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ORDINANCE OF THE LEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />EXTENDING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON OIL AND <br />GAS DEVELOPMENT AND MINING WITHIN LEE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA <br />WHEREAS, the Lee County Board of Commissioners at its October 16, 2017 regular meeting, in order to <br />provide all interested persons a full and ample opportunity to express their views on the question of <br />whether the Ordinance Instituting A Temporary Moratorium on Oil and Gas Development and Mining <br />Within Lee County, North Carolina, adopted on December 7, 2015 (the "Ordinance") and an amendment <br />adopted on July 18, 2106 should be extended for twenty-four (24) months, after due advertisement as <br />by law required, conducted a public hearing for the purpose of hearing the views of the public, gathering <br />information, and taking appropriate action pursuant to authority conferred in Article 18, Chapter 153A <br />of the North Carolina General Statutes, the Lee County Moratorium Ordinance, and other relevant law <br />regarding the imposition and extension of a moratorium on oil and gas development activities and <br />mining in Lee County; and, <br />WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners of Lee County has considered certain actions as stated in the <br />Ordinance to address the problems or conditions set forth above and continues to find them <br />inadequate; and, <br />WHEREAS, the County has taken all reasonable and feasible steps proposed to be taken in the Ordinance <br />to address the problems or conditions leading to imposition of the moratorium, and has found new facts <br />and conditions that warrant the extension, and has determined that further study is necessary because <br />hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a relatively new method of extracting subsurface oil and gas and its <br />impacts in locations where it is taking place are still unclear, therefore County staff is not sufficiently <br />informed as to the potential dangers to the public of this method and how to best regulate the same <br />within the limited authority granted to local governments by the North Carolina General Assembly; and, <br />WHEREAS, the County is in the process of updating its Land Use Plan to address and study the impacts of <br />traditional mining so zoning reflects the proper areas in which industry should operate and once <br />completed, the County needs time to update its Unified Development Ordinance to reflect any changes <br />regarding the location of the oil or gas reserves; and, <br />WHEREAS, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners has also instituted a Moratorium on Oil and <br />Gas Development Activities Within Chatham County, North Carolina, and has completed a study, Natural <br />Gas Development Impacts Study in Chatham County, prepared by Charles Yuill, which implicates that <br />Lee County will be impacted by hydraulic fracturing due to its rock formations. Lee County was waiting <br />for Dr. Yuill's report to be completed before hiring him to study more specifically Lee County. Dr. Yuill's <br />report was given to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners on June 13, 2017; and, <br />WHEREAS, now that Charles Yuill has prepared a study for Chatham County, Lee County has hired him to <br />conduct a similar study, and as such, more time is needed to complete such study and formulate <br />conclusions and recommendations based on the findings; and, <br />