Agenda - 10-21-2003-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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z BACKGROUND Planning Board (PB) Request to BOCC - On May 6, 2002, the Orange County Planning Board forwarded a letter to the Board of County Commissioners regarding, among other issues, the need for additional growth controls in large residential developments. BOCC/PB Joint Meeting - During a joint BOCC/Planning Board meeting on June 6, 2002, there was additional discussion of some of the challenges posed to County services because of the location of large developments. BOCC Resolution - On June 18, 2002, the BOCC passed a resolution requesting that relevant issues and possible actions be researched prior to further deliberation. BOCC Requests Preparation of Special Use Permit (SUP) Process - A brief discussion at the August 29, 2002 work session laid the groundwork for the September 3, 2002 BOCC meeting where a Growth Management System (GMS) Issues/Response Report (Attachment 1) was presented by the Planning Director, County Manager and County Attorney. After the presentation, the Board directed the Administration to prepare a Special Use Permit approval process for large- scale residential development projects. These amendments are the result of that directive. Growth Management System (GMS) -The discussion of managing development led to two primary issues: What was the scale of the project? (i.e. how many lots); and Where is the project being proposed? The facets of this proposal will encourage the appropriate scaling of subdivisions. For example, a subdivision consisting of more than 40 lots in Cedar Grove will have a different impact, both visually, environmentally, and from a public services provision standpoint, than it would if it were located in a Transition Area just outside of Hillsborough or Efland. Subdivision Traffic Comparative Impact A technical rationale was developed to differentiate the impacts of potential traffic generated by subdivisions of different lot counts and based on the type of road. Road widths and design configurations can accommodate varying amounts of traffic volume, so it is important to evaluate the relative impacts to a road system not based solely on lot count but also on the capacity/design of the adjacent road. Below are some examples of how traffic impacts can be equated on different roads and different size/scale subdivisions. The thresholds are objectively based on percentage traffic increase to the total capacity of the road system. One must also understand that prior to total road capacity buildout, the road has actual lower traffic counts that, from a subjective standpoint, create a relatively higher percentage traffic increase in the interim.