A public hearing about some regulatory housekeeping gave Alamance County’s governing board an opportunity to contemplate other, much broader changes to the county’s rules for growth and development.
This wide-ranging conversation arose Monday night when the county’s board of commissioners conducted a hearing about a relatively modest revision to the county’s subdivision requirements.
Matthew Hoagland, the county’s planning director, informed the commissioners that this tweak to the county’s unified development ordinance to allow the planning department to add certificates to subdivision plats that indicate the subject property hasn’t been evaluated for underground septic systems.
Hoagland added that, under this change, the planning department could sign off on subdivision plats without a site review by the local health department to make sure the property can accommodate septic tanks.
“By making this evaluation optional,” he added, “the amendment before you tonight will bring our process more in line with state law.”
Under this modification, a property owner will still have to obtain an evaluation from the health department in order to develop anything that requires an underground septic system. The viability of such a system has served as a natural halter on growth in many unincorporated parts of the county, which lie outside the reach of municipal water and sewer systems.
As cursory as this amendment may’ve been, it nevertheless stoked the imaginations of some county officials about the potential for high density growth in the county’s rural areas.
During Monday’s discussion, commissioner Pam Thompson waxed oratorical about the prospect of fast-paced development consuming the county’s wide-open spaces.
“Certain parts of our county are just blowing up with builds,” she declared. “I just don’t want us to be on top of each other…because when we do that we’re going to have to have more schools, more law enforcement, more EMS – more everything.”
Thompson’s concerns were later echoed by area resident Keith Jones, who addressed the commissioners during a state-mandated public hearing on the proposed ordinance change.
“I agree with Pam,” Jones told the commissioners. “You have to do something because the houses are right on top of each other.”
These same misgivings were also front and center for Steve Carter, the vice chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners, who argued that the county needs to do more to plan for the coming development.
“If we don’t, it’s going to get planned for us,” he added, “and I’m afraid we won’t like what we get.”
In response to these qualms, Hoagland reminded the county’s governing board that its members had rejected a proposed regulation in September that would’ve effectively doubled the minimum lot size for residential construction. The county’s planning director went on to recall that, in lieu of this regulatory change, the board had instructed him and his colleagues to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm some other ideas to manage growth and development.
“We did put together a draft of some ideas, and we present them to the planning board as a first go around,” he added. “I’m hopeful we can bring you guys something promising in the next few months.”
Meanwhile, Henry Vines, a member of the county’s planning board, assured the commissioners that he and his colleagues are likely to have several bold, new initiatives for them to consider once they’ve dispensed with more immediate issues – like the proposed plat certificate.
“This is something we need to get cleared and clarified,” he added, “because we have a lot of stuff that we’re bringing you in the near future.”
