Orange County NC Website
STRATEGIC GROWTH AND RURA[_ CONSERVATION PROGRAM <br />Draft (10.1.2007) <br />Figure 2-5. Density of Recent Development <br />ago <br />a o0 <br />60 <br />N <br />0 <br />U <br />A <br />a <br />0 60 <br />`m <br />A <br />l: <br />Z <br />40 <br />20 <br />2D 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 1.5 ac 2 ac 3 ac a ac a ac o .,~ , d~ ~ a~ ~ ~~ ~- -- <br />unils/ac units/ac units/ac units/ac unitslac unitslac units/ac unit/ac <br />Density (parcel size) <br />One issue raised during this analysis was whether large-lot (10 acres or greater) <br />development can be more beneficial to developers than higher density development, <br />such as would be produced with the SGRC Program. There is some indication, as <br />discussed above, that there is a tendency to develop large-lot subdivisions in Orange <br />County, as evidenced by the relatively high number of 10+ acre parcels developed <br />recently. This type of development may, however, be the unintended result of a <br />different approval process for such subdivisions, rather than an indication of profitability <br />at different densities. <br />Two findings indicate that it still may be more profitable for a developer to develop at <br />higher densities. Land value per acre declines as parcel size increases, as discussed <br />above and illustrated in Figure 2-6. Figure 2-6 also illustrates that there are few <br />properties with a land value per acre higher than expected ("outliers"). In the figure <br />below, each dot represents one of the 916 recently developed parcels. Most of the <br />parcels are clustered near the axes, indicating either a large parcel size with low land <br />value per acre, or a small parcel size with high land value per acre. Just a few parcels <br />are farther from the axes, indicating ahigher-than-expected land value for parcels that <br />size. Both of these findings seem to support a more profitable development by <br />increasing density on any particular parcel. <br />Orange County, North Carolina <br />