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112 <br /> proposed zoning atlas amendment will bring the existing school site into compliance with <br /> the current UDO and allow for improvements in the areas identified in the site plan for <br /> future development, as shown on the submitted Site Plan. The site is surrounded by low <br /> density residential uses, undeveloped parcels, including Duke Forest, and agricultural <br /> uses, including Duke Farm. Any additional traffic, lighting, or noise will be mitigated in <br /> compliance with NCDOT standards and the UDO. The proposed School: Preparatory use <br /> is permitted in the NR-CD zoning district, complies with the UDO standards, and meets <br /> the standards of evaluations as reviewed by the Planning Board. <br /> The PDHRB (Planned Development Housing - Rural Buffer) applied to one of the <br /> properties is a legacy of prior zoning ordinance and is not captured within the 2030 <br /> Comprehensive Plan. Similar to this presented NC-CD application, the PDHRB residential <br /> district currently applied to one of the properties is specific to the Carolina Friends School <br /> campus. Such districts were established for specialized purposes where tracts were <br /> deemed suitable for a specific intensity of development. Development within this district <br /> was regulated by the approved 1990 Special Use Permit and subsequent modifications, <br /> which permitted the operation of Carolina Friends School. There is not a history of land <br /> use violations or non-conformities associated with these owners or properties. <br /> The conditions proposed by the applicant will ensure that both the "Rural Buffer" future <br /> land use classification provided by the 2030 Comprehensive Plan ("Land adjacent to an <br /> urban or transition area which is rural in character and which should remain rural, contain <br /> very low-density residential uses, and not require urban services during the plan period") <br /> and the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Land Use Plan ("...rural in <br /> character and which will remain rural, contain low-density residential uses, and require <br /> urban services,") will not be compromised. The site-specific plan presented for the <br /> proposed Zoning Atlas Amendment will not use public utilities and the Carolina Friends <br /> School will continue to utilize private onsite wells for any future development. <br /> The 2030 Comprehensive Plan, Appendix G, Land Use Classification and Overlay <br /> Locational Criteria, identifies the Rural Buffer Land Use Classification as "Located in areas <br /> directly outside of Transition and Urban areas where prevailing uses are rural residential <br /> and agricultural in nature." The existing use of Carolina Friends School and any future <br /> expansion will conform with all applicable UDO regulations to ensure development does <br /> not create undue impacts to the surrounding uses of low-density residential, agriculture, <br /> and forestry. The school maintains a portion of forested area on the three subject parcels <br /> and incorporates outdoor education elements that necessitates a rural setting. The <br /> applicant has proposed land use buffers surrounding the parcels making up Carolina <br /> Friends School to further mitigate impacts to adjacent properties. <br /> The Carolina Friends School is constraining any expansion to 108,000 square feet total to <br /> accommodate new students, including students from outside of Orange County. The <br /> impacts to this 110-acre property will be minimal with all buffers to remain in place and all <br /> environmental features (e.g. streams) being protected from development impacts. Indeed, <br /> as articulated by the applicant, the site plan features design considerations of the exterior <br /> environmental learning facilities, such as stream buffers and wetlands, as well as walking <br />