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39 <br />4 <br />1 This item is to receive public input on a proposed amendment <br />2 to;the Joint Planning Agreement for Orange County, Chapel Hill and <br />3 Carrboro. This amendment is directly related to and contingent upon <br />4 the previous related items. Specifically, the proposed amendment <br />5 would add language which refers to the creation of five permitted <br />6 development options with a range of lot sizes and open space set - <br />7 asides. Language would also be added to qualify the prohibition on <br />8 public water and sewer service extension to allow an exception for <br />9 extensions into a predefined service corridor only for the development <br />10 of planned "Rural Villages ". <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />SLIDE PRESENTATION (The complete narrative is in the permanent agenda <br />14 <br />file in the Clerk's Office). <br />15 <br />16 <br />DAVID STANCIL made the presentation of the <br />staff report. He <br />17 <br />stated that the Committee began by considering <br />its four goals: <br />18 <br />(1) Agricultural Preservation <br />19 <br />(2) Natural Resource Protection <br />20 <br />(3) Visual Resource Protection <br />21 <br />(4) Growth Management <br />22 <br />Also, they considered a fifth unwritten goal of <br />providing rural buffer <br />23 <br />property owners with more flexibility. In the <br />Conce tual Guidelines <br />24 <br />for the Rural Buffer, each goal is addressed both <br />individually and <br />X25 <br />comprehensively. <br />_._' 2 6 <br />27 AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION <br />28 Since many farmers were concerned that making a living in <br />29 agriculture was becoming more difficult, the Committee adopted <br />30 strategies that would encourage agriculture to coexist with future <br />31 development by allowing agriculture in open space set - asides. <br />32 <br />33 NATURAL AND VISUAL RESOURCES <br />34 The Committee concluded that by.recognizing and encouraging the <br />35 protection of natural resources in the buffer by landowners, the goal <br />36 of protecting the environment might be greatly furthered. This can <br />37 best be accomplished by encouraging development to cluster with open <br />38 space set - asides that include environmentally - sensitive areas. The <br />39 further use of flexible site - sensitive design standards in the <br />40 strategy for the rural buffer also enhances this goal. <br />41 <br />42 GROWTH MANAGEMENT <br />43 The Rural. Buffer, as a part of the Joint Planning Area Land Use <br />44 Plan for Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro plays a critical <br />45 growth management role for the future of both the County and the <br />46 Towns. Its purpose as a rural "greenbelt" separating the urbanized <br />47 areas from other suburban and urban areas is very clearly stated in <br />48 the Joint Land Use Plan. The Committee's goal was to find a way to <br />49 encourage clustered development that discouraged rural sprawl, are low <br />50 density and yet protect and preserve open space and resources through <br />)51 sensitive site design. Such a program would meet both the goals of <br />52 the Joint Planning Land Use Plan and the Committee. In hearing the <br />