Orange County NC Website
Draft April 16, 2004 <br />Concepls. The following concepts should be defined: <br />• Possible receiving zone(s), Affordable housing, <br />• Density, Down zoning, <br />• Bonus incentives Conservation easement, <br />• Development rights, and Sending zone, <br />Discussion. Issues that should be talked through might include the following: <br />• Multi jurisdictional program possibly involving Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and/or <br />Hillsborough. <br />• Is the public purchase of a conservation easement equivalent to the public purchase of a <br />property's development rights? <br />• Multiple owners in a single sending zone? <br />Other Issues. Other issues for discussion could include: <br />• Density means the number of development rights originating from an individual parcel.. <br />• When a development right is used, how shall it be extinguished? <br />• Development rights certificates cannot be transferred into another area defined as a <br />sending zone,. <br />• The nature of the easement placed on the sending zone parcel after transfer should allow <br />staff to resolve any zoning ordinance violation (i.e., derelict structures,,junk and debris, <br />multiple residential structures, and the like) before recording the easement. <br />• Equity of price of densities purchased weighted against the value of the densities <br />transferred. <br />Administrative Process <br />Proposed Policy. The Orange Corarty TDR program shall be made as simple as practical, for the <br />general public, elected and appointed officials, and property owners to understand, access, <br />monitor, and eval:rate,for the benefit of the public health, safety, and welfare. <br />Possible Sending Zone Characteristics. To be eligible as a sending zone, a parcel of land shall <br />have a threshold of characteristics, which may include the following: <br />Mature forestland, Working farmland, Steep forested slopes, More than ten acres in size, <br />Adjoining public parkland or another conservation easement, Significant geologic, <br />archaeological resource, or designated wild life corridor, Historic or Architectural resource, <br />Critical watershed for a drinking water source, or Protected watershed for a drinking water <br />source. <br />Use of Sending Zoue lnrrd after transfer of developarerrt rights. Any change or use or activities <br />in a sending zone after hansfer shall require the Orange County Planning Director to determine if <br />the proposed change of'use or activity is compliant with the conservation easement, <br />Conversion ofDevelopnrent Rights, When evaluating a tract of land as a potential sending zone, <br />the development rights may be converted into a transfer certificate at the given rate. <br />Bonus Incentives. Addition bonus incentives may be given if the resulting development provides <br />the following: affordable housing, Leadership in Environmental Design (LEED) compliance, <br />redevelopment of a brownfield or other priority site, and possibly other bonus incentives? <br />Rece>iving7.orre. General design guidelines for the receiving zone should be established <br />