Agenda 02-15-24; 2 - Consultant Briefing on Orange County Land Use Plan 2050

Browse Search

14 • Hitchhiking is also common at rural nodes like Calvander. The County has historically "not been in the business of sidewalks." Enhance Rural Area Assets • Broadband expansion and reinforcement of broadband infrastructure offers an opportunity for opening up rural parts of the northern county to development and for taking advantage of telecommuting opportunities. However, increased services (broadband or otherwise) to historically rural areas could raise property values to the point that current residents no longer being able to afford their homes. • Community septic systems typically face strong regulatory scrutiny, further limiting alternative development and rural density. These regulatory, inspection, and process hurdles often prevent landowners from building accessory dwelling units (ADUs) which are critical to maintaining multigenerational communities and allowing long-time County residents to age in place. • Many residents living in northern Orange County do not shop in the county but instead shop near where they work or in Roxboro or Durham, where it is easier to access and has less traffic congestion than Hillsborough. • Connectivity in rural areas of the county is not strong. A road blockage on one road can create a 20+ minute detour because of a lack of cross-streets between large rural "blocks". This creates problems for school buses and emergency services vehicles. • Large local service delivery vehicles have trouble navigating/fitting vehicles on narrow private rural roads. A discrepancy between the fire code and the zoning ordinance as to proper road width is one of the sources of this conflict. Plan with jurisdictional Partners • The DRCHO Work Group— Durham/Chapel Hill/Orange was a regional planning group that formerly met and discussed topics of relevance across jurisdictional boundaries. This model could be considered for other neighboring jurisdictions that share common interests (regional transit, road infrastructure, land use planning in edge areas, utility service across boundaries, etc.) • With the exception of Mebane, utility limitations and growth management controls limit the amount of potential development in the municipalities. Planning for the remaining developable areas to achieve the highest and best use is paramount. • The Rural Buffer and the joint Protection Agreement was built to last. Getting the four jurisdictions (Hillsborough, Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro) back to the table to discuss whether or not it should be revised is perceived by almost all stakeholders to be nearly impossible. Nonetheless, several stakeholders identified opportunities within the Orange County, North Carolina - Land Use Plan 2050 1 Stakeholder Interviews Summary 11