Shaping Orange County's Future Final Full Report

Browse Search

Multi -Use Community Centers: Centers strategically located within municipalities and in villages within transition areas that serve as a focal point for social interaction and life for those in the surrounding community. The facilities at a multi -use community center would bring together in one campus uses such as schools, community centers, senior centers, adult learning, teen centers, day care facilities, a medical clinic, branch libraries, arts space and outdoor recreation. Rain Garden: Rain gardens retain and filter water using plants and soils to remove pollutants from stormwater naturally. Rain gardens are created in low -lying areas, with specific layers of soil, sand, and organic mulch. These layers naturally filter the rain as it runs into the rain garden. After a storm, the soil absorbs and stores the rainwater and nourishes the garden's grasses, trees, and flowers. The traditional system of curbs, gutters, and storm drains carries stormwater runoff directly to local streams and rivers without any bioretention filtering process. Instead rain gardens filter and reuse the water, reducing stormwater pollution, while providing attractive landscaping. Redevelopment: Development inside towns that replaces existing structures with new and sometimes different development in the same location. Rural Areas: Areas in Orange County which lie outside of municipal corporate limits, extra- territiorial jurisdictions (ETFs) and /orTransition Areas (as defined in the adopted land use plans). Rural Economic Development Node (Rural Industrial Node): As designated in the County Land Use Element, a designated area outside of urban services boundaries and strategically located as to transportation network that is planned for lower- intensity commercial and industrial facilities and employment opportunities, at a scale consistent with the lack of urban services. Small Area Plans: A land use plan for a small community or area that focuses on the communities needs and desires (while cognizant of overall comprehensive plans for the Town/County), and is developed by citizens from the area in conjunction with professional and technical assistance. Suburban Sprawl: The unmanaged and largely unplanned expansion of developed areas at a less- than -urban scale (i.e., not usually requiring urban services) into corridors /areas of a rural nature. Transfer of Development Rights: A program that enables the right to develop a property to be legally transferred to another property, in exchange for some type of compensation (usually monetary). This program can allow a parcel of land with unique resources or constraints present (within a "selling area ") to transfer its share of expected development potential (i.e., how many residential lots could be created under existing land constraints and standards) to another property in a different location, where such development might be more practical because of location or proximity to urban services (the "receiving area "). Example: A farmer in a watershed that is designated as a sending area has 100 acres, and the land could reasonably expect to yield 45 house lots. The farmer sells the rights to develop 42 lots for $x thousand, and via a legal agreement retains the rights to three new lots for family members. The development rights are sold to the developer of a residential development in a Town transition area, who is then allowed to increase the density/ # of lots of his /her development accordingly. 111