Rural buffer

Has anyone else been getting phone calls from Karen of the NC Pork Council and also junk mail? We have received two phone calls and one postcard during the past week.  Is some new lobbying effort going into the the state legislature to change rules about hog farms and waste lagoons? Our rural buffer and other rules limit large scale hog farms in Orange County. I hope no one is trying to make things worse.

I am sure most, if not all, Orange County residents are unaware that a Special Use Permit (SUP) to cram a large dog boarding and training facility on a portion of an occupied residential lot bordering New Hope Creek in the Rural Buffer of Orange County has been granted by our Board of Adjustment (BOA). I am nonplussed how this came to pass.

Orange County’s 1981 Comprehensive Plan describes our Rural Buffer as “a low-density area consisting of single-family homes situated on large lots…a minimum size of two (2) acres…rural in character and which will remain rural, contain low-density residential uses.” New Hope Creek is a primary tributary of Jordan Lake. Several communities draw drinking water from Jordan and thus have a direct interest in protecting its watershed. It is one of the most important wildlife habitats in the Triangle.