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would add language which refers to the creation of five permitted <br />development options with a range of lot sizes and open space set - <br />asides. Language would also be added to qualify the prohibition on <br />public water and sewer service extension to allow an exception for <br />extensions into a predefined service corridor only for the development <br />of planned "Rural villages ". <br />SLIDE PRESENTATION (The complete narrative is in the permanent agenda <br />file in the Clerk's Office). <br />DAVID STANCIL made the presentation of the staff report. He <br />stated that the Committee began by considering its four goals: <br />(1) Agricultural Preservation <br />(2) Natural Resource Protection <br />(3) Visual Resource Protection <br />(4) Growth Management <br />Also, they considered a fifth unwritten goal of providing rural buffer <br />property owners with more flexibility. In the Conceptual Guidelines <br />for the Rural Buffer, each goal is addressed both individually and <br />comprehensively. <br />AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION <br />Since many farmers were concerned that making a living in <br />agriculture was becoming more difficult, the Committee adopted <br />strategies that would encourage agriculture to coexist with future <br />development by allowing agriculture in open space set - asides. <br />NATURAL AND VISUAL RESOURCES <br />The Committee concluded that by recognizing and encouraging the <br />protection of natural resources in the buffer by landowners, the goal <br />of protecting the environment might be greatly furthered. This can <br />best be accomplished by encouraging development to cluster with open <br />space set - asides that include environmentally - sensitive areas. The <br />further use of flexible site - sensitive design standards in the <br />strategy for the rural buffer also enhances this goal. <br />GROWTH MANAGEMENT <br />The Rural Buffer, as a part of the Joint Planning Area Land Use <br />Plan for Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro plays a critical <br />growth management role for the future of both the County and the <br />Towns. Its purpose as a rural "greenbelt" separating the urbanized <br />areas from other suburban and urban areas is very clearly stated in <br />the Joint Land Use Plan. The Committee's goal was to find a way to <br />encourage clustered development that discouraged rural sprawl, are low <br />density and yet protect and preserve open space and resources through <br />sensitive site design. Such a program would meet both the goals of <br />the Joint Planning Land Use Plan and the Committee. In hearing the <br />concerns of the rural buffer residents (including those on the <br />Committee) the task force decided that a fifth unstated goal of the <br />study should include finding a way to achieve the aforementioned goals <br />while at the same time providing flexibility for rural residents who <br />have no desire to carve their entire tract into two -acre building <br />lots. The allowance of current permitted uses, the provision of up to <br />