Agenda - 08-30-1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Growth _Management The Rural Buffer, as a part of the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan for Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro plays a critical growth management role for the future of both the , County and the Towns. Its purpose as a rural greenbelt separating the urbanized areas from other suburban and urban areas is very clearly stated in the Joint Land Use Plan. Therefore the Committee recognized very early that whatever strategy they recommended for preserving the rural character in thel�uffer must also complement and maintain the integrity of this vital growth management tool as defined in the Land Use Plan. In examining the New Hope portion of the buffer in detail, the committee asked itself two important questions re the rural buffer. 1. Is the current development standard of single - family residential lots of at least 2.0 acres fostering the protection of the buffer's rural character? 2. Is that rural buffer development standard helping to preserve open space and resources? After considerable study and discussion the answers to these questions were determined to be NO on the first count and "not necessarily" on the second. In a very real sense, the rural character of the buffer is becoming eroded by the plethora of cookie - cutter two -acre subdivisions. While this does promote a low- density of development it alsoapromotes a "rural sprawl" that the current standard actually encourages. The Committee found that a rural buffer consisting of a linear two -acre lot subdivision is not rural at all. Nor are there incentives or reasons for developers to protect resources. Although the buffer contains vital natural and visual resources, there is currently no package that encoura es the preservation of these resources beyond the good wilFof the developer. Isn't there a way to encourage clustered developments that discourage rural sprawl, are low density, and yet protect and