Agenda - 10-20-1998 - 10c - Laserfiche WebLink

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and frontages have enabled some designers to obtain more lots within the conservation option than would have been achieved through a conventional subdivision. Where public water and sewer services are unavailable, flexibility in subdivision design is constrained by soil suitability for sewage disposal. Furthermore, the Cluster Option is not practicable in areas of the County with 40,000 ft2 minimum lot sizes.. Environmental health regulations stipulate that individual septic systems contain a minimum of 40,000 ft2 within Protected Watersheds. Given Orange County's unique watershed geography, this effectively prohibits the use of off -site septic easements to allow clustering of smaller lots. Once lot yield is determined, then market forces and economic feasibility control the type of road constructed and whether amenities can be afforded. Including amenities such as open space also comes with the price of additional design, engineering, surveying, and legal fees. The local real state market determines whether the cost of providing open space can be recovered in the selling price of the lots. The Conservation Option resolves this issue because it allows developers to provide open space (to comply with regulations and provide a marketable amenity) at no additional costs above creating individual lots. In June the Planning Staff distributed questionnaires to the 14 participants in the Flexible Development process to solicit comments on the procedures and standards. Only one response was received. It is provided in Appendix B. CONCLUSION Major subdivision activity during FY 97 -98 was not extensive enough to thoroughly analyze the effectiveness of the Flexible Development regulations. The stated purpose of the program of open space preservation was not achieved to an obvious level of success. On a positive note, six of the eight (75 %) major subdivision proposals outside the Rural Buffer intend to utilize a Flexible Development (5 conservation; 1 cluster). Of the two remaining subdivisions, Lawrence Road Subdivision is awaiting a decision on rezoning, and the Wildwood West concept plan (cluster option) was denied by the Planning Board. The provision of the Neighborhood Information Meeting has significantly increased the awareness of adjacent and neighboring property owners to the proceedings of the Planning Board. However, subdivision design and open space preservation are rarely the major issues of discussion. Trends during this reporting period suggest that the Conservation Option has become the de facto concept plan submittal. Because the conservation option enables subdividers to incorporate the open space within individual lots, it eliminates the need to consider open space as a `critical mass' or larger interconnected corridor to be set aside and preserved. This raises a concern about the quality of the open space being protected by the Conservation Option. Furthermore, it brings into question the ability of current Flexible Development standards to achieve the long -term goal of a contiguous, countywide network of open space. Flexible Development Annual Report #2 July 1998 Page 9