Com base na resposta do @ whuber , se você quiser implementar isso no Python, calcule o deslocamento conforme indicado e crie uma saída como uma coleção de pontos como:
import arcpy
from math import radians, sin, cos
origin_x, origin_y = (400460.99, 135836.7)
distance = 800
angle = 15 # in degrees
# calculate offsets with light trig
(disp_x, disp_y) = (distance * sin(radians(angle)),\
distance * cos(radians(angle)))
(end_x, end_y) = (origin_x + disp_x, origin_y + disp_y)
output = "offset-line.shp"
arcpy.CreateFeatureClass_management("c:\workspace", output, "Polyline")
cur = arcpy.InsertCursor(output)
lineArray = arcpy.Array()
# start point
start = arcpy.Point()
(start.ID, start.X, start.Y) = (1, origin_x, origin_y)
lineArray.add(start)
# end point
end = arcpy.Point()
(end.ID, end.X, end.Y) = (2, end_x, end_y)
lineArray.add(end)
# write our fancy feature to the shapefile
feat = cur.newRow()
feat.shape = lineArray
cur.insertRow(feat)
# yes, this shouldn't really be necessary...
lineArray.removeAll()
del cur