Orange County NC Website
based on the current minimum lot size allowed and do not reflect what is actually occurring in <br />the County. She said that the many factors that affect lot size and density need to be <br />acknowledged. Subdivisions approved during the past ten years have resulted in lots that are <br />larger and fewer than the Planning staff indicates in the build out figures for a number of <br />reasons, including restrictions, private road standards, acreage and rights-of-way, impervious <br />surface ratios in watersheds, etc. She said that current subdivision regulations make <br />subdivision very expensive with survey, septic approval, engineering approval, attorney fees, <br />landscaping documentation, recreation fees, and the high cost of building road access to <br />required standards. For these reasons, she said that more and more landowners create <br />subdivisions with ten-acre lot size minimums with restricted covenants not allowing smaller lots. <br />These subdivisions are exempt from County regulations and the County has used this <br />exemption as an excuse to ignore these lots and their calculations. There has been a decrease <br />in the number of major, minor, and exempt subdivisions since 2002. She said that the charts <br />should show accurately what is happening on the ground and it would show that they would <br />meet the targeted densities if they did nothing. She said that the land use element process is <br />incomplete and she urged the County Commissioners to cancel the May 22"d public hearing and <br />require that this process be done in a full, clear, accurate, and ethical way. <br />Allan Parnell said that he is a long-time resident and a topographer. Much of his work is <br />with civil rights and housing attorneys. He said that regulations for minimum lot size have given <br />rise to the rapid escalation of home values in the communities. He said that he and his wife <br />own several platted lots smaller than five acres in northern Orange County, and the proposed <br />exclusionary zoning will result in significant increases in the value of these properties by <br />reducing the supply of similar lots. He said that the proposed exclusionary zoning is bad public <br />policy and unnecessary and will harm the community. He said that exclusionary zoning exists <br />where local zoning regulations limit the market by requiring certain house sizes prohibiting multi- <br />family housing, or by having large lot sizes. He said that if the goal of proposed land use <br />changes are to limit sprawl, it would in fact have the opposite effect. He said that the five acre <br />minimum will drive the already high property values up, pushing many out further to find <br />affordable housing and thus increasing sprawl. He said that this proposal with the lot sizes <br />would certainly limit who could live in Orange County. He said that he has described this <br />proposed zoning to civil rights and housing attorneys across the country, and they are amazed <br />that a community as progressive as Orange County would be seriously considering such action. <br />He referred to the Smart Growth of America position on inclusionary zoning. <br />Jean Earnhardt lives in Chapel Hill Township. She spoke on behalf of friends that live in <br />the rural townships. She said that the land use update affects the people in the rural areas of <br />the County more than any other citizens, and yet these were the least represented and the least <br />able to participate in the updating process. She said that the landowners and the potential <br />homeowners who cannot afford the five-acre tracts have not had their concerns addressed. <br />She said that the entities that represent these citizens have not been included as they should <br />be. For example, the CPLUC was not representative of the entire County and the ideas <br />considered now were not that committee's ideas. There was no representation for Eno or Little <br />River Townships. Of the 15-committee members, 10 were from Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and <br />Carrboro. Only 5 members were from rural townships and 3 of thane were from Bingham. <br />Cheeks and Cedar Grove were represented by a County Commissioner and a Planning Board <br />member. She said that at the last meeting of that committee, the Planning staff presented their <br />own ideas and these are the ones that are being considered. She said that the outreach <br />meetings included an hour-long presentation and did not encourage give and take talk. She <br />said that the Planning Board has been restricted from any meaningful coordination of this <br />process, though it has the responsibility to propose, direct, and advise the County <br />Commissioners an the comprehensive land use plan. She said that, as of this date, the <br />Planning Board has not approved any part of the presentations or the draft and the members <br />