Orange County NC Website
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11 <br /> of unincorporated Orange County is not connected sewer lines, any future economic <br /> development in the county must either require a utility company's partnership and <br /> agreement to extend their service or have minimal wastewater needs allowing the <br /> business to operate on septic. It has resulted in much of the county's economic <br /> development occurring in the west along 1-85 and 1-40 and producing uses that don't <br /> require significant utility service, such as warehousing and distribution, which does not in <br /> turn provide a significant amount of new, higher paying jobs. <br /> • Relatedly, there have been various discussions with the City of Durham's water/sewer <br /> utility about developing the easternmost economic development area (Eno EDD), but the <br /> costs to install gravity mains in areas with significant slopes and challenges related to <br /> interjurisdictional goals led to a breakdown in discussions between the county and city. <br /> Consequently, it now looks like this EDD will no longer be developed, reducing Orange <br /> County's total functional EDDs to two. However, it may be possible for current elected <br /> officials and staff to start discussions anew. <br /> • Agritourism (and other local agribusinesses) offer a new way to make farms economically <br /> resilient in a modern era where small-scale farming is not as profitable. These uses are <br /> supported by the broader county community (generally) and many serve as landmarks in <br /> Orange County. Furthermore, these alternative uses of agricultural property allow for <br /> their owners to keep those properties in their family, rather than being pushed out by <br /> rising property values. <br /> • Economic development stakeholders do not feel like their interests are given as much <br /> consideration by decisionmakers as those of environmental groups. <br /> • While the County (and the region) have good jobs for individuals with higher educations, <br /> individuals from lower-income, typically minority backgrounds have a harder time <br /> finding work, and an even harder time finding work a reasonable distance from <br /> affordable housing. Focusing only on technology and research jobs in terms of economic <br /> development (instead of industrial or infrastructural labor) can potentially create jobs <br /> only for new transplants to the county rather than for the people who already live here. <br /> • The County remains a highly desirable place to move to but has comparatively high taxes <br /> relative to other places in North Carolina. Rising taxes could discourage wealthy <br /> residents, whose residential property taxes currently make up the largest portion of the <br /> County's revenue, from continuing to move to Orange County. Anecdotally, some <br /> residents move to Orange County for a time and then move to more affordable areas, in <br /> the region, such as Chatham County. This could be exacerbated if taxes continue to rise. <br /> • If wealthy residents left Orange County and started "voting with their feet", the burden of <br /> paying for services would fall more to lower-income individuals who might not be able <br /> to pay those taxes and would thus also have to leave after a period of paying those <br /> higher taxes. <br /> Orange County, North Carolina - Land Use Plan 2050 1 Stakeholder Interviews Summary 8 <br />