Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
207 <br /> DRAFT <br /> 218 Lamar Proctor: Thank you. So I think the next thing we should do is see if anyone has additional questions for the <br /> 219 applicant. And, Charity,you weren't here last time, so I'll start with you if you have any additional <br /> 220 questions. <br /> 221 <br /> 222 Charity Kirk: Well, there were some things I didn't quite understand about just also board problems and what <br /> 223 the board was seeing. So I think this was brought up, but there are wetlands on this property, so <br /> 224 you cannot split this—can you split this property exactly into 1-acre lots in agricultural residential? <br /> 225 Is that possible with all these wetland, with all the wetlands? <br /> 226 <br /> 227 Taylor Perschau: Yes, subdivision would be allowed. So the, and I'm going to pull up the presentation from last time <br /> 228 so we have some reference points. So the current agricultural-residential zoning,when staff is <br /> 229 reviewing subdivision plats, you can,the lot size can retain that 40,000-square-foot minimum. <br /> 230 Staff often asks for a surveyor to note where wetlands are and then sometimes also require that <br /> 231 buffers be visualized on plats. But the property lines themselves could go within those features. <br /> 232 <br /> 233 Charity Kirk: All right,just houses couldn't be built— <br /> 234 <br /> 235 Taylor Perschau: That's correct. <br /> 236 <br /> 237 Charity Kirk: —on those. So if you remove all of the places where houses can't be built, how much acreage do <br /> 238 you have? <br /> 239 <br /> 240 Taylor Perschau: I don't know. This might be better answered by the applicant doing an evaluation of their own site. <br /> 241 1 don't know if that was an exercise you all completed. <br /> 242 <br /> 243 Beth Trahos: There are roughly 3 acres of wetlands on the property. One of the reasons we think it's beneficial <br /> 244 that those environmentally sensitive areas be maintained in open space is that the homeowners <br /> 245 association is more likely to be respectful of those features than perhaps a homeowner who might <br /> 246 just see this portion of wetland as a part of their yard. I would also point out that the Army Corps <br /> 247 of Engineers,which governs impacts on wetlands, allows each individual lot owner,through a <br /> 248 nationwide permit,to impact 1/10 acre of wetlands;whereas if the wetlands are located on a <br /> 249 larger piece of property,then there is a permitting process required for impacts beyond that. So in <br /> 250 our view, this would limit impacts on environmentally sensitive areas by maintaining them in open <br /> 251 space. <br /> 252 <br /> 253 Charity Kirk: So you said there's 3 acres wetlands, but does that include all the required buffers? How much <br /> 254 acreage is in required setbacks from the wetlands? Does that include the 3, is that included in the <br /> 255 3 acres, or is that additional? <br /> 256 <br /> 257 Beth Trahos: I'm going to ask our engineer because I don't know the answer. <br /> 258 <br /> 259 Charity Kirk: Yeah,thank you. <br /> 260 <br /> 261 Lamar Proctor: So, Charity, I think what you're trying to get at is of right how many houses could they put if it was <br /> 262 just subdivided. <br /> 263 <br /> 264 Charity Kirk: Zoned agricultural, subdivided for agricultural residential. Which is an option that doesn't need to <br /> 265 come back to the planning board, is that, that's correct, sorry, right,or— <br /> 266 <br /> 267 Cy Stober: Not necessarily. Based on the— <br /> 268 <br /> 269 Charity Kirk: Depends on if it's over 20, it would need to come back? <br /> 270 <br /> 271 Cy Stober: Correct. No matter what type of subdivision it is, if it's over 20 lots, it must go through the <br /> 272 conditional zoning process in Orange County,so 21 lots or more. <br />