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Craig Benedict then explained some maps of the rural buffer and transition areas. He said <br /> that over 57% of the parcels within the rural buffer are less than 5 acres. There is still a lot of <br /> development potential in the rural buffer. <br /> Craig Benedict then explained a map of Tuscany Ridge. There are a lot of undeveloped <br /> parcels to the east and west of the subdivision. There is a 147-acre parcel to the east and over 150 <br /> acres to the west. During the staff deliberation they made sure that if those other parcels develop that <br /> there would be stub-outs to service the other undeveloped properties. The pattern in the general area <br /> ranges from two-acre lots up to 10 and 20-acre lots. The regulations within the rural buffer do not require <br /> open space. But in this project, there is approximately 17.6% open space that has been preserved for <br /> the homeowners association to control. The important thing to note with this project is that there are no <br /> streams that bisect the property, so there are no major encumbrances for environmental concerns <br /> because there are no slopes in this development. He said that this project was not brought through as a <br /> minimum project because it has only 22 lots with some open space and trails, which are not a <br /> requirement of the general code. <br /> Craig Benedict made reference to comments made by the public about off-site roads in this <br /> development. This was addressed by the letter from Mike Mills, which said that Arthur Minnis Road has <br /> been put on the paving maintenance system. On-site roads will be built to public road standards. There <br /> were also comments about the fiscal impact of the project and the fiscal impact analysis shows a positive <br /> balance for fiscal impact. He said that throughout the process that both the Planning Board and the <br /> Board of County Commissioners have evaluated all of the issues and have made an appropriate <br /> decision on the subdivision. <br /> Chair Jacobs asked the County Attorney to describe where the County is in the subdivision <br /> process. County Attorney Geoffrey Gledhill stated that this project received preliminary plan approval on <br /> June 27`h by the Board of County Commissioners. At that point, the developer is free to begin all phases <br /> of development of the project. As a result of that, there is a "no look back" for the project— it has <br /> received final approval. There are things that have to be done before final plat approval, but most of <br /> these issues are check off lists. Basically this is an "out of the barn" issue and all of the planning and <br /> other regulations were followed. The project did satisfy all of the requirements of Orange County's <br /> subdivision regulations and in some instances exceeded those requirements. He said that notifications <br /> have only been in place since the mid-1990's. It was not put in place for the rural buffer for reasons of <br /> not wanting to make any change to the rural buffer from what was approved many years ago. <br /> Subdivision regulations began requiring notification to property owners in the mid-1990's. He said that <br /> the notice requirement can now be required for developments in the rural buffer by an ordinance <br /> amendment that requires the developer to do the notification or for Orange County to do the notification <br /> process. He said that Orange County has never had in place public hearings for subdivision requests. <br /> Orange County is in step with other counties by not requiring public hearings on issues like this. <br /> Public Comments <br /> Bob Johnson said that his comments would take longer than three minutes and other people <br /> would probably defer their time to him. He referred to his handout, "Questioning Tuscany Ridge." He <br /> said that they are not against development on the land owned by this development company. They are <br /> against development as it is currently planned because they think it is highly inappropriate to the area. <br /> He has lived in Orange County for 39 years. He expressed concern about the two-acre limit within the <br /> rural buffer. He said that this development bears no resemblance to anything rural whatsoever. He said <br /> that Tuscany Ridge sets a bad precedent for development in the rural buffer because it is vehicle-based <br /> and suburban in nature and designed purely for maximized density. He said that most of the people that <br /> are here about Tuscany Ridge took one look at the development plan and immediately saw it as <br /> "obscene." He asked why create such a thing as a rural buffer and then keep developments within it <br /> secret until they are approved. He said that when they went to the Planning Board meeting on July 10`h <br /> they were shocked and amazed to find that it was Planning Department members who were developers' <br /> champions in these meetings. He said they were wondering who stands for the community. <br /> He then referred to his handout and read the issues as follows: <br /> • Approval of the Preliminary Plan was Premature <br />