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Article 7: Subdivisions Section 7.12: Flexible Developments Orange County, North Carolina – Unified Development Ordinance Page 7-48 Secondary Conservation Common Open Space Areas, to the extent possible, shall be part of substantially sized and/or contiguously linked open space sections and meet guidelines as stated in Section 7.13.12.8. (D) Access to Common Open Space (1) General public accessibility to and within open space shall be encouraged as follows: evaluated on a case-by-case analysis of the goals and the intended use(s) of the open space in that particular development. (a) Primary Conservation Open Space Areas, due to their considerable recreation, scenic and cultural public values, shall be made available for the use of the public at large through access by public road. However, it will not be feasible for public use to be provided in all cases (e.g., fragile cultural sites, protected and/or private habitat areas, hazardous slopes and wetlands, etc.). (b) Secondary Conservation Open Space Areas shall be available to, at least, subdivision residents, particularly when it includes active and low impact recreation areas. In some cases, this level of public entry may not be appropriate (e.g. working timber or agricultural resource areas). (2) If less than half of designated open space is Primary Conservation Open Space Area, the subdivision plan shall provide direct access to Primary or Secondary Conservation Open Space Area to at least 75% of project lots. The remaining lots shall be within approximately 300 feet of an accessible point of Primary or Secondary Conservation Open Space Area. (3) If the majority of open space is Primary Conservation Open Space Area, the subdivision plan shall provide direct access to Primary or Secondary Conservation Open Space Area to at least 50% of project lots. The remaining lots shall be within approximately 600 feet of an accessible point of Primary or Secondary Conservation Open Space Area. (E) Ownership of Common Open Space Common Open space Space within a flexible development may be owned and/or administered by any of the following methods, either individually or in combination. All open space shall be permanently restricted from further subdivision. (1) Fee simple dedication to the County, another unit of local government, the state or a private nonprofit land conservancy. The County may reject any proposed dedication at its discretion prior to or during the application process. (2) Dedication of conservation easements to the County, another unit of local government, the state or a private nonprofit land conservancy. Such easements may apply to a single property owned by a homeowner's association and/or to all or portions of individual lots owned by one or more property owners. The County may reject any proposed dedication at its discretion prior to or during the application process. (a) Where conservation easements have been dedicated and accepted prior to application for approval of a flexible development proposal, the land subject to the easement may be counted toward satisfying the 33% open space requirement, provided that it is a portion of and in the same ownership as the land to be subdivided. (3) Ownership by a homeowner's association where specific development restrictions and maintenance requirements are included as part of its bylaws and as irrevocable articles of restrictive covenants. 199