Agenda - 06-30-1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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i25 411 surpassing only Cedar Grove and Little River. From 1980 to 1987, though, the 417 newly subdivided lots were more than in any other township except Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. These new lots involved nearly 1400 acres. Only in Chapel Hill Township did the number of new subdivisions exceed the 160 created in Bingham Township. More importantly, the pace of development in Bingham Township has been consistent, with no major peaks or valleys in activity. Building activity did decline somewhat during the recession of 1981-82, but the decline was not major. While new development has affected all areas of the Township, a disproportionate amount has located in the eastern portion. The area east of SR1951 (Butler Road/White Cross Road) and SR1952 (Dodsons Crossroads) contains 25% of the Township' land area. From 1980-1987, though, this area accounted for half of Bingham Township's newly subdivided lots and land area involved in subdivisions. With the 1987 implementation of the "Rural Buffer" and imposition of more stringent land use controls on the the New Hope Creek and University Lake Watersheds, many Bingham Township residents feared a "leapfrogging" of development into the Township from Chapel Hill, fueling an already high growth rate. Leapfrog development can be defined as development activity in Bingham Township outside the New Hope Creek and University Lake Watershed that might otherwise have taken place inside those areas if it were not for the additional acreage requirements in the Rural Buffer zone. Based on a review of subdivision activity from 1980 through mid 1987, leapfrog development has not occurred. Any appearance of such is coincidence only. Subdivision activity in that part of Bingham Township outside the Rural Buffer has increased since the Buffer's creation while decreasing within the Rural Buffer. These trends, though, predate the creation of the Buffer by several years. As a proportion of all minor subdivisions in the County, newly subdivided lots in the Rural Buffer steadily declined from almost 50% in 1980 to 20% in 1986. During the same period, the proportion of newly subdivided lots in the areas of Bingham and Chapel Townships outside the Rural Buffer grew from 7% to over 20% of all new minor subdivision lots in the County. What this says is that factors others than land use regulation are at work. Development trends in Bingham Township are probably a simple reflection of the outward push 3.11-11