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Business Meeting

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Thursday, November 5, 2026

Regular meeting Tax rate and revaluationAppointments and personnelSubdivision and site plansZoning text amendmentEnvironment and sustainabilityFaith and cultural communitiesFarmland and open spaceHealth and human servicesHomelessness and shelterRezoningSchools and educationStormwater and flooding

Agenda document Watch

What's on this agenda

Orange County's commissioners hold a public hearing Thursday on an Orange County ABC store at 9825 NC Highway 49 in Cedar Grove. The ABC Board, through Summit Design & Engineering Services, wants 20.51 acres rezoned from Agricultural Residential to a Non-Residential Conditional District for the store. The Planning Board recommended denial 7-4 in August as inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. The four in the minority proposed seven conditions; the ABC Board accepted six and voted against the seventh, a conservation easement on the land left undeveloped.

Two more hearings take up subdivision rules the board turned down as one package on September 1 and asked staff to split. The first is a "good housekeeping" rewrite of subdivision standards, which the Planning Board recommended 10-0. The second would let the planning director approve by-right subdivisions of 20 lots or fewer without the Planning Board and commissioners, which staff estimate would cut review from about seven months to three or four; the Planning Board recommended it 8-2. The board also votes on appointing Crawford Bolton tax administrator from November 6 and on extending the Tax Assessment Work Group for a year to monitor the GAR Associates recommendations.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Jump to an item (22 on this agenda)
  1. 1Additions or Changes to the Agenda
  2. 2.aPublic Comments: Matters not on the Printed Agenda
  3. 2.bPublic Comments: Matters on the Printed Agenda
  4. 3Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members
  5. 4.aNative American Heritage Month Proclamation
  6. 5.aApplication for Zoning Atlas Amendment – 9825 NC Highway 49, Cedar Gr…
  7. 5.bUnified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment – “Good Housekeepi…
  8. 5.cUnified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment – Subdivision Revi…
  9. 6.aAppointment of the Orange County Tax Administrator
  10. 6.bApproval of an Extension of Tax Assessment Work Group Under a New Cha…
  11. 7Reports
  12. 8.aMinutes for September 29, 2026 and October 6, 2026
  13. 8.bMotor Vehicle Property Tax Releases/Refunds
  14. 8.cProperty Tax Releases/Refunds
  15. 8.dLate Applications for Property Tax Exemption/Exclusion
  16. 8.eFamily Caregivers Month and Caregiver Day of Care Proclamation
  17. 9County Manager’s Report
  18. 10County Attorney’s Report
  19. 11Appointments
  20. 12Information Items
  21. 13Closed Session
  22. 14Adjournment

Agenda items (22)

Procedural · 5Staff or committee report · 4Public hearing · 3Consent agenda · 3Proclamation or recognition · 2Appointment · 2Resolution · 1Minutes approval · 1Closed session · 1
  1. 1 Additions or Changes to the Agenda
    Procedural
  2. 2.a Public Comments: Matters not on the Printed Agenda
    Procedural
    Up to one hour of comment, three minutes a speaker.
  3. 2.b Public Comments: Matters on the Printed Agenda
    Procedural
  4. 3 Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members
    Procedural
  5. 4.a Native American Heritage Month Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Faith and cultural communities
    A proclamation recognizing November 2026 as Native American Heritage Month, naming the eight state-recognized tribes and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, whose homeland includes Orange County.
  6. 5.a Application for Zoning Atlas Amendment – 9825 NC Highway 49, Cedar Grove, Cedar Grove Township
    Public hearing Environment and sustainabilityFarmland and open spaceRezoning
    Summit Design & Engineering Services, for the Orange County ABC Board, asks to rezone 20.51 acres from AR to NR-CD for an ABC store. The Planning Board recommended denial 7-4 on August 12; the ABC Board accepted six of seven conditions the minority proposed but not a conservation easement on the undeveloped acreage.
    • 9825 NC Hwy · no matching parcel on file
    • Pin 9940-35-8007 · Wells Charles A · assessed $12,007
  7. 5.b Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment – “Good Housekeeping” Reforms to Subdivision Standards
    Public hearing Stormwater and floodingSubdivision and site plansZoning text amendment
    County-initiated changes to subdivision standards: aligning definitions with state law, removing conditions on administrative approvals, extending expedited review to lots of 2.01 to 4.99 acres, dropping never-used commercial node subdivision rules and tightening performance guarantees for private roads and stormwater. The Planning Board recommended approval 10-0 on October 7.
  8. 5.c Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment – Subdivision Review Process
    Public hearing Subdivision and site plansZoning text amendment
    Would make the planning director, not the Planning Board and commissioners, the approver of by-right subdivisions of 20 lots or fewer, which staff say must be approved when they meet the standards. Staff estimate review would fall from about seven months to three or four. Neighborhood information meetings stay. The Planning Board recommended approval 8-2 on October 7.
  9. 6.a Appointment of the Orange County Tax Administrator
    Appointment Appointments and personnelTax rate and revaluation
    A resolution appointing Crawford Bolton tax administrator from November 6, 2026, to finish Nancy Freeman's term through April 1, 2027, after a national search by Developmental Associates.
  10. 6.b Approval of an Extension of Tax Assessment Work Group Under a New Charge
    Resolution Tax rate and revaluation
    A one-year extension of the work group, with its commissioner and community members unchanged, to monitor how the county carries out the GAR Associates recommendations on property assessment and to report community concerns.
  11. 7 Reports
    Staff or committee report
  12. 8.a Minutes for September 29, 2026 and October 6, 2026
    Minutes approval
  1. 8.e Family Caregivers Month and Caregiver Day of Care Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Health and human services
  2. 9 County Manager’s Report
    Staff or committee report Homelessness and shelterSchools and education
    Lists items for the November 10 work session: the Partnership to End Homelessness annual report, community use at Gravely Hill Middle School, appointment procedures for the Board of Adjustment and Board of Equalization and Review, and advisory board attendance rules.
  3. 10 County Attorney’s Report
    Staff or committee report
  4. 11 Appointments
    Appointment Appointments and personnel
  5. 12 Information Items
    Staff or committee report
    Includes the October 20 follow-up list, tax collector's reports and a memorandum on the Orange-Alamance Connector route.
  6. 13 Closed Session
    Closed session
  7. 14 Adjournment
    Procedural

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