GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
By Michelle Cassell
Editor
ORANGE COUNTY – Orange County is nearing the completion of its Land Use Plan 2050 (CLUP), which will affect the citizens of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. According to John Dempsey, an Outdoor Voices for Orange County member, “CLUP 2050 will noticeably impact the quality of life for residents in Chapel Hill by determining future growth in their surrounding landscape.”
There is still time to give your input. The online surveys are available at this link and close on November 3. Survey results will be used to develop a draft land use plan to be shared with the public during the third and final Engagement Window during spring 2025. Additional information about the project can be found on the project website: orangecountylanduseplan.com
What is CLUP 2050?
According to their website, Orange County launched a major effort in 2023 —the Orange County Land Use Plan 2050—to establish a cohesive, county-wide land use vision for the future and an actionable strategy to achieve that vision. This planning process will result in a rewrite of one of Orange County’s key policy documents, the Land Use Plan. Click here to view the adopted plan.
The Orange County Land Use Plan 2050 will guide the County’s growth and conservation efforts through the year 2050. “By setting goals and objectives, county officials can use the document to guide policy decisions that effectively provide community members a high quality of life.”
The Land Use Plan will consider a variety of topics related to physical planning in the community, including:
- Community Equity
- Community Resiliency and Climate Change
- Economic Development
- Farmland Protection
- Housing
- Natural and Cultural Systems
- New development and redevelopment
- Parks and Recreation
- Services (Utilities) and Community Facilities
Why provide your input?
The CLUP 2050 plan will also directly affect water and wildlife health and stability. Additionally, the climate action and sustainability initiatives set by the Town of Chapel Hill will be directly impacted by Orange County land use decisions.
Other developmental impacts will be felt within the solid that produces our food. Current information about the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation studies can be found here.
“The draft land use plan is sorely lacking in identifying the need to work with the universities — UNC on increasing student housing on and beyond Carolina North to reduce pressures on rental units, and Duke with Duke Forest and it is supplying open space and natural areas that anchor the Rural Buffer,” said Barry Jacobs, former Orange County commissioner, Orange County board member and former OWASA chair.
“The economic development component is deficient in highlighting our well-educated workforce, the envious quality and funding of our public schools, the presence of readily accessible green space, and our opportunities to build on our state-leading local agricultural economy,” said Jacobs.
Future Land Use Maps exist for every town and target future development beyond town limits. Such future growth must be coordinated with Orange County. This includes water and sewer agreements and could face revision based on CLUP 2050.
To learn more, visit the project website at: https://www.orangecountylanduseplan.com/, and direct any questions to County Planning staff at landuseplan@orangecountync.gov
Michelle Cassell is a seasoned reporter who has covered everything from crime to hurricanes and local politics to human interest over the course of 35 years. As managing editor, she hopes to encourage writers of a wide range of backgrounds and interests in TLR’s coverage of Southern Orange County news.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press
The relentless pressures from developers are already impacting the rural parts of OC that are still standing — and quickly being destroyed. How easy would it be for the Planning and Inspections Dept, who is driving this process, to reach out to research scientists at UNC, NC State, and Duke for input on current environmental data that would put environmental protections in place while still allowing intelligent development? Look at who is listed as “key stakeholders” in this plan, it’s quite telling. If the CLUP 2050 fails to address and protect rural Orange County from unmitigated destruction at the hands of developers, we can kiss our watersheds, the Buckhorn area, our farmlands, the dwindling rural buffer, and what little green space we have left good-bye.