Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
4 <br /> WATER MANAGEMENT <br /> CITY OF DURHAM <br /> February 14, 2020 <br /> Mr. Craig Benedict <br /> Planning & Inspections Director <br /> Orange County <br /> 306-F Revere Rd. <br /> Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br /> RE: Eno River Water Supply Classification <br /> Dear Mr. Benedict: <br /> We would like your help in requesting that the Orange County Board of Commissioners pass a Resolution of <br /> Support for Reclassifying a Segment of the Eno River for Water Supply in Durham County, North Carolina. This <br /> reclassification would require that Orange County adopt land use ordinances meeting the requirements of the <br /> State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program for the portion of Orange County that would be included in <br /> the protected area of the water supply watershed if the North Carolina Environmental Management <br /> Commission (EMC) reclassifies the segment of the Eno River for a water supply as the City of Durham requests. <br /> Teer Quarry, owned by the City of Durham, is critical for meeting the City's emergency water supply needs. <br /> Using Teer Quarry as a water supply requires filling the quarry from a new water intake in the Eno River. The <br /> new intake would be % of a mile upstream of an existing Eno River emergency water intake. The segment of the <br /> Eno River with that existing emergency water intake is already classified as a water supply, with a watershed <br /> protection protected area extending into Orange County and a critical area within Durham County. Figure 1 on <br /> the next page shows Teer Quarry, the existing Eno River emergency water intake, the proposed new Eno River <br /> water intake, the existing watershed protection critical and protected areas, and the additional watershed <br /> protection protected area and critical areas that the new Eno River water supply classification would require. A <br /> result of this water supply classification would be to extend the existing protected area by an additional % of a <br /> mile into Orange County. <br /> The State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program (15A NCAC 02B .0620-.0624, attached) would limit the <br /> maximum allowable project densities and minimum lot sizes for development in the protected area to: <br /> 1. Low Density Single-Family Detached Residential Development — 2 dwelling units per acre or 20,000 <br /> square foot lot excluding roadway right-of-way or 24% built-upon; or 3 dwelling units per acre or 36% <br /> built-upon area without curb and gutter street system. <br /> 2. Low Density Non-Residential and All Other Residential Development — 24% built-upon area; or 36% <br /> built-upon area without curb and gutter street system. <br /> 3. High Density Development—24 to 70% built-upon area. <br /> These limitations would not apply to existing development, but would impact any new development or <br /> redevelopment that occurs once the EMC reclassifies the Eno River segment. <br /> The State's Water Supply Watershed Protection Program would also require vegetated setbacks along perennial <br /> water bodies and perennial streams with the following minimum widths: <br /> 1600 Mist Lake Dr.Durham, NC 27704 919.560.4381 DurhamNC.gov Follow Us @CityofDurhamNC <br /> 1 00 o <br />