Planning board updates development guidelines

The Orange County Planning Board is ready to present its updated objectives for county development, some of which reflect concerns about economic problems and water use.

The board will present a round of revisions to the Orange County Comprehensive Plan at today’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

The changes range from printing documents on recycled paper to exploring policies that attract new businesses.

“We’ve had serious droughts … economic problems, problems in mental health care; we see issues everywhere,” said Bernadette Pelissier, a member of the Orange County Planning Board.

“We need to work on how this community is going to address these issues.”

Commissioners will vote on whether to adopt the changes — which come primarily in response to resident comments collected during public hearings in May and August — at the Nov. 6 meeting.

The plan — which has not been updated since the original, 1981 version was created to address land use and last about 20 years — addresses seven elements, including economic development, housing and transportation.

But the plan needed to be revised because elements of the original version are no longer relevant, said Tom Altieri, the county’s comprehensive planning supervisor.

For example, the original opposed locating Interstate 40 in Orange County.

Altieri said that, with 2000 census data available, updates are necessary.

He emphasized that the plan is a policy guide rather than an implementation strategy.

The Board of Commissioners approved in October 2006 a two-phase process for updating the county’s current plan.

The updates are intended to direct the county’s growth and development through the year 2030.

Craig Benedict, Orange County planning director, said the proposed revisions take county growth into account.

“It has been reorganized to include all the different aspects of a comprehensive plan instead of being put together in a piecemeal basis,” he said.

Pelissier, who is running for a seat on the Board of Commissioners, said the revised development goals reflect issues that have been recently emphasized in the community.

“We can’t afford to wait years for our policies to change,” Pelissier said. “One of the key things is to make sure we make decisions that look to the long-term health of Orange County.”

Pelissier said all of the planning board’s proposed changes are interrelated and will work together to improve the quality of life in Orange County.

“We know land use is related to economic development and historic preservation and education,” she said. “If we want to have a sustainable future, we need to make sure we don’t make decisions in isolation.”



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