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inefficient, and encourages rural sprawl to the detriment of produc- <br /> tive agricultural land. TD counter this trend, the Land. Use Plan <br /> identified a series existing of Activity Nodes containing com- <br /> mercial and industrial activities. The purpose of this strategy <br /> is to cluster rural development of this type at sites that would <br /> eventually create a more efficient distribution of land uses. <br /> Generally, Activity Nodes are located at intersection sites in <br /> addition to meeting other social and environmental criteria. In <br /> the future, as identified existing Activity Nodes become 'built <br /> out' , new additional Activity Nodes may need to be located at <br /> rural intersections. lAgien this happens, the proposed use and site <br /> will be evaluated using the locational criteria from the appro- <br /> priate land use category. The primary objective will be to contin- <br /> ue the clustering of small-scale oamercial and industrial uses <br /> in the rural areas of the County. <br /> The urbanizing seci-ons of the County, unlike the rural areas, <br /> contain support services that allow a high-density development. <br /> Of course, the primary support system is municipal water and sewer <br /> lines. Even with the presence of support systems same portions <br /> of the County's urban areas have remained undeveloped. This <br /> situation sets the stage for the second fundamental concept of <br /> the plan: to direct higher-density uses to develop on vacant, <br /> suitable land in the urban areas. <br /> Encouraging development of vacant, suitable land already served <br /> by support systems will eventually create a more compact and <br /> cost efficient urban form. It would also mean that the conversion <br /> of agricultural land to urban uses would be diminished. The Plan <br />