HomeMy WebLinkAboutPH ORD-1997-042 Zoning Oradinance Text Amendment Article 6.23 Watershed Protection Overlay Districts Article 22 Definitions ? C .q --1 v Z -
ORANGECOUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: November 24, 1997
Action Agenda
Item#L_3_LLL
SUBJECT: ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT
Article 6.23 Extra Requirements for Watershed Protection Over:.ay Districts
Article 22 Definitions
DEPARTMENT: PLANNING PUBLIC HEARING —X–Yes No
BUDGET AMENDMENT Yes X No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary'Willis
Proposed Amendments Extension 2583
Correspondence from Division of Water Quality
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsb+)rough 732-8181
Durham 688-7331
Mebmv 227-2031
Chapel Hill 967-9251
PURPOSE: To receive citizen comment on a proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance.
BACKGROUND: Zoning Ordinance amendments which were adopted by the Board of
Commissioners on January 1, 1994 were soon thercafter submitted for review and
approval by the Environmental Management Co=tission.
The Division of Water Quality(DWQ),responsible: for reviewing the ordinances
for all NC counties and municipalities within water supply watersheds,returned
its comments in the attached letter to the County Manager dated August 1, 1997.
The following revisions are required in order to obtain full compliance with the
State mandate:
• Change the word"sludge"to"residual";
• Change references from"Division of Environmental Management"to
"Division of Water Quality"; and
• Clarify definitions for Major Variance,Minor Variance,and Discharging
Landfill
RECOMMENDATION: Article 20 of the Zoning Ordinance requires that the Zoning Officer's
recommendation be presented to the Planning Board within 30 days of receipt of an
application. However, Article 20.4 exempts any application for amendments to the
Zoning Ordinance by either the public or the County from the provisions of Article
20.3. In either case, though, the public hearing is the time scheduled for
presentation of the Zoning Officer's Recommendation.
Zoning Officer Recommendation
Provided that the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners find in the
affirmative, the Zoning Officer recommends approval of the proposed text
amendment.
Administration Recommendation
The Administration recommends that the proposed amendment be referred to the
Planning Board for a. recommendation to be; returned to the Board of
Commissioners no sooner than January 20, 1998.
• t�E
PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
ORDINANCE: ZONING ORDINANCE
REFERENCE: ARTICLE 6.23 Watershed Protection Overlay Districts
ARTICLE 22 Definitions
ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: Staff Planning Board
BOCC Public
X Other: NC Division of Water Quality
STAFF PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION: —X_High Middle Low
Comment:
PUBLIC HEARING DATE: November 24, 1997
PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT: To amend Orange County watershed protection regulations in response to
comments from the NC Division of Water Quality on compliance with the
State mandate.
IMPACTSASSUES: Zoning Ordinance amendments which were adopted by the Board of
Commissioners on January 1, 1994 were soon themafter submitted for review and
approval by the Environmental Management Commission.
The Division of Water Quality(DWQ),responsible: for reviewing the ordinances
for all NC counties and municipalities within water supply watersheds,returned
its comments in the attached letter to the County Manager dated August 1, 1997.
The following revisions are required in order to obtain full compliance with the
State mandate:
• Change the word"sludge"to"residual";
• Change references from"Division of Environmental Management"to
"Division of Water Quality"; and
• Clarify definitions for Major Variance,Minor Variance,and Discharging
Landfill .
One of the revisions in the attached letter(item 4.b-definition of Non-
Conforming Lot of Record)is not necessary. The Zoning Ordinance already
contains a definition of Non-Conforming Lot which satisfies the state
requirement. DWQ staff was not aware of this definition when their letter was
written, and indicated during a phone conversation with Planning Staff on
October 3, 1997 that revision to the current definition was not necessary.
Likewise, DWQ staff was unaware that the Zoning Ordinance already defines
Discharging Landfill. The existing definition needs to be revised only to state that
C66
discharging landfills require a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES)permit.
The August 1, 1997 letter from DWQ specified that revisions to the must be
adopted by the Board and submitted to DWQ by November 28, 1997. That
deadline was extended to March 27, 1998 in order to allow sufficient time to
complete the ordinance amendment review and approval process.
V � I
EXISTING/PROPOSED ORDINANCE PROVISIONS:
6.23 EXTRA REQUIREMENTS FOR WATERSHED PROTECTION OVERLAY DISTRICTS
6.23.1 LAND USE RESTRICTIONS
All uses and activities allowed hi the underlying zoning district are; permitted with the following
exceptions:
DISTRICT LAND USE RESTRICTIONS •
UNIV-CA No new landfills are permitted. •
UNIV-PW No commercial or industrial uses are permitted.
CANE-CA No new golf courses are permitted.
U-ENO-CA
UNIV-CA No siodge resid (sludge)application is permitted. `
CANE-CA
U-ENO-CA
CANE-PW No discharging landfills are permitted.
U-ENO-PW Industrial use is limited to non-hazardous light industrial uses characterized by
HYCO-PW low water use(less than 10,000 gp,4 excluding domestic water ,25 gpd per
LITTLE-PW employee)and water used for heating and air conditioning).
BACK-PW
FLAT-PW
HAW-PW
L-ENO-PW
JORDAN-PW
6.23A Operation and Maintenance of Structural BMPa(Detention Ponds)
5. Annual jafflpection Required
a. All stormwater structures shall be inspected by Orange County at least on an annual
basis to determine whether the controls are perfomiing as designed and intended.
Records of inspections shall be maintained on forms approved or supplied by the
North Carolina Division of &wkewReaW M emem Water Duality. Annual
inspections shall begin within one (1) year of the filing date of the deed for the
stormwater control structure.
6.23.11 ADMINISTRATION
a) Appeals
Decisions of the Zoning Officer in the implementation of this Arti,„le may be
068
appealed to the Orange County Board of Adjustment in accordance with Article 2.3.7 of this
Ordinance.
b) Variances
Minor variances for dimensional requirements may be approved by the Board of Adjustment in
accordance with Article 2.3.6 of this Ordinance. The Board of Adjustment may also approve
variance requests to allow the use of off-site septic easements for lots created after January 1,
1994.
A_Minor Variance is defined as a variance from the minimum statewide water supply watershed
protection rules that results in a relaxation by a factor of up to ten (10) percent of any
management requirement under the low density requirement
2.
a awe 9044 e; the IqU464 by R–Avi FARM ARI-91 Management
Gen�issie�r;
d
A Major Variance is defined as a variance from the statewide water supply watershed
regulations that results in the relaxation by a factor of greater than ten (101 percent of any
management requirement under the low density option or the relaxation of any management
requirement that 42plies to a-develoRment project reguiring construction of a BMP.
A description of each project receiving a variance and the reason for granting the variance shall
I be submitted for each calendar +dear to th we an awl-basis—Division of Water
Ouality on or before January 1 st of the following year.
All other local governments having jurisdiction within the watershed area and the entity using
the water supply for consumption shall be notified of the proposed exemption.
ARTICLE 22-DEFINITIONS
Landfill,Discharging-A landfill facility with liner, monitoring equipment and other measures to
detect and/or prevent leachate from entering the environment and in which the leachate is treated on
site and discharged to a receiving stream. Discharging landfills mg Lire a National Pollution System
(NPDES)Permit from the North Carolina Division of Water Oualit)�
X44 e'7 -0 � z 3b
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS
Planning Board Chair Barrows asked about the planned uses for this property.
Mary Willis indicated that she did not know the answer to that question. She pointed out
that they do not ask about specific uses because all permitted uses need to be considered during
a rezoning request.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS
Mr. Morrison indicated that he owns a lot next to this property and 15 building a home on
the lot. He asked for information regarding what would actually be done with this parcel.
Mary Willis indicated that the possible uses are listed in the packet Dn pages 50 and 51.
Some of those uses are light industrial, light manufacturing and a number of commercial uses.
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon,seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis, to
refer this item to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of
Commissioners no sooner than February 3 1998.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
3. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments
a) Garden Center
This item was presented by Planner Emily Cameron for the purpose of receiving
citizen comment on proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to create a new land use
category called "Garden Center"with appropriate standards as included in Article 6 and a
definition of the use in Article 22. On September 30,the Planning Department received a citizen's
request to amend the Zoning Ordinance to create a new land use category called "garden
center." Garden center is a type of retail use providing landscaping supplios primarily for home
use. The definition proposed for Article 22 includes a list of typical products to be sold. The
proposed amendment to the Permitted Use Table indicates garden center as a permitted use in all
commercial zoning districts as well as in the Agricultural Service District. Therefore,the use
would be subject to Planning Department review and approval of a site plan before zoning and
building permits may be issued. Standards for operations are proposed for Article 6.16 which list
additional requirements for certain permitted uses. The suggested standards specify that
outdoor storage and display of goods are permitted and limit the area allowed for outdoor
storage of bulk materials such as sand,topsoil, mulch,etc.
Mr. Greg Shephard, of Phillip Post&Associates, indicated that he represents a client
who wants to put a garden center at this location. Upon examination of the Zoning Ordinance he
discovered that the two closest use categories were either greenhouse or retail sales. He found
that a Garden Center does not fit either category.They then decided to present this proposal to
be considered countywide. They created this proposal themselves with help from the Planning
staff. He mentioned that outside storage would be allowed and would be located to the rear or
side of the building and would be screened by an 8'foot fence. The amount of square footage for
the outdoor storage would also be limited to 15,000 square feet per acre.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
None.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS
None.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS
Harold Newton stated that he owns a Garden Center in this general area and would like to
move a portion of his business to this new location. He wants to display plaints,topsoil,firewood
and pumpkins. This property is currently zoned Local Commercial (LC)which does not allow
outside products to be displayed.
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commission Halkiotis,to refer
this item to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of
Commissioners no sooner than February 3, 1998.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
b) Watershed Protection Overlay Districts
This item was presented by Planner Mary Willis for the purpose of receiving
citizen comment on a proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. The Zoning Ordinance
amendments which were adopted by the Board of Commissioners on January 1, 1994 were soon
thereafter submitted for review and approval by the Environmental Management Commission.
The Division of Water Quality(DWQ)who is responsible for reviewing the ordinances for all NC
counties and municipalities within water supply watersheds, returned its comments in a letter to
the County Manager dated August 1, 1997. The following revisions are required in order to obtain
full compliance with the State mandate:
• Change the word "sludge"to "residual";
• Change references from "Division of Environmental Management"to "Division of Water
Quality"; and
• Clarify definitions for Major Variance, Minor Variance,and Discharging Landfill.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
None.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS
None.
QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS
None.
A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, second by Commissioner Halkiotis,to refer
this item to the Planning Board for a recommendation to be returned to the Board of
Commissioners no sooner than January 20, 1998.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
4. Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment
Subdivision Regulations Text Amendment
a) Functional Road Classification
This item was presented by Planner Slade McCalip in order to receive comment on
the draft ordinance and Comprehensive Plan Amendments for the update to the Functional Road
Classifications of the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan. On June 4, 1997 staff
presented to the Planning Board a process and schedule for updating the Transportation Element
of the Comprehensive Plan including an update to the road functional classifications. An
amendment to update the functional classifications is necessary because the maps in the
Transportation Element to the Comprehensive Plan depict planned roads that are no longer
planned.Some of the current functional classifications are not referenced by other adopted plans
and ordinances and the existing classifications have been applied to every road in the county's
land use planning jurisdiction outside the thoroughfare planning jurisdictions for the
municipalities.This has made it difficult to clearly and quickly identify the most important roads
and also apply urban road classifications to the roads in 45%of the county's land use planning
area. As a part of the Functional Road Classification System update,the planned major
thoroughfares adopted by Orange County municipalities which are outside Df a municipality's
land use planning jurisdiction will be presented for consideration and adoption by Orange
County. In this way Orange County can classify the proposed thoroughfares and then protect the
rights-of-way for those thoroughfares that are consistent with the County's Comprehensive Plan.