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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 21, 1999 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 9-b <br />SUBJECT: TEXT AMENDMENTS: FLEXIBLE DEVELOPMENT PROVISIONS <br />DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />1) Administration Recommendation -- Karen Lincoln, Extension 2583 <br />2) Planning Board Recommendation Craig Benedict, Extension 2592 <br />3) 5-24-99 Public Hearing Notice TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />4) 8-23-99 Public Hearing Notice Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />5) 5-2499 Draft Public Hearing Minutes Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />6) July 13, 1999, Planning Board Minutes Durham 688-7331 <br />7) Ordinance Amending Subdivision Regulations Mebane (336)227-2031 <br /> Ordinance Amending Zoning Ordinance <br />PURPOSE: To consider proposed text amendments to the Orange County Subdivision Regulations <br />provisions for flexible development and companion amendments to the Orange County Zoning <br />Ordinance. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Request Amendments to the Orange County Subdivision Regulations, Section II (Definitions), <br />Section II-D-3 (Preliminary Plat Approval), and Section IV-B-10 (Flexible Development) propose <br />changes to delete undesirable aspects of the conservation approach, to enhance preservation of rural <br />character in flexible development subdivisions, and to provide incentives for using the estate lot <br />approach. Proposed amendments to the Orange County Zoning Orolinance define "flexible <br />development" and "open space" in a manner that is consistent with existing and proposed provisions <br />of the subdivision regulations <br />Location The amendments, if adopted, will apply to the entirety of Orange County lying outside of <br />the Rural Buffer and outside the municipalities and their extra-territorial jurisdictions, if any. <br />Existing and Proposed Conditions <br />Existing: • Flexible development conservation option subdivisions have not demonstrated <br />creativity in design to preserve open space as intended by the flexible development provisions <br />and do not reserve/protect any natural areas that would not be protected by other existing provisions <br />in the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations. <br />• The definition of "Flexible development" includes four approaches to preserving open space <br />in flexible development subdivisions: an "estate" lot approach; a "conservation" approach; a <br />"cluster" approach; and a "village" or modified cluster approach. <br />• "Open space" in the zoning ordinance is defined with respect to calculating land use <br />intensity ratios for zoning applications and does not include a definition that compliments required <br />g:\bctamend\flexdev\ccabs.doc\8-18-99Uc1 <br />