Chatham imposes moratorium on development

Posted Monday, June 4, 2007

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The proposed moratorium will be imposed for no more than 12 months and would apply to any new residential subdivisions containing more than 25 lots or units. The moratorium will not apply to commercial developments nor to any developments in Pittsboro, Siler City and Cary because these towns have their own land use jurisdictions.

Any development applications received by the Planning Department as of May 8, 2007, will be held until the moratorium has been removed by the Board of Commissioners.

“We will use this period to take a close look at our land use ordinances and see what we need to adjust so that we develop our county responsibly,” said Carl Thompson, chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

Vice-Chairman George Lucier added that “we are one of the fastest growing counties in the state, yet historically we have been rural and agricultural. This means that we do not have the land use plans and infrastructure in place to support fast growth.”

Lucier said Chatham County is already feeling the impact of rapid growth through the demand for school expansion as well as the need to supply water and wastewater to developments. “We have to be environmentally responsible by making sure that we can meet these needs.”

The Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on the moratorium at their second May meeting and 22 people spoke in favor of the moratorium, while just three opposed it.

The moratorium ordinance adopted by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners on June 4th noted that 12,000 new residential lots or homes have been approved in the county and its municipalities over the past four years.

It also cited the impact of increased commercial development along several highway corridors, including US 15/501, which was widened to four lanes to Chapel Hill last year. US 64 and NC 87 also are seeing more development. This has led to formation of a new task force to develop a Major Corridor Ordinance for Chatham County.

Other issues addressed in the moratorium ordinance include:

· School overcrowding, with 10 of the county’s 14 schools at or over capacity (based on information from the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State University);

· Increased construction expenses for schools and expansion of the water system;

· Unzoned areas threatened by development, such as areas near the Rocky River;

· Disappearing farmland, even though agriculture and related businesses continued to produce 40% of the county’s total income and 33% of its employment;

· Limited public wastewater systems outside of town limits;

· Protection of watersheds, rivers and streams, which can be impacted by fast growth;

· Development of a joint land use plan with the Town of Cary, which is still underway and will require ordinance amendments;

· Insufficient staff support in the Planning Department to provide oversight of developments;

· Insufficient affordable housing for working-class residents; and

· Inadequate parks and recreation facilities.