Orange County NC Website
165 <br /> areas are a cherished component of the County's character. Future development <br /> should preserve and enhance the county's rural landscape. <br /> The 2030 Comprehensive Plan, Appendix G, Land Use Classification and Overlay <br /> Locational Criteria, identifies Rural Buffer as land designated in the Comprehensive <br /> Plan as land adjacent to an urban or transition area which is rural in character and <br /> which should remain rural, contain very low-density residential uses, and not require <br /> urban services during the plan period. The resource-related activities with the use are <br /> consistent with the rural nature of the area and, as presented, will not disrupt that <br /> character, being on the perimeter of the Town of Chapel Hill's ETJ, surrounded by <br /> managed forests and County-owned lands that will not serve residential or <br /> commercial purposes. <br /> ■ Planning Principle 6. Water Resources Preservation: The County has finite water <br /> resources to provide to future populations. The protection and management of the <br /> County's water resources should be a high priority. <br /> The proposed project will utilize groundwater to service the future land use, as <br /> permitted by the Orange County Division of Environmental Health. In addition, the site <br /> plan provides for a 65-foot stream buffer to protect water quality downstream. <br /> ■ Planning Principle 7. Promotion of Economic Prosperity and Diversity: Development <br /> of a diversity of new businesses and expansion of existing businesses should occur in <br /> Orange County. <br /> The applicant will provide an underserved market with needed services, particularly <br /> for the nearby municipalities. The applicant is proposing to relocate an existing tree <br /> care and consulting company currently operating in Carrboro to this site. Relocation <br /> of this business to a rural setting will more appropriately allow for it to operate while <br /> continuing to serve the nearby municipal market than it can from its current placement <br /> in a municipality. The applicant estimates that approval could create 10 — 20 new <br /> jobs. <br /> ■ Planning Principle 8. Preservation of Community Character: Future growth and <br /> development should occur in a manner that preserves and enhances the existing <br /> character of the County, its townships, and rural crossroads communities. <br /> This agricultural support enterprise will be appropriately placed within the Rural Buffer <br /> designated by both the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and the Orange County-Chapel <br /> Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Agreement Land Use Plan. It shall be situated such that it <br /> is surrounded by an actively managed forest, a former landfill, and a proposed <br /> recreation facility. There will be no disruption to residential quality of life, and the <br /> approval will introduce a new business to the area and to the county's business <br /> community. Placement of this business is in harmony with the immediately <br /> surrounding area on the edge of the Town of Chapel Hill's ETJ, and in the public <br /> interest, placing an arborist near municipal centers while separating it from the <br />