Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
16 <br /> 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Vice-Chair Hamilton, to deny <br /> 2 the Zoning Atlas Amendments, as the application is not reasonable because it is not in the public <br /> 3 interest, for reasons articulated by Commissioners, and as detailed in the Statement of <br /> 4 Inconsistency (Attachment 8)." <br /> 5 <br /> 6 Vice-Chair Hamilton suggested an amendment to the motion, asking for the Statement of <br /> 7 Inconsistency to include Land Use Goal One. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 Commissioner Greene accepted the amendment. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 VOTE: Ayes, 6 (Commissioner Carter, Commissioner Portie-Ascott, Commissioner <br /> 12 Greene, Chair Bedford, Vice-Chair Hamilton, Commissioner McKee); Nays, 1 <br /> 13 (Commissioner Fowler) <br /> 14 <br /> 15 MOTION PASSES <br /> 16 <br /> 17 b. Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendments — Impervious Surfaces, Watershed <br /> 18 Protection Overlay Districts, and Stream Buffers <br /> 19 The Board conducted a public hearing and considered action on Planning Director-initiated text <br /> 20 amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) pertaining to Impervious Surfaces, <br /> 21 Watershed Protection Overlay Districts, and Stream Buffers. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 BACKGROUND: The Orange County Planning & Inspections Department has initiated text <br /> 24 amendments to LIDO Sections 2.20, 4.2, 6.13, and Article 10. The proposed amendments are <br /> 25 multi-faceted in purpose and are intended to be comprehensive in addressing overly complex <br /> 26 text/tables, and to improve interpretation and application of the UDO for both staff and applicants. <br /> 27 Specifically, the amendments address: <br /> 28 <br /> 29 1) Refinements and reading clarity improvements related to impervious surface area limits <br /> 30 and existing development definition timelines for the County's thirteen (13) Watershed <br /> 31 Protection Overlay Districts, including deletion of the obsolete "Sliding Scale Table" <br /> 32 (Tables 4.2.5.2 & 4.2.5.3); and <br /> 33 <br /> 34 2) Refinement of minimum reservoir buffer widths for the Upper Eno Critical Watershed <br /> 35 Protection Overlay District to better accommodate known non-conforming lots located <br /> 36 around the shoreline of Lake Orange and reduce setback variance requests related to this <br /> 37 specific location. <br /> 38 <br /> 39 3) Refinement of the "Water Feature" definition within Article 10 to clarify and conform with <br /> 40 County/State/Federal regulatory authority. <br /> 41 <br /> 42 The proposed amendments can be found in Attachment 2 within a "track changes"format. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Joint Planning Area (JPA) Review: In accordance with the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br /> 45 Joint Planning Land Use Plan and Agreement, the proposed UDO text amendments package was <br /> 46 sent to Town staffs on July 30, 2025. Town of Carrboro staff sent the comments contained in <br /> 47 Attachment 3 on August 18, 2025, and found no inconsistency with the Joint Planning Area Land <br /> 48 Use Plan. To date, no comments have been received from the Town of Chapel Hill. <br /> 49 <br /> 50 Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board reviewed this item at its October 1, 2025, <br /> 51 regular meeting. The Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of the proposed <br />