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RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS <br />RAISED AT THE APRIL 61 1995 PLANNING, GROUP MEETING <br />1. Local ordinances restricting development in environmentally <br />sensitive areas. <br />Four key County ordinances come into play here. The Flood <br />Damage Prevention Ordinance restricts development in flood <br />hazard areas as defined by the Army Corps of Engineers. <br />Generally no new structures may be built in such areas and <br />land uses are restricted to such activities as general <br />farming, pasture, parking areas, golf courses, tennis courts, <br />parks, and open space and other similar private and public <br />recreational uses. The Orange County Zoning Ordinance in <br />conjunction with the Orange County Subdivision Regulations <br />requires buffers along streams, the protection of existing <br />trees, and larger lots and limitations on impervious surfaces <br />in protected watersheds. Finally, the Orange County <br />Environmental Impact Ordinance, while not restricting <br />development, does require that measures be identified to <br />mitigate the impacts of the proposed development. <br />2. Soil survey and suitability of soils for septic tanks. <br />The Soil Survey of Orange County, North Carolina prepared by <br />the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service <br />in 1977 identifies 22 primary soil types in the county. A <br />series of tables in the survey rates soils as to their <br />suitability for various uses (crop production as well as <br />development). Table 7 - Sanitary Facilities - lists the <br />constraints of each soil type for septic tank absorption <br />fields. Applicable ratings are moderate and severe (there are <br />no soils in the county rated as good for absorption fields). <br />The most common constraint listed in the table is "peres <br />slowly." <br />3. Clarify distinction between minimum lot size (0.92 acres) <br />permitted by R -1 zoning and 1.85 acre average lot size. <br />With the exception of the Rural Buffer area, the majority of <br />the Stoney Creek Basin is zoned Residential -1 (R -1) . The <br />minimum required lot size is 40,000 square feet (0.92 acre) or <br />approximately one acre. For residential development to take <br />place on a lot this size, there has to be a primary as well as <br />a back -up drainage field for the absorption of septic tank <br />effluent. In addition, there has to be a suitable separation <br />(100 feet) between the absorption field(s) and the well site. <br />Soil characteristics on the site (see question 2) have a <br />direct impact on how much land is needed for drainage field, <br />