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3 <br />conservation option of flexible development standards whereby land is <br />subdivided into lots with 33 % open space preserved through the use of <br />conservation easements applied to portions of individual lots. That approach <br />has not produced the desired results of the flexible development provisions. <br />Although the conservation option has been the most commonly used <br />approach in subdivisions developed using flexible development standards, <br />the conservation approach has not produced creative subdivision design to <br />preserve rural community character nor provided any sizable areas of <br />contiguous open space. <br />At the March 16, 1999, meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, the <br />Board requested that the Planning Board prepare a recommendation for <br />ordinance amendments dealing with the conservation option of flexible <br />development to be presented at the May 24, 1999, Quarterly Public Hearing. <br />1. ORANGE COUNTYZON/NG ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS <br />The Orange County Planning Board proposes an amendment to Article <br />22, Definitions, to better define Flexible Development by: <br />• amending the (a) estate approach for preservation of open space by <br />adding the provision that required front and side yard setbacks shall <br />not be counted toward open space requirements unless those areas <br />contain significant primary or secondary conservation areas. <br />• deleting (b) a "conservation" approach for preservation of open <br />space; <br />• changing (c) a "cluster approach" to (b) a "conservation-cluster" <br />approach which will include certain conservation approaches for <br />preservation of open space; <br />This amendment will define flexible development consistent with with <br />proposed amendments to the Orange County Subdivision Regulations. <br />2. ORANGE COUNTY SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS <br />The Orange County Planning Board proposes amendments to Section <br />IV-B-10 FLEXIBLE DEVELOPMENT that: will: <br /> <br />• allow ownership of open space in a flexible development to be <br />held by individual property owners only within developments <br />using the estate option. (Please refer to attached amendments for <br />Section C OPEN SPACE STANDARDS, C.3 Ownership of Open <br />Space and proposed deletion of Section D DEVELOPMENT <br />STANDARDS, D.2 Conservation Option.) <br />