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<br /> <br />Orange County, North Carolina – Unified Development Ordinance Page 4-1 <br /> <br />ARTICLE 4: OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICTS <br />SECTION 4.1: GENERALLY <br />4.1.1 Description, Standards, and Conflicts <br />(A) Overlay districts are supplemental to general zoning district classifications and are <br />applied in combination to address special situations or to accomplish specific planning <br />and land use goals. <br />(B) Unless otherwise expressly stated, all applicable regulations of the underlying district <br />apply to property in an overlay district. <br />(C) Unless otherwise stated, all applicable standards of this Ordinance apply to property in <br />an overlay district. <br />(D) When overlay district standards conflict with standards that otherwise apply in the <br />underlying district, the regulations of the overlay district always govern. <br />SECTION 4.2: WATERSHED PROTECTION <br />4.2.1 Purpose and Intent <br />(A) The purpose of the Watershed Protection Overlay Districts is to prevent significant future <br />water quality deterioration in existing or potential future drinking water reservoirs which <br />receive stormwater runoff from land within Orange County. <br />(1) Protection of all water supplies within the State in accordance with minimum <br />standards was mandated by NCGS §143-214.5. <br />(2) The quality of water in drinking water reservoirs can be affected by human <br />activities including farming, construction of highways and roads, subdivision <br />development, industrial development, and other land-disturbing activities. Types <br />of water pollutants resulting from these activities include sediment, bacterial <br />contamination, heavy metals, synthetic organic compounds and low-level <br />radioactivity. <br />(B) The intent of the Watershed Protection Overlay Districts is to apply a set of regulations <br />involving land use and, in some cases, structural best management practices which <br />protect the watersheds by reducing the pollution from future development which enters <br />drinking water supplies. <br />(1) Land use management practices involve minimum lot size and impervious <br />surface restrictions, since impervious surfaces such as roads, roof tops and <br />driveways are a major source of pollution. <br />(2) Structural best management practices allow for more intensive land use by <br />providing for temporary detention of stormwater runoff so that pollutants may <br />settle. <br />4.2.2 Applicability <br />(A) The Watershed Protection Overlay Districts as established herein overlay other zoning <br />districts established in this Ordinance. The new use of any land or new structure within <br />any Watershed Protection Overlay District shall comply with the use regulations <br />applicable to the underlying zoning district as well as the requirements of the applicable <br />Watershed Protection Overlay District. <br />(B) A Watershed Protection Overlay District shall be applied to the Orange County portion of <br />watersheds which have been classified as WS-II, WS-III or WS-IV watersheds by the <br />North Carolina Environmental Management Commission in its implementation of NCGS <br /> 21