Orange County NC Website
Attachment A -4 <br />PAGE 60-a-JPA LAND US E PLAN <br />-_ The Rural Buffer is defined as being a low-density area consisting of single-family homes situated on <br />large lots having a minimum size of two (2) acres. The Rural Buffer is further defined as land which, although <br />adjacent to an Urban or Transition Area, is rural in character and which will remain rural and not require urban <br />services (public utilities and other Town services). The Rural Buffer is expected to contain low density <br />residential uses, agricultural uses exempt from zoning regulations , and /ow-intensity agricultural support <br />uses 1 and cons ists of the following Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan categor ies: Rural <br />Residential a-t;!Agr icultural ; Public-Private Open Space; Resource Conservation ; New Hope Creek Corridor <br />Open Space ; Extractive Use; and the overlay category designated University Lake Watershed Area. <br />Rural Residential and Agricultural Areas are low-density areas consisting of single-family homes <br />situated on large lots with a minimum lot size of two acres, except when part of a cluster subdivision and then <br />adhering to a density limit of 1 unit for every 2 acres of property. Cluster subdivisions, reducing parcels to at <br />least 1 acre in area, are allowed so long as density limits for the entire subd ivision are maintained . In that <br />respect , Rural Residential Areas are identical to the definition of the Rural Buffer. The area includes property <br />supporting farming operations, including forestry activities, established in accordance with the provisions of <br />the North Carolina General Statutes. <br />pyb!ic-Prjyate Open Space Areas include major land areas owned or controlled by public and <br />private interests in the Rural Buffer. Such holdings as Duke Forest, Camp New Hope, U.S . Government <br />lands associated with Jordan Lake, the 1 00-foot buffer along 1-40, and Orange Water and Sewer Authority <br />lands adjacent to University Lake and the qua rry site on N.C. Highway 54 provide open space through <br />research , educational , forest management , and recreational functions . <br />Resoyrce Conservation Areas in the Rural Buffer are identical to those in the Transition Areas; i.e ., <br />floodplains, wetlands along drainage tributaries, and steep slope areas (15% or greater). The areas form the <br />basis for a parks and open space system (see Strategy Map) which provided the framework within which <br />other land uses are situated . <br />New Hope Creek Corrjdor Open Space Areas include some of the Resource Protection Areas and <br />a portion of the Public/Private Open Space Areas which were designated as significant and worthy of <br />protection according to the New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan completed in April of 1991 . (See <br />Master Plan Map following Strategy Maps). The areas are part of a system of open space in Durham and <br />Orange Counties along New Hope Creek and its tributaries between Eno River State Pa rk and U.S. Army <br />Corps of Engineers land north and south of Jordan Lake. This category is made up of critical environmental <br />areas such as steam beds, floodplains, steep slopes, and larger tracts of historic, educational, or recreational <br />value . <br />Extractjye Use Areas encompass mining and quarry operations. Only one such site exists in the <br />Rural Buffer, the American Stone Company quarry on N.C. Highway 54 west of Carrboro. <br />Retail Trade Areas in the Rural Buffer include low intens ity neighborhood centers which serve the <br />immediate area and generate low traffic volumes. Only one such area is designated in the Rural Buffer- <br />Blackwood station on N.C. Highway 86. <br />1 The amendments necessary for Agricultural Support uses are shown in italic and underlined text. <br />71