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Approved 10.18.2023
<br /> 1 notification materials, pages 107 through 153. Attachment 5, which is the staff comments in various shapes and forms
<br /> 2 up unto this point for the case. And then at the end, you have Attachment 6, which is the findings of fact. Page 251 to
<br /> 3 258. So, you have a large packet, 258 pages of material. What we're considering tonight is a special use permit
<br /> 4 application for a camp and retreat center. This is the staff presentation and testimony and the findings of fact. As a
<br /> 5 brief overview,just to orient you, the red star on the map indicates the site. It's along in Highway 54 West. It's just
<br /> 6 below and near the Cane Creek Reservoir. It's located in the Bingham Township. It's within the Haw River unprotected
<br /> 7 watershed. It's below the Cane Creek, so it's not in the Cane Creek watershed, and the applicant is The Nest Head in
<br /> 8 Highway 54 West, LLC. The surrounding area, as you can see from the aerial map, is a collection of residential uses,
<br /> 9 bona fide farms, both legal bona fide farms and just regular agricultural activity, and then of course the Cane Creek
<br /> 10 Reservoir is largely agrarian in nature. I will call attention to the fact that immediately adjacent to this is the Pluck Farm
<br /> 11 Brewery, Still String Brewery facility. Okay, so special use request, as I said, for a camp and retreat center. Both of
<br /> 12 those uses require a special use permit. They're similar but different. The parcel size is approximately 20.03 acres.
<br /> 13 The zoning is AR. The surrounding zoning is entirely AR, and that's agricultural residential. Future land use map
<br /> 14 designation. Land use calls for agricultural residential, and then resource protection. That resource protection area is
<br /> 15 the items in green. In this case, it forms the southeastern border in green and roughly parallels the streams and then
<br /> 16 juts into the property slightly. The two major elements of the request are the retreat element, which is indoor and
<br /> 17 outdoor facilities to serve as retreats and special events. And I will let the applicant get into greater detail about what
<br /> 18 those events are envisioned to be. It has some camp elements, which would include indoor and outdoor facilities to
<br /> 19 service up to 50 campers at a time for seasonal events. This is a copy of the site plan. It's part of your packet. They're
<br /> 20 proposing one entry point that's closer to the Pluck Farm-Steel String side of the frontage. Here you enter the property
<br /> 21 traveling roughly parallel to the road. You pass by one of the retreat facilities building. Then you would go through
<br /> 22 there's a bathhouse, some extra parking, a looped road that follows an old farm road through a collection of cabin
<br /> 23 structures that are part of the camp element of the project. To renderings that are in addition to your packet, you will
<br /> 24 see in your packet some black-and-white renderings. These were supplementals that were submitted to us last week,
<br /> 25 so I believe the team will be entering that into the record as well. You have proposed conditions. I'll go into those in
<br /> 26 detail later, but you've got 15 conditions that are submitted as Attachment 2, Exhibit E. Site plan elements: You've got
<br /> 27 a collection of 22 cabins, a bathhouse, a pavilion, a community building, and a host caretaker-tenant space, 25 parking
<br /> 28 spaces, accommodations for overflow parking, private well and septic systems, a 430-foot landscape buffer along the
<br /> 29 northern property line. That's the northern property line that's common with the Pluck Farm to the north and sort of
<br /> 30 facing towards the Cane Creek area. Got a lot of parking encroachments within the 75-foot buffer along Highway 54 as
<br /> 31 shown, and they're providing above and beyond what would be the normal stream buffer. The state had asked for, for
<br /> 32 wildlife protection, a 100-foot buffer, and they've honored and obligated that per as indicated in the plan. So, staff
<br /> 33 analysis, as folks may recall, we don't make a determination, or we don't give a recommendation about the case. We're
<br /> 34 here simply to present the record and then to draw ties to the Orange County Unified Development Ordinance and the
<br /> 35 requirements and mechanics of a special use permit. It's up for you, the board, to decide whether that's valid or not so,
<br /> 36 but nonetheless, we've reviewed the application extensively over the past few months, and we've determined that it's
<br /> 37 consistent with Unified Development Ordinance Sections 2.5, 2.7, 5.3.2, 5.7.5, 5.18.4. We've also considered that
<br /> 38 they've sufficient material evidence to support this middle requirement and the use standards listed in 2.2, 2.7, 5.3.2,
<br /> 39 5.7.5, and 5.18.4 of the UDO. This is our analysis. It's not a recommendation. But staff finds that this, the special use,
<br /> 40 the proposed special uses will maintain and promote public health, safety, welfare if located where developed and
<br /> 41 operated according to the plan reflected in the Staff Report Attachment 1. Applicant submitted site plan and conditions,
<br /> 42 Attachment 2, Exhibit B, C, and E, and staff comments in Attachment 5. Based on the materials provided, the staff
<br /> 43 finds no potential injury to the value of contiguous property. As documented in the staff report, Attachment 1, staff finds
<br /> 44 that the use will be in harmony with the area in which it is located, and the use in compliance with the plan. Physical
<br /> 45 development of the county as embodied in these regulations or in the comprehensive plan, or portions thereof. So this
<br /> 46 is our opinion and our ties to the comprehensive plan. I'm not going to read through all of this. You have copies of this,
<br /> 47 but I'll just go over the highlights. And this is by no means an all-inclusive list. These elements that are listed in the
<br /> 48 comprehensive plan are lengthy. You could easily derive at, or subtract, or add to this list. This isn't all inclusive, but
<br /> 49 Comprehensive Planning Principal No. 2: sustainable growth and development, Comprehensive Planning Principle 4:
<br /> 50 natural area resource protection, Comprehensive Planning Principle 5: preservation of rural land use pattern,
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