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23 <br /> 4. Conservation easements/open space restrictions on privately owned land <br /> are difficult to enforce. Even with a homeowners association, homeowners, <br /> generally do not monitor their neighbor's yards for compliance with <br /> conservation requirements. Landowners are less likely to violate provisions <br /> of conservation easements/open .space reservations on individual lots <br /> owned in common by all landowners in the development and landowners <br /> are more likely to take action against such a violation if the land is held in <br /> common. <br /> 5. Privately owned open space is enjoyed by the private landowner and does <br /> not provide for larger passive recreational areas for the entire <br /> neighborhood. (Fails to meet the flexible development objective to <br /> provide for the active and passive recreational needs of county <br /> residents, including implementation of the Master Recreation & Parks <br /> Plan.) <br /> 5. The conservation option, in general, does not provide/protect any more <br /> open space (primary and/or secondary conservation areas) than would be <br /> provided by a conventional subdivision. (Fails to meet the flexible <br /> development objective to encourage the preservation and <br /> improvement of habitat for various forms of wildlife and to create new <br /> woodlands through natural succession and reforestation where <br /> appropriate.) Typically, the open space provided consists of flood plains, <br /> stream buffers (in. developments located within drinking water supply <br /> watersheds), areas where the soils are not suitable for septic systems and <br /> in required setback areas. Subdivision regulations are already designed to <br /> protect those areas from development. <br /> Staff then prepared proposed amendments and the committee invited eleven <br /> (11) surveyors and developers who are active in Orange County to meet with the <br /> committee and staff to comment on the proposed revisions. (The attachement <br /> "Mailing List" lists surveyors and devlepers who were notified. Two surveyors <br /> attended that meeting. Both surveyors commented that the conservation option <br /> offers no.incentives to provide more open space than what would be restricted <br /> from development within a conventional subdivision. The Ordinance Review <br /> Committee revised it's recommendation based on the surveyors comments <br /> before submitting options for review of the full Planning Board. <br /> The options presented to the board were 1) to delete the conservation option <br /> and combine the desirable aspects of that option with the cluster option to <br /> become the conservation-cluster option; or 2) to amend the conservation <br /> option provisions to require that front and side yard setback areas not be <br /> counted toward open space requirements unless those areas contain significant r <br /> primary or secondary conservation areas and the conservation area is at least <br /> g:\may99ph\flexdev.not\5-13-99\kI <br />