <br />following Purpose statement: <br />The purpose of the Rural Buffer (RB) District is to provide locations <br />for rural residential developments and agricultural, silvicultural or <br />horticultural uses which serve to buffer or separate more intensively <br />planned and/or developed portions of Orange County. Development <br />within the Rural Buffer (RB) District is at very low densities (the <br />minimum lot size per dwelling unit is two acres) and relies on <br />individual wells and ground absorption systems for domestic water <br />supply and sewage disposal, respectively. <br /> <br />The RB purpose statement shows that agricultural uses were envisioned to be <br />allowed/included in the Rural Buffer. The policy decision to be made is whether <br />appropriate uses that support agriculture, thereby enhancing the continued viability of <br />agriculture, should also be allowed in the Rural Buffer. <br /> <br />The proposed text amendment would add the following agriculturally-related <br />uses/activities as “permitted by right” in the RB general use zoning district, subject to <br />the use-specific standards proposed in Article 5 and the general development <br />standards in Article 6: <br /> <br />• Agricultural Processing Facility, <br />Community <br />• Community Farmers’ Market <br />• Cooperative Farm Stand <br />• Community Meat Processing Facility <br />• Non-Farm Use of Farm Equipment <br />• Microbrewery with Minor Events <br />(requires Class B SUP) <br /> <br /> <br />The proposed text amendment also would allow application of a new conditional <br />zoning district, ASE-CZ in the Rural Buffer. Conditional zoning districts allow <br />applicants to apply for a rezoning that can be considered on a case-by-case basis, <br />taking into account the suitability of a particular parcel of land for a proposed use(s). <br />Mutually agreed upon development or operational conditions can also be applied to <br />the rezoning action. Conditional districts are a regulatory tool that help local <br />governments allow appropriate uses on a site-specific basis while also allowing the <br />imposition of conditions that may help ease nearby residents’ concerns about a <br />particular use. <br /> <br />Because of the uniqueness of the Rural Buffer, some of the uses applicants may <br />• Winery with Minor Events <br />(requires Class B SUP) <br />• Microbrewery, production only <br />(requires Class B SUP) <br />• Winery, production only <br />(requires Class B SUP) <br />• Rural Heritage Museum <br />(requires Class B SUP) <br />• Rural Special Events <br />170