Minutes 11-05-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 Commissioner Gordon said the similarity with the joint plan used with Carrboro and Chapel Hill is the process; however the land use categories are not the same. Tom Altieri said the categories are not the same but it is a similar construct. He said Chapel Hill and Carrboro have 10 and 20 year transition areas, and that is the broad designation. He said there is a joint land use plan that includes all of the other land use classifications in the plan being presented. Commissioner Gordon said she wanted to make sure these uses were confined to this plan only. She noted that the ETJ swap will be done next. She asked which map best explains what the land use categories will be. She referred to several maps and asked which would best explain what will be in Orange County's section. Tom Altieri said these areas can be seen on one of the maps, but the ETJ swap phase has not been reached. He said specific maps identifying those specific parcels will be brought back once the swap phase is reached, including prescribed land uses. He said the ETJ areas that will become part of the town are provided on the joint land use plan; however this does not show the ETJ areas on the west side of town that will be relinquished to the County. He said these are the areas adjacent to the Eno River that would be classified as agricultural/residential, with a series of watershed and resource protection overlays. Commissioner Gordon said she did not understand the significance of ratifying the land use plan before the comprehensive plan amendments are made. Tom Altieri said this becomes the joint land use plan for all of the areas within the urban services boundary for this Hillsborough and Orange County plan. He said the construct will not be fully implemented until the references are made in the 2030 comprehensive plan land use elements section identifying the urban services area, the Orange County urbanizing area and the Hillsborough urbanizing area. He said it has become very clear to staff that it would be too confusing to go through the ETJ adjustment process and also bring the 2030 comprehensive plan amendments at the same time. Commissioner Gordon referred to attachment 5 and asked which map is being approved. Tom Altieri said pages 10-13 are being approved. Commissioner McKee said he is convinced that some soils will support one housing unit per acre. He said it is irrelevant whether a 10 acre development with five houses has houses on 2 acre lots, or one acre lots with 5 acres of open space. He said the land cost component remains the same, and this drives the cost of housing in Orange County. He does not see how striking the 2 acre minimum lot size does anything favorable to the affordability of housing in Orange County. He said the better option is to tie minimum lot size to soil carrying capacity, as it relates to septic. He said this could potentially allow a 10 acre development to carry ten houses, which would reduce the cost of the houses. Chair Jacobs said the point of clustering is that it is cheaper per unit, because there is less infrastructure. He said the idea of using carrying capacity as the standard is one that could be implemented in the future, but it would be a tremendous undertaking. Commissioner Price agreed with Chair Jacobs. She said cluster homes reduce costs and create lower income housing. She cluster homes are also beneficial for"age in place" residents. She said she supports this change. Commissioner Pelissier said water capacity is also a factor in zoning. She said there are rural areas that are zoned according to water recharge rates. She said these rates vary, and there are areas of Orange County that could not support the higher density building.