Orange County reviews zoning plan

A proposed ordinance up for discussion at a public hearing tonight might make development more flexible in Orange County.

New classifications within the Unified Development Ordinance, billed as a consolidation of several existing laws, would allow developers to negotiate with county officials about how to address the off-site impacts of their projects.

“We wanted to give people in that area more flexibility to have a farm stand, to have a seed store, to not have to drive to town to get everything,” said Barry Jacobs, a member of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

“Being rigid will protect you up to a certain point, but it also tends to allow you to miss out on opportunities,” he said.

The new zoning practice would allow county commissioners to have final say on rezoning requests.

“It may make a difference, maybe even an unintentional difference, in how land gets developed in Orange County,” commissioner Alice Gordon said.

The new process requires developers to meet with the planning department and the neighborhood that will be affected before the board makes its decision, commissioner Earl McKee said.

The areas affected by this specific change include districts on the Alamance County line in the Buckhorn area, districts south of Hillsborough along Interstate 40 and districts on Interstate 85 near the Durham County line.

Those districts are currently designated as “planned development zoning districts” but will become either “conditional use districts” or “conditional zoning districts.”

The districts include land within the Orange County rural buffer as well as the University Lake, Cane Creek and Upper Eno watersheds.

Developers will still be restricted by a list of permitted uses and relevant regulations for the districts with which they must comply.

“It doesn’t basically throw the doors open,” McKee said.

Julie McClintock, a steering committee member for Neighbors for Responsible Growth, said the ordinance might affect rural areas in unexpected ways.

“Anything could go anywhere as a starting place, and then you work backward from there,” she said. “A neighborhood might be surprised.”

The proposed conditional use district will require developers to obtain special use permits and undergo legislative review, which McClintock said she supports.

The planning board will recommend next steps to commissioners after the hearing.

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