Agenda - 06-01-2021; 7-a - Buckhorn Area Study

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50 Preservation areas including Voluntary Agricultural Districts (VADs), Conservation Easements, and National Heritage Element Occurrences (NHEOs), all of which were given negative values during the technical GIS analysis. VADs are voluntary and can be opted out of whereas conservation easements are permanent legal agreements that limit the uses of land in order to protect its conservation values. The only parcel with a conservation easement in the Buckhorn Area Study was the Soccer.com Center, east of Gravelly Hill Middle School,which was not included in the analysis. All NHEO parcels, areas where land or water is important for the conservation of natural biodiversity, fall outside of the Focus Areas A and B. 3.b. Were there watershed considerations as a function of the technical study? Yes. Areas that fall within the State's critical water supply watersheds were clipped to be not included in the study meaning that there was never intent to even explore these critical areas. While Orange County's locally-designated critical areas are not regulated by the NC Department of Environmental Quality—and,therefore, are not included in the study as a whole—both Focus Area A and B lie west of the County's critical area. As such, both Focus Areas lie outside of the critical watershed area for the State as well as the critical watershed area for Orange County. 3.c. Is Orange County compliant with the State's requirements for the Protected and Critical Areas of the Upper Eno Watershed? Yes. The State's Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources, Department of Environmental Quality, recently confirmed that Orange County is meeting its requirements and in some cases is more stringent. For additional detail, including a comprehensive description of the County's watershed program, a white paper has been made available at the following link: https://www.orangecountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15859/County-Watershed-Plan---Final- Draft-Memo?bidld=. 3.d. Were there social considerations as a function of the technical study? Yes. Small-lot residential areas in the study were identified and mapped. In an effort to preserve rural residential appeal, buffering these residential areas from light and noise was intended to be defined and applied to protect residents' quality of life and is stipulated as recommendations at the end of the study. Additionally, parcels that were already developed with social significance—schools, churches, cemeteries—were also removed from analytical consideration. 3.e. Is Gravelly Hill Middle School labelled on the maps included in the Study? Yes. The location of Gravelly Hill Middle School is shown on several of the maps in the Study, including on the cover page. Gravelly Hill Middle School is also mentioned in the text of the Study on p. 66. 3.f. Were there economic development considerations as a function of the technical study? Yes. The study area from the Buckhorn Area Study includes the entire Buckhorn Economic Development District (BEDD), a dedicated development district created in 2011 by Orange County and the City of Mebane. Metrics to consider the most 'highly developable' parcels took into consideration factors such as average (mean) slope,total number of developable acres, access to water and sewer infrastructure, interstate access and visibility, roadway access and proximity to existing rail; all of these attributes and the resulting highest-scoring parcels from the analysis were used to inform where economic development could take place in the area. 3.g. Were there traffic considerations as a function of the technical study? Yes. While interstate access and interstate visibility were metrics that were measured as a function of the analysis, recommendations were made in order to keep traffic along West Ten Road manageable, particularly because Gravelly Hill Middle School lies near the center of West Ten Road. The City of Mebane will continue to require a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA)for applications for preliminary plat or rezoning requests that anticipate generating 100 or more peak-hour vehicle trips or 1,000 or more average daily trips