Agenda - 08-20-2002 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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a� Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 2 August 15, 2002 Ridge Subdivision, that the Board cannot reconsider its decision on the preliminary plan of this subdivision. Any further review of that preliminary plan decision must be by the courts . The decision, to approve the preliminary plan for .Tuscany Ridge Subdivision contained no procedural errors under the Orange County Subdivision Regulations and was in all respects consistent with all Orange County land use ordinances . Furthermore, a number of the conditions of approval for this subdivision require the applicant/subdivision owner to do more than the Subdivision Regulations themselves require. I also want to take this opportunity to make some observations about some of the concerns expressed by Planning Board members and the citizens commenting at the July 10, 2002 Planning Board meeting about the process followed for this subdivision and the substance of Orange County' s regulations affecting the Rural Buffer. These observations follow: 1 . The Joint Planning Agreement, Section 1. 2.6, defines the Rural Buffer as being: a low-density area consisting of single family homes situated on large lots having a minimum size of two (2) acres . The rural buffer is further defined as land which, although adjacent to an Urban or Transition. area, is rural in character and which will remain rural, contain low- density residential uses and not require urban services (public utilities and other town services) . Orange County zoning regulations mirror the minimum lot size and land use requirements of the Joint Planning Agreement. As expressed in these regulations, historically, it has been the view of the Board of Commissioners that its zoning regulations should go no further than required by the Joint Planning Agreement and the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and Map. However, this approach is not required by those planning documents . That is, it has always been in the County' s power to require a lower density or a larger lot size or both in its zoning regulations that pertain to the Rural Buffer. It is also within the County' s power to establish flexible development requirements for subdivisions in the Rural Buffer. For example, Orange County could retain the two acre minimum lot size but require a three acre minimum density, further requiring that the difference between the two be open space. In other words the