Agenda 09-03-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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33 1 Commissioner Bedford asked Planning staff if the Planning Board has requested 2 that the department study the stormwater runoff. 3 Michael Harvey, Current Planning and Zoning Supervisor, said the Planning Board 4 requested that staff provide feedback. He said there are stormwater regulations for more 5 restrictive areas, and staff has been directed to provide pros and cons to the Planning 6 Board on this issue. He said when modifying stormwater regulations can increase costs, 7 and this needs to be understood prior to making a decision. He said current regulations 8 state that a developer cannot increase the amount of stormwater leaving a site, and he is 9 confident that this will be the case with this development, but staff is responding to the 10 Planning Board's request to look at the pros and cons of modifying the standard. 11 Michael Harvey referred to Commissioner Dorosin's question on recreational 12 access, and said that Article 7 of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires 13 Pedestrian Open Space Access (POSA) easement. He said the applicant is responsible for 14 providing the POSA, so that internal lot owners can access all open spaces. He said the 15 applicant is aware of this, and this provision will be complied with. 16 Commissioner Marcoplos said it would be useful to have a reply to the water supply 17 and well issue raised by the member of the public, in order to have it on record. 18 Patrick Mallett said the well and septic issues are of the greatest concern to the 19 neighbors. He said this is a consideration of the preliminary plat, and there are still DOT 20 driveway permits to be secured; stormwater and erosion control permit that must be 21 obtained; a land disturbance permit; as well as septic and well permits, which are required 22 for each and every lot. 23 Chair Rich asked if the BOCC approved the preliminary plat, will changes then 24 come back to the BOCC. 25 Patrick Mallett said at this level, the preliminary plat is all that the BOCC would 26 review and approve. He said if there were significantly changes then it would go back 27 through the Planning Board process. 28 Michael Harvey said the BOCC is potentially approving the breaking up of this —40- 29 acre parcel into 20 lots, with 37% open space, accessing via a public road network. He 30 said individual lot owners will have to go through the appropriate permitting processes, 31 which will include erosion control, stormwater, environmental health, well, and septic, etc. 32 He said it is conceivable that one could purchase lot 10, and not be able to build a 4- 33 bedroom house due to septic and well concerns. 34 Phil Vilaro from the onsite water protection section from Orange County 35 Environmental Health, said he has worked in Orange County for 17 years. He said there 36 are subdivisions in the vicinity with smaller wells, and he is unaware of any mass extinction 37 or contamination of wells caused by a subdivision with lots of this size. He said the wells 38 would be built to higher standards than other existing, surrounding lots. He said hard rock 39 wells are unpredictable, but there is no precedent in Orange County for wells running dry 40 because of new wells being dug on neighboring land. He said he has never heard of it 41 happening during his tenure in Orange County. He said in North Carolina, one has the right 42 to drill a well on your property. 43 Commissioner McKee said this subdivision is not inconsistent with other ones 44 approved by the BOCC in Orange County and in Chapel Hill. He said he is not concerned 45 about the size of the homes. He referred to the access to the open space, and said due to 46 the small size of the whole parcel, it would not be onerous to interior lot owners to walk to 47 the path to access open space. 48 Commissioner Dorosin referred to the size of the houses and points raised by the 49 Planning Board, and said one thing that may be worth looking at is a PIL for affordable 50 housing. He said it would be good to reconcile large houses with the BOCC's goals for