Orange County NC Website
Post PH to Planning Board Ordinance <br />An Ordinance Amending the Zoning Ordinance of Orange County <br />Bold ~ Proposed Text <br />Deleted Text <br />Section 1: Amend Article 22 DEFINITIONS by creating two new definitions as <br />follows: <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - An <br />independent agency of the federal government <br />Lot, Usable -The portion of a zoning lot unencumbered by stream <br />buffers, conservation easements, drainage easements, public and <br />private rights-of-way, access easements, utility easements. This <br />definition also includes all areas within lots having slopes greater <br />than 20% and all areas within wildlife corridors, ponds and lakes. <br />Section 2: Amend Section 6.23.7a and Article 22 DEFINITIONS of Stream Buffer to <br />clarify that the stream buffer is not to be included within the floodplain. <br />Stream Buffer- a stream buffer is an area of land adjacent to perennial <br />and intermittent streams, or FEMA identified floodplains, which, except <br />as permitted in Article 6.23.7 of this Ordinance, must remain undisturbed <br />in its natural state. Perennial streams are shown as solid blue lines and <br />intermittent streams as broken lines on the USGS Quadrangle maps. <br />Section 3: (page 6~1 -Zoning Ordinance) 6.23.7d. Calculating the Width of Stream <br />Buffer <br />Those streams identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency <br />(FEMA) maps to have floodplains shall have stream buffers calculated from <br />the outside edges of the floodplain. <br />1) How to Calculate Slope <br />a. Draw a-~e 250' length perpendicular *° }"° °*~a.,w, lines, at 200- foot <br />horizontal intervals along the entire length of the outside edges of <br />the stream, ~~"° °*~°~~, or the outer edge of the FEMA floodplain, <br />whichever is greater. <br />b. Determine the elevation at either the stream bank itself (1) or the outer <br />edge of the FEMA floodplain, whichever is highest, and at the point <br />250' from the stream or FEMA floodplain, whichever is applicable, <br />along the perpendicular line (2). <br />c. Subtract (1) from (2). <br />d. Divide c. by 250. <br />e. Multiply d. by 100. <br />f. Perform this calculation for both sides of the stream or floodplain. <br />