01-24-2000 Council Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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BASIC HOUSING CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES I The Housing linpr ovcmciit Plan is an integral part of Orono's Community Management Plan. Although the statistics and detailed policies apply specifically to this one element of community planning, the overall goals and objectives have been derived from Joint and concurrent consideration of all community planning elements. Therefore, the policy decisions relating to Orono's housing improvement programs complement and balance regional plans with local concerns for historic development patterns, environmental protection, public health, fiscal responsibility and general land use. Orono's urban and rural areas provide distinctly different lifestyles, amenities and services which jointly benefit the community as a whole. Each area has separate planning priorities and separate environmental considerations. Urban areas and urban services will not be permitted to encroach on or destroy the rural area of the cit>'. Historic development patterns established 100 years ago are responsible for the dual personality that characterizes Orono. The lure of the Lake drew summer residents and resorters who established the crossroads of Navarre, which continues to this day as the commercial center of Orono. Likewise, away from the Lake, Orono has developed slowly as a community of •'ural residential w oodlands and open space. The lifestyles are different, the needs and desires of the citizens are different and the requirements for public services are different from the urban area of Orono. Orono's urban areas have historically provided ample opportunity for a vast spectrum w ide ranee of housing opportunities and all of the neighborhood ser\ ices necessar>* to support the residents of the City, urban and rural alike. These areas contain most slightly over half of Orono's existing housing stock and most of the existing substandard housing stock. Orono's rural areas in the past have provided the opportunity for low density housing at affordable prices, orchards, greenhouses, hobby farms and recreation areas not possible in either urban areas or in commercial agricultural areas. This low density of land use is has been and will continue to be particularly valuable as a protection for the marshlands, woodlands and other natural resources that dot the area. Here, where housing is often as old as in the urban areas is scattered among housing developed over the last 20-30 years, btrt the overall density is low and no urban services are available. CMP 3C - 4