Chatham Major Corridor Ordinance Committee (MCOC)

With the widening of 15-501, there has been unchecked commercial development along that corridor, threatening to create a 'strip mall' corridor between the Chatham County line and Pittsboro's ETJ. This is contrary to both the adopted Strategic Plan and the adopted Land Conservation and Development Plan.

The latter specifically calls for the preservation of rural character through, among other things, the development of economic centers in key areas and to discourage commercial and industrial development in other settings, especially in sensitive resource areas. Traffic congestion and impact on the environment are other considerations.

The Chatham County Major Corridor Ordinance Committee (MCOC)Task Force was established to:

• Provide development guidelines along the County's major corridors as recommended by the adopted Land Conservation and Development Plan to ensure sufficient traffic flow, protection of environment, esthetics, and rural character of these major throughways.
• Provide and map designated economic nodes as recommended by the Land Conservation and Development Plan to help direct future utility expansion by outlining priority economic development locations for targeting water and sewer.

The Major Corridor Ordinance Task Force delivered their recommendations to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners on January 7, 2008. The Board of Commissioners referred the recommendations to the Planning Board at that meeting. All subsequent changes related to the Corridor Overlay Zoning Districts and other supporting recommendations can be found on Chatham County's website here.