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<br /> When the dedication/payment-in-lieu provisions were initially presented at public hearing on
<br /> February 24, 1986, the Board of Commissioners asked that the formula be simplified to a single
<br /> standard of so many acres per dwelling unit. The standard (1/35 or 0.02857) was derived by
<br /> multiplying the ratio equivalent of 0.01050 times 2.72 persons per household, the average
<br /> household size according to the 1980 Census. The 1135 standard was presented at a second public
<br /> hearing on May 27, 1986 and subsequently adopted on August 4, 1986.
<br /> Application. Since the adoption of the provisions in 1986 through FY 1994-95, Orange County
<br /> has accepted dedication of approximately 30 acres of parkland through the dedication provision.
<br /> All of this land is located in the Joint Planning Area along stream corridors which define and
<br /> extend the greenway systems originating in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
<br /> Only one development application has been considered by Orange County in which land
<br /> dedication could have occurred - the proposed University Station project. The developer had
<br /> proposed to dedicate a 25-acre park site for the proposed Eno Community Park, however, a
<br /> development application was not approved, and the dedication did not occur.
<br /> Recently, five conceptual plans have been approved for the property which comprised the
<br /> University Station project site, and one plan has proceeded to the point of receiving preliminary
<br /> plan approval. The difficulty with the dedication provision is that unless a project is large enough,
<br /> e.g., of University Station size, or moderate sized subdivisions occur adjacent to each other, there
<br /> is little opportunity to acquire, through dedication, a single large parcel or collection of smaller,
<br /> contiguous parcels on which to develop a park. The other difficulty is that, even if dedications
<br /> were proposed and accepted, the facilities; e.g., playgrounds, courts, etc., would still need to be
<br /> constructed using other funding sources.
<br /> Payment-In-Lieu Formula
<br /> As noted previously, Section IV-V-7-b-6 of the Subdivision Regulations requires that a payment-
<br /> in-lieu be equal to the number of acres required to be dedicated multiplied by the fair market value
<br /> of the land to be dedicated. Fair market value is determined by dividing the tax appraisal of the
<br /> property at last re-evaluation by the current year assessment ratio. As an example, if the appraised
<br /> value of a 50-acre tract to be subdivided was $150,000, and the assessment ratio was 95% of fair
<br /> market value, then the estimated fair market value would be $157,895 ($150,00010.95) or $3,158
<br /> per acre. If the subdivision was to consist of 50 lots, the dedication requirement would be 1.43
<br /> acres(50 x 1/35), and the payment-in-lieu would be $4,516 (53,158 x 1.43) or $90 per lot.
<br /> Origin. As originally proposed, fair market value was to be determined by an appraisal of the
<br /> acreage required, after development of the subdivision and with the required improvements (e.g.,
<br /> playgrounds, courts, etc.). The appraisal was to be prepared at the applicant's expense, and, if
<br /> disagreement arose over the value, a committee comprised on the applicant's appraiser, an
<br /> appraiser appointed by the County, and a third selected by the other two was to decide the
<br /> appropriate value. As was the case with the "dedication" provision, the Board of Commissioners
<br /> asked that the payment-in-lieu provision be simplified as well. The result was the provision
<br /> described above.
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