The Board of County Commissioners has received questions from concerned residents about the status of the draft Buckhorn Area Plan Study. The draft Study was presented at a Nov. 10, Virtual Open House and can be accessed via the following link http://ptrc.org/Buckhorn. The City of Mebane also held an initial public hearing on the Plan on Dec. 7.
The Buckhorn Area Plan is a technical study of potential future land uses and utility services that identifies properties that could be zoned for nonresidential purposes to support economic development based on a variety of development factors. The Plan was jointly funded by Orange County and the City of Mebane based on each jurisdiction’s shared interest in this area of the County and was initiated as a result of new development and growth pressures in and around the existing Buckhorn Economic Development District.
As a planning tool, the Plan is conceptual and long range. It does not modify existing land use maps or change existing zoning in the study area. Any of these formal changes would go through a separate public input and approval process.
The draft Buckhorn Area Plan will be presented to the Board of Orange County Commissioners in 2021. At this time, the public will be invited to provide comment to the Board of Commissioners on the draft Plan. The City of Mebane has deferred action on the Plan until the County’s review can take place and can be jointly discussed between the two jurisdictions. The final study will be informed by the public input process and discussion between the jurisdictions.