By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday took its first look at Phase II of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which could change development standards and land use in the county.
The UDO combines and streamlines all county regulations related to land development into one 800-page document. Last week, the board approved Phase I of the UDO after more than a year and a half of collecting feedback and making revisions.
While Phase I of the UDO focused on the framework of the zoning technique used by the county, Phase II will address land-use location, zoning and design standards and approval processes.
County Planning Director Craig Benedict encouraged the board to focus on economic development and urban transition zones, which represent 3.3 percent of the county.
“That’s some very valuable land,†he said, adding that water and sewer infrastructure is needed in some of those areas before development and growth can take place there.
About 18 years ago, the county established three economic-development districts: the Hillsborough Area Economic Development District, the Eno Economic Development District and the Buckhorn Economic Development District.
Board Vice Chair Steve Yuhasz said he would like to prioritize economic development when considering Phase II of the UDO.
“With proposing the quarter-cent sales tax, we are making a commitment to the public that we are going to have effective economic-development efforts, and the easier it is to get good economic development, the quicker we will see a return on this economic-development investment we are making,†Yuhasz said.
“I’m not sure that we’ve done enough of that in the last 30 years,†he continued, adding that the county looks a lot like it did three decades ago, which is good in some respects but not in others.
Board members also said that, considering the time it took to complete Phase I, they would like to see Phase II move along at a reasonable pace.
“I’m afraid that if we don’t set deadlines to achieve certain goals that we’re not going to be able to move forward,†board member Earl McKee said.
Board member Alice Gordon urged planning staff to get a complete draft of Phase II ready for the public as quickly as possible.
“That’s the lesson I take away from what we did last time,†she said. “I just found it very difficult when there kept being changes.â€
Gordon added that staff should be prepared for a significant amount of feedback.
In other business, the board heard from the county library director Lucinda Munger regarding the proposed dissolution of the Hyconeechee Regional Library System, which provides library services in Orange, Person and Caswell counties. Because of changes to state law regulating regional library systems, the directors of each county’s libraries have agreed that the transition from a regional library system to three independent systems would best serve each county’s needs.
After the board votes at a later meeting to dissolve the library system, library staff will develop a multi-year plan for the transition.
“We would become our own library with our own library board and policies, but which would allow us to do some of the things that we’re a little bit … hand-tied in,†Munger said. “We could just focus on the residents of Orange County.â€
During 2012-13, the first year of transition, the cost to the county of the change is expected to be around $28,500.