Orange County NC Website
92 <br /> rural areas of the county. Reid indicated <br /> disagreement noting that affordable housing as <br /> described in the transition areas would fall under <br /> the jurisdiction of the municipalities very quickly <br /> so that affordable housing would then fall in the <br /> range of $120,000 to $180,000 and he did not feel <br /> that could be considered affordable housing. He <br /> felt that a house in the rural area would come more <br /> in the range of $120,000. Affordable housing is <br /> most needed for families and he felt it more likely <br /> that would occur in rural areas rather than the <br /> transition areas. <br /> Jobsis alerted the Board that an hour had already be <br /> spent on this one issue and encouraged them to stay <br /> focused in order to consider a motion. <br /> MOTION: Allison moved to include the unbuildable land when <br /> making a decision to determine the percentage of <br /> open space. Seconded by Howie. <br /> VOTE: 7 in favor. <br /> 4 opposed. <br /> 1. Open space percentage. The specific issue is <br /> whether the percentage of open space required <br /> (e.g. ,33%) is too low. <br /> Katz asked if Staff had figures of what the current <br /> open space in subdivisions that have been approved <br /> in the last year. Collins responded that all of the <br /> subdivisions approved between 1987-1994 had been <br /> surveyed and Stancil has updated the report for <br /> 1995. The amount of open space is so small that it <br /> may as well be considered zilch. It has only been <br /> during the last six months that there has been any <br /> attempt to address the open space issue through <br /> methods already permitted in current ordinances. <br /> However, there have been no cluster developments <br /> presented. <br /> Rosemond stated that, particularly in the face of <br /> the motion just made and passed, 33% is a step <br /> backwards in preserving rural character. She noted <br /> that had been supported by Randall Arendt and <br /> numerous people in the public hearings and 50% has <br /> been the percentage heard time and time again. <br /> Brown asked about the zilch number and Reid asked <br /> where the statistics came from. Stancil responded to <br /> the question of where the statistics came from <br /> noting that Staff did research on all major and <br /> minor subdivisions and exempt plats from 1987 - 1994 <br /> for another project in 1994 to determine the average <br />