ORC minutes 010814 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Approved 2/5/14 5 Craig Benedict: I can’t mention the companies but I’d say every few weeks we meet with somebody through the 197 economic development circle and sometimes we look at existing land with existing building and bring Michael into it. 198 Typically, there is an issue so I would say yes we have found people who would be looking for categories that 199 would allow more activities. 200 201 Herman Staats: So this is primarily to allow manufacturing on that site or allow an increased level of manufacturing 202 on that site that also allows research; where does biotechnology research type of zoning fit in Orange County? 203 204 Craig Benedict: There is a separate category, when a company comes in we try to categorize it. The unique thing 205 with research and development is there may be 20% operations in research and development and then the back 206 office is about how to put that stuff together. There are a lot of interpretations that can get us in trouble. This would 207 give us a little more latitude. 208 209 Michael Harvey: If you go to page 27 of the abstract, we have listed out those various general use zoning districts 210 where research facilities are allowed as permitted uses. We also have the conditional use zoning process where 211 individuals could come in with a proposal to put it anywhere if they wanted to go through that process. I think the 212 concern here is trying to take existing zoning or a new district and address a concern about marketing for land uses 213 that have a diverse component to them that involve a myriad of different activities each one of which could be 214 classified as its own principal use on the same site. 215 216 Buddy Hartley: I like the concept. Say you’ve got a bank coming in, a hotel, a vocational school, fire 217 department/rescue and all that but then the question I would have is that lot of people will be needing to eat. It 218 would be a good spot for a restaurant. Could the hotel have an onsite restaurant? 219 220 Michael Harvey: Yes it could. 221 222 Buddy Hartley: I’m taking about an area where a lot of people are staying in that area. 223 224 Craig Benedict: If it were on a separate parcel, they could go through a Special Use process. That is the type of 225 office park we would like to see. 226 227 Buddy Hartley: That’s what I’m thinking we’re trying to do. 228 229 Tony Blake: Has any thought been given to defining the percentage of any particular activity and marrying that to 230 the land use? For example, you have 200 acres here and we only want about 50 acres in that manufacturing 231 maximum in that spot, I don’t know but it seems to me over time things morph. 232 233 Michael Harvey: The problem with percentages is statistics can be used to say anything you want. You can have a 234 permitted use that all of a sudden becomes nonconforming because it is at 51% because you have established a 235 percentage base to it. It would be more appropriate to come up with a list of categories and uses that are permitted 236 in association with that use which is what this district is a start towards and a comprehensive reassessment of other 237 districts to see if we need to provide that same level of flexibility. 238 239 Tony Blake: The problem that occurs to me is that company A comes in here and company B and company C and 240 company A grows faster than B and C and creates more pressure on the infrastructure in that area than B and C. 241 Then B and C want to grow but they can’t and conflict can arise. 242 243 Craig Benedict: When Orange County worked with the Town of Hillsborough for the Hillsborough area economic 244 development zones, we had those percentage concerns. We developed somewhat of a Small Area Plan that was 245