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31 <br /> RURAL BUFFER (RB) <br /> Description <br /> The Rural Buffer was established through the Joint Planning Land Use Plan and <br /> Agreement (JPA," involving Carrboro, Chapel Hill,and Orange County) and this <br /> document should also be consulted to further determine intentions for the area. It <br /> provides opportunities for low-density residential development,agriculture and farm <br /> uses,agricultural support uses,forestry,and open spaces. Homes are generally located <br /> on lots of at least two acres in size,and the landscape is dotted by working farms <br /> varying from small private homesteads to large and well-established local farms. Larger <br /> lot sizes allow for high priority habitats,streams and riparian areas, and prime farmland <br /> soils to be largely avoided when placing new structures and associated infrastructure. <br /> Note that some areas designated Rural Buffer in the JPA are designated in this plan as <br /> Conservation and Preservation lands or Rural Activity Node.The JPA established the <br /> Rural Buffer as a "primary" land use category and other land use categories within it are <br /> secondary. <br /> Character, Pattern, and Land Use Vision <br /> • The intent of the Rural Buffer is to remain rural in character and in use. Urban <br /> services, including public water and sewer systems,are not expected to be <br /> provided in the Rural Buffer.The shape and location of the district is designed <br /> to physically and functionally separate the higher intensity uses of existing <br /> and future municipal development in Carrboro and Chapel Hill from the less- <br /> developed portions of the county. <br /> • Preventing both annexation and urban-style development within these <br /> areas serves to limit urban sprawl into the county and to encourage denser <br /> development within the corporate limits of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. <br /> • For the portions of this category that fall within a critical or protected water <br /> supply watershed overlay, lower density uses are expected and the provision of <br /> more open space specifically encouraged. <br /> 28 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT <br />