Agenda - 10-12-1999 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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zy 'used on the Joint Pkaming Agreement. The application of land use ordinances is governed by the jointly prepared and adopted JPA Land Use Plan. Amendments to the adopted plan or agreement have to be considered at a joint public hearing and approved by Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County to be effective. The plan is generally based on two land use categories: Transition. Areas and the Rural Buffer. TRANSITION AREAS Transition Areas are future urban growth areas for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Administration of land use ordinances in these areas was transferred to the towns following adoption (by Orange County and the respective towns) of municipal zoning plans consistent with the adopted JPA _ Land Use Plan. As long as development in the transition areas is consistent with the adopted zoning, the County's only involvement is .courtesy review of projects. Proposals for rezoning in the transition areas (consistent with the plan) require a joint public hearing with the County and relevant town and joint approval of the new zoning. RURAL BUFFER Surrounding the urban areas is the Rural Buffer which contains approximately 38,000 acres and is defined generally by the . New Hope Creek drainage basin to the north and the University Lake watershed to the west. The Rural Buffer is projected to remain rural in character, not require urban services, and annexation is prohibited in this area. The Rural Buffer (RB) zoning district requires a minimum lot size of two acres for residential development. The University Lake watershed overlay portion of the RB district permits five lots of a development (occurring on a parcel existing when the new ordinance was adopted) to be two acres, but requires all additional lots to be a minimum of five acres. The County administers land use ordinances in the Rural Buffer with the towns having courtesy review of proposed developments. LAND USE PLAN EAPLEMENTATION Plan implementation is accomplished primarily through the application of zoning although a variety of land use ordinances are available for various aspects of implementation. A key feature of land use planning in Orange County is the requirement for consistency between the plan category for an area and application of zoning there. The "Land Use Element Categories - ;toning District Matrix" in Section 4 of the plan identifies the appropriate zone(s) for various land use categories. If a zone is not compatible with the land use category for an area it cannot be applied there until such time as the plan is amended to a compatible category. The land use plan serves as a guide and should not be changed to be reactionary to a zoning request. There are three reasons for which the plan can be amended: because of changed or changing conditions in a particular area; to correct an error or omission; or in response to a change in land use policy. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Orange County encourages public participation in the planning process and no decisions on plan amendments or zoning changes are made until a public hearing is held on the proposal. Quarterly public hearings are conducted for areas outside the JPA and semi- annual hearings are held for areas inside the JPA. Plan. amendments and rezoning requests for the same property cannot be considered simultaneously, but must go through separate hearing cycles. In the second month following a public hearing, the Planning Board considers testimony given at the hearing and formulates a recommendation on the proposal for the Board of County Commissioners. The h\ ccmplam\lupovrva.doc\6- 16 -99\gb 2