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156 <br /> would be required, and therefore these developments would be permitt110 <br /> only in a predefined corridor mutually agreed upon by the County, <br /> Towns and OWASA. A minimum tract size of 200 acres would be required. <br /> In order to augment the package proposed by the Committee, they <br /> identified several issues for further study. (1) the potential use of <br /> a Transfer of Development Rights System, (2) the endorsement of a <br /> Purchase of Development Rights system where agricultural and natural <br /> sites might be preserved (3) the endorsement of the proposed County <br /> Monitoring and Maintenance for wastewater systems and others. <br /> David Stancil concluded the slide presentation by stating that <br /> the Rural Character Study Committee has attempted to propose a package <br /> that recognizes both resource protection and private property rights <br /> for what they are, and identified a first step toward peaceful <br /> coexistence of these two land concepts as Orange County approaches the <br /> 21st Century. <br /> STAFFS RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> All three staffs are in consensus on the positive aspects of the <br /> concepts that have been identified by the study committee in their <br /> strategy. In the agenda is a joint staff report. Four areas have <br /> been identified as concerns by the governing boards: <br /> (1) EXTENSION OF PUBLIC SEWER TO RURAL VILLAGES <br /> Currently water and sewer is not present in the buffer <br /> By extending water and sewer into these areas, <br /> development may be encouraged at densities in the <br /> future beyond those seen in the Joint Land Use Plan. <br /> The study committee has recommended that these lines be <br /> designed to service these villages only. <br /> (2) OVERALL MINIMUM LOT SIZE BASIS <br /> The Rural Character Study Committee proposed that the <br /> overall minimum lot size calculations for developments <br /> in the RB revert back to a "80, 000 square footage" base <br /> rather than the current "2 .0-acre" base. The concern <br /> of Chapel Hill and Carrboro staff is that reducing the <br /> minimum lot size from 2.0 acres to 1.84 acres will <br /> result in a greater number of dwellings in the Rural <br /> Buffer than was envisioned by the Joint Planning <br /> Agreement and Land Use Plan. Orange County staff feels <br /> the increase that might be seen in number of dwellings <br /> is very slight, and that any increase would be offset <br /> by the flexibility granted - yielding more sensitive <br /> site design. <br /> (3) MINIMUM LOT SIZE VERSUS AVERAGE LOT SIZE <br /> The Rural Character Study Committee has recommended <br /> allowing the use of "average" lot sizing rather than <br /> "minimum" lot sizing for non-sewered residential <br /> developments in the Rural Buffer. The Chapel Hill <br /> staff is concerned that this flexibility would be <br /> III <br /> achieved at the expense of increased densities and <br /> number of dwellings over what was envisioned in the <br />