Orange County Approved BOA Minutes 21 01 11

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Approved 8/9/2021 1 MOTION made by Vice-chair Susan Halkiotis to reopen the evidentiary hearing on Case A-3-20, seconded by Kent 2 Qandil. 3 VOTE: Unanimous. 4 5 Chair Meyers declared the hearing open and thanked all those in attendance for observing mask protocols and 6 maintaining social distancing. Chair Meyers asked parties in attendance to identify themselves for the record. 7 8 Alexander Dodson, property owner; 9 Steve Doyle, local realtor and potential expert witness; 10 Brady Herman, Mr. Dodson's attorney (Mr. Herman is an attorney with the Brough Law firm filling in for Kevin Hornik) 11 12 Chair Meyers asked if staff had received any further requests from individuals asserting standing on this matter. Mr. 13 Harvey said no further claims of standing were submitted. Chair Meyers asked Mr. Harvey to present Case A-3-20 14 15 In accordance with LIDO Sections 2.10 Variances and 6.13 Stream Buffers, the property owners have submitted this 16 variance request for their parcel of property, which is further described as follows: 17 • Parcel Identification Number(Orange County): 9890-08-8119 18 • Acreage: 1 acre 19 • Zoning District:Rural Buffer 20 • Watershed Designation: Property is not located within a Protected or Critical watershed overlay district. 21 The applicants are requesting a 30 ft. variance from the normally required 80 ft. County stream buffer along the western 22 boundary of the existing water feature. If approved, development on the property would abide by a 50 ft. buffer from an 23 existing stream. 24 The applicant's argue the required 80 ft. stream buffer prevents development of the property. There is only a 30 ft. area 25 where a single-family residence and septic system could be located. The topography of the lot also limits options with 26 respect to where the proposed residence/septic system can be located and still conform with other applicable land use 27 regulations (i.e. property line setbacks) and Environmental Health standards (i.e. septic system and well setbacks). 28 If the variance is approved, the property could be developed and utilized for residential purposes while a 50 ft. stream 29 buffer is observed from the western side of the existing stream. 30 The State of North Carolina establishes standards requiring area(s) in and around a stream left in a natural (i.e. 31 vegetated) and/or undisturbed state. This area, known as a stream buffer, is 50 ft. in width as measured from the bank 32 of the stream. 33 Orange County requires an additional 15 to 30 ft. of buffer area based on the slope of the property. On the subject 34 parcel there is a stream running along the eastern property line. Due to the topography of the property, the County 35 requires an 80 ft. stream buffer measured on both sides of the stream bank (i.e. 80 ft. required buffer on both sides of 36 the stream). 37 As indicated, the applicants are requesting a 30 ft. variance along the western portion of the stream from the normally 38 required 80 ft. stream. The applicant's argue the required 80 ft. stream buffer prevents development of the property. 39 There is only an approximately 30 ft. area where a single-family residence could be located. The topography of the lot 40 also limits options with respect to where the proposed residence/septic system can be located and still conform with 41 other applicable land use regulations (i.e. property line setbacks) and Environmental Health standards (i.e. septic 42 system and well setbacks). 43 If approved, the property could be developed and utilized for residential purposes while a 50 ft. stream buffer is 44 observed from the western side of the existing stream. 45 The request will not impact the State required 50 ft. stream buffer area. 46 2