Agenda - 12-07-2015 - 6-a - Minutes

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13 1 Chair McKee asked if the County would be able to change the definition of a tiny house. 2 Craig Benedict said the building code could not be changed, but the County could say 3 there are mobile home and recreational vehicle parks. 4 Chair McKee said the definition could be written around what the County wanted it to be. 5 Craig Benedict said yes. 6 Commissioner Dorosin asked if he owned property, could he place 10 tiny homes on his 7 land. 8 Craig Benedict said he could not, as tiny homes are not built to the North Carolina single 9 family housing code. 10 Commissioner Dorosin asked if he could build 10 cottage homes on his property. 11 Craig Benedict said multiple cottage homes could not go on one lot, but there are 12 changes being considered to these codes. 13 Commissioner Rich asked if the cottage homes or developments that are currently being 14 built required State approval. 15 Craig Benedict said if the micro homes meet building code, they can be built. He said if 16 zoning changes are needed that is done by the County. 17 Commissioner Rich asked if the County is its own enemy in regards to this issue. 18 Craig Benedict said yes. He said as new housing ideas come forth, codes must be 19 amended to catch up. 20 Chair McKee asked if there was cooperation from the Towns regarding the extension of 21 sewer and water, could the density of homes could be increased. 22 Craig Benedict said yes. 23 Commissioner Rich asked if the Greene Tract is being considered for development. 24 Audrey Spencer-Horsley said that would be coming next in the presentation. 25 26 Existing Conditions 27 Orange County Owned Properties 28 29 HAND OUT 30 Potential Affordable Housing Sites hand out 31 32 Jeff Thompson referred to the handout with a white cover. He said the criteria on the 33 front page of the handout yielded sites for affordable housing. He said this does not mean 34 these can be developed, but are rather the first tier of a filter that will still need land use 35 regulations applied. He said this handout is a series of small lots which total about 220 acres, 36 noting the Greene Tract is on page 14. He reviewed these potential lot sites. 37 Commissioner Rich asked if there is a process for when, how, and why the County 38 acquires parcels of land, such as those on this list. 39 Jeff Thompson said he does not have that information, but noted all these parcels have 40 access to water and sewer along with fairly reasonable topography. He said the infill lots could 41 be considered for single families. He said, as it stands, the Greene Tract has an 18-acre 42 restriction on housing. He said this is an agreement between the County and the Towns of 43 Carrboro and Chapel Hill. 44 Commissioner Jacobs asked if the entire Greene Tract is accessible for affordable 45 housing. 46 Craig Benedict said only 18 of the 104 acres are scheduled for affordable housing. He 47 said there have been some discussions, as part of small area plans, about a possible 48 expansion of that amount. He said the Rogers Road area is a subset of it, and the planning 49 processes to continue in that area will include looking at the Greene Tract. He said this is 50 shown on map 14.