Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
154 <br /> 3. JOINT PLANNING AGREEMENT • <br /> This item is to receive public input on a proposed amendment <br /> to the Joint Planning Agreement for Orange County, Chapel Hill and <br /> Carrboro. This amendment is directly related to and contingent upon <br /> the previous related items. Specifically, the proposed amendment <br /> would add language which refers to the creation of five permitted <br /> development options with a range of lot sizes and open space set- <br /> asides. Language would also be added to qualify the prohibition on <br /> public water and sewer service extension to allow an exception for <br /> extensions into a predefined service corridor only for the development <br /> of planned "Rural Villages" . <br /> SLIDE PRESENTATION (The complete narrative is in the permanent agenda <br /> file in the Clerk's Office) . <br /> DAVID STANCIL made the presentation of the staff report. He <br /> stated that the Committee began by considering its four goals: <br /> (1) Agricultural Preservation <br /> (2) Natural Resource Protection <br /> (3) Visual Resource Protection <br /> (4) Growth Management <br /> Also, they considered a fifth unwritten goal of providing rural buffer <br /> property owners with more flexibility. In the Conceptual Guidelines • <br /> for the Rural Buffer, each goal is addressed both individually and <br /> comprehensively. <br /> AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION <br /> Since many farmers were concerned that making a living in <br /> agriculture was becoming more difficult, the Committee adopted <br /> strategies that would encourage agriculture to coexist with future <br /> development by allowing agriculture in open space set-asides. <br /> NATURAL AND VISUAL RESOURCES <br /> The Committee concluded that by recognizing and encouraging the <br /> protection of natural resources in the buffer by landowners, the goal <br /> of protecting the environment might be greatly furthered. This can <br /> best be accomplished by encouraging development to cluster with open <br /> space set-asides that include environmentally-sensitive areas. The <br /> further use of flexible site-sensitive design standards in the <br /> strategy for the rural buffer also enhances this goal. <br /> GROWTH MANAGEMENT <br /> The Rural Buffer, as a part of the Joint Planning Area Land Use <br /> Plan for Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro plays a critical <br /> growth management role for the future of both the County and the <br /> Towns. Its purpose as a rural "greenbelt" separating the urbanized <br /> areas from other suburban and urban areas is very clearly stated in <br /> the Joint Land Use Plan. The Committee's goal was to find a way to <br /> encourage clustered development that discouraged rural sprawl, are 1 <br /> density and yet protect and preserve open space and resources through <br />