ORDINANCE - Extending a Temporary Moratorium on Oil and Gas Development and Mining within Lee County, NC 11-13-17

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WHEREAS, it is the expressed intent of the Board of Commissioners to lift the moratorium as soon as possible and to that end it will instruct all consultants, boards, and committees working on the problems and conditions necessitating the moratorium to complete their work as soon as reasonably possible so that the required ordinance or ordinances will be in place and oil and gas and mining development can resume at the earliest possible time, but with the proper safeguards in place to protect the citizens, residents, and property owners of Lee County; NOW THEREFORE, be it ordained by the Lee County Board of Commissioners: Section 12-101. Recitals Incorporated by Reference. The above and foregoing recitals are incorporated in the Ordinance by reference. Section 12-102. Statutory Authority. This Ordinance is enacted pursuant to (1) the General Statutes of the State of North Carolina, Section 153A-121, which grants Lee County general ordinance -making power; (2) General Statute, Section 153A-123 which grants Lee County the authority to enforce its ordinances; (3) General Statute, Section 153A-340, which grants Lee County the authority to adopt zoning and development regulation ordinances to promote, health, safety, morals or the general welfare, including the authority to adopt and extend temporary moratoria; (4) General Statute, Section 113-415.1, which addresses the County's ordinance -making powers related to oil and gas development; and (5) the Lee County Moratorium Ordinance. Section 12-103. Purpose. The purpose of the extension of the moratorium is to allow the Lee County Board of Commissioners time to expand and complete the study of the Mining and Energy Commission's regulations and other state and federal regulations applicable to oil and gas development to determine whether such regulations adequately protect the County and its citizens from the impacts of hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas development activities and mining and to develop standards and conditions to be implemented through a conditional use permit and other appropriate mechanisms to address any impacts that are not adequately addressed by applicable state and federal regulations. Section 12-104. Jurisdiction. This ordinance shall apply to all of Lee County except for those areas included with incorporated municipalities and their extraterritorial jurisdictions. Section 12-05. Definitions. The words and phrases defined in this Section shall have the same meaning as in the Ordinance. Section 12-06. Imposition of Moratorium on the Oil and Gas Development Activities and Mining. There is hereby established as of the effective date hereof a twenty-four (24) month moratorium on any County approval required by law for oil and gas development activities and mining. It shall be unlawful and a violation of this Ordinance for any person within the jurisdiction to which this Ordinance applies to engage in oil and gas development activities or mining activities that require a County permit. The Board will use this 24 month moratorium period to expand and complete the Land Use Plan, to receive a study from Charles Yuill specifically related to Lee County, and study the impacts of oil and gas development activities and mining in other states, and to develop a plan to regulate and mitigate impacts from these activities that are not addressed adequately by the State and federal regulatory