Agenda - 09-20-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Adopted 8/17/93 Amended 10/4/93 Draft Revision 9/15/94 RURAL CHARACTER STUDY GOAL: PREPARE/RESOLVE STRATEGIES AND ORDINANCES TO PRESERVE RURAL CHARACTER STATUS REPORT This initiative represents the continuation of an objective included among the Commissioners' goals for.PY 1992-93. Objective 2, the development of conceptual guidelines for'rurat Orange County outside the Joint Planning Area,will be completed by the end of calendar year.1994 Objective:!1, the adoption of the Rural'Buffer Conceptual Guidelines,has been awaiting the. approval of the Wastewater Treatment.Management Program. With program approval also possible by.the end of calendar year 1994, completion of Objective 1 also appears:likely. However, given;jthat almost four years have passed since the public hearing on the. Conceptual Guidelines,and given that governing board membership has changed in that .period,;the.revised Plan of Action proposes an Assembly of Governments meeting to review the proposals and determine a future course of action. The;Plan of Action,for Objective 3,.the preparation of a design guidebook and implementing ordinances/plan;amendments, has been:revised.It reflects the proposed involvement of< Randall Arendt::and:the Natural Lands Trust:in.the preparation of the design guidebook with: funding;`v holly or:partially provided through the:.Mbemarle-Pamlicoi Estuarine Study.'! BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES On August 17, 1993, the Board of Commissioners adopted the Rural Character Study goal which included the objectives listed below. The goal was amended on October 4, 1993 to insure consistency with the adopted Watershed Protection goal. Objective 1 Pursue mutual adoption,by Orange County,Chapel Hill,and Carrboro,of Options A[2-Acre Lots],B[5-Acre Lots], and C [1-Acre Clusters] of the Rural Buffer Conceptual Guidelines. Objective 2 This objective involves the development of conceptual guidelines for the remainder of Orange County. Actions taken since June of 1990 and related to the completion of this objective are shown on the following Plan of Action. Objective 3 Upon approval of the strategies and development options by the Board of Commissioners, the next step in the Rural Character Study was to have staff prepare a design guidebook and implementing ordinances/plan amendments.In lieu of this approach,an alternative approach for accomplishing the goal has been developed.The proposal is provided as an attachment. Steps taken to determine the feasibility of the proposal have been incorporated into the Plan of Action. The product would be a design guidebook illustrating"how to"apply the adopted strategies.Case study sites would be selected, and the strategies applied to show how open space can be preserved and development occur. Draft implementation ordinances and Land Use Plan amendments would also be prepared.