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