Agenda - 08-30-1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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On May 24, 1990, the Rural Character Study Committee adopted their strategy for the Rural Buffer, entitled the Conceptual Guidelines for the Rural Buffer. These strategies are summarized below. The Conce teal Guidelines for the Rural Suffer The resource protection /growth management strategy for the Rural Buffer contained within the Conceptual Guidelines for the Rural Buffer is designed to strike a balance between the often - competing interests of private property ownership and natural resource preservation. This is accomplished by expanding development options within the Rural Buffer from the existing two -acre lot standard to five options, contingent upon compliance with prescribed levels of resource protection and open space provision. The method chosen by the Committee to achieve their goals has been to address the objectives of resource protection (natural and visual), agricultural preservation and growth management from an incentive standpoint rather than a restrictive tack. In this manner, the proposals differ from the usual method of traditional zoning. The proposals are of a performance - based" nature, recognizing that it is possible and practical to allow for tradeoffs that help achieve the ultimate goal of the study and do not compromise the integrity of the Rural Buffer. There is a sliding scale present in the.five development options. For example, it is possible, under development Option D, to create lots averaging about 1/2 -acre (20,000 square feet). To do so, a developer must set aside 2/3 of the tract (including any environmentally - sensitive areas) in permanent public or private open space. In so doing, the actual density of the development is less than one unit per acre, with an overall average lot size of 60,000 square feet and 67% of the tract in permanent open space. Other development options would allow the current two -acre lot development (Option A) and a new five -acre lot option with private roads (Option_B), both using voluntary conservation easements to achieve private open space. Also, one -acre lots on 60% of a tract could be developed under Option C with 40% of the tract in permanent open space (overall average lot size of 1.7 acres). The final development option is Option E, also termed the "Rural Village" concept. Rural Villages would be designed as self - sustaining communities of 200 acres or greater, having a small, village -level commercial core and a variety of housing types (averaging at about 10,000 square feet per unit). These villages would only be permitted in a corridor adjacent to the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and would have other conditions and design constraints placed on them. One important issue with development Options D and E is that of wastewater disposal. Options A B and C would create lots of 3