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would add language which refers to the creation of five permitted development options with a range of lot sizes and open space set- asides. Language would also be added to qualify the prohibition on public water and sewer service extension to allow an exception for extensions into a predefined service corridor only for the development of planned "Rural Villages" . SLIDE PRESENTATION (The complete narrative is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk' s Office) . DAVID STANCIL made the presentation of the staff report. He stated that the Committee began by considering its four goals: (1) Agricultural Preservation (2) Natural Resource Protection (3) Visual Resource Protection (4) Growth Management Also, they considered a fifth unwritten goal of providing rural buffer property owners with more flexibility. In the Conceptual Guidelines for the Rural Buffer, each goal is addressed both individually and comprehensively. AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION Since many farmers were concerned that making a living in agriculture was becoming more difficult, the Committee adopted strategies that would encourage agriculture to coexist with future development by allowing agriculture in open space set-asides. NATURAL AND VISUAL RESOURCES The Committee concluded that by recognizing and encouraging the protection of natural resources in the buffer by landowners, the goal of protecting the environment might be greatly furthered. This can best be accomplished by encouraging development to cluster with open space set-asides that include environmentally-sensitive areas. The further use of flexible site-sensitive design standards in the strategy for the rural buffer also enhances this goal. GROWTH MANAGEMENT The Rural Buffer, as a part of the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan for Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro plays a critical growth management role for the future of both the County and the Towns. Its purpose as a rural "greenbelt" separating the urbanized areas from other suburban and urban areas is very clearly stated in the Joint Land Use Plan. The Committee's goal was to find a way to encourage clustered development that discouraged rural sprawl, are low density and yet protect and preserve open space and resources through sensitive site design. Such a program would meet both the goals of the Joint Planning Land Use Plan and the Committee. In hearing the concerns of the rural buffer residents (including those on the Committee) the task force decided that a fifth unstated goal of the study should include finding a way to achieve the aforementioned goals while at the same time providing flexibility for rural residents who have no desire to carve their entire tract into two-acre building lots. The allowance of current permitted uses, the provision of up to