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I I I September 5, 2006 (Recessed Meeting) Page 95 . Mr. Day asked Ms. Zakraisek to discuss the intent, rationale and how these are supposed to work with the surroundings. She read the following intent statement for the MDR zone as follows, "The district is intended to permit development with a moderately high densi ty community character. This district allows open space and amenity subdivisions. Residential development options for this zone include a variety of housing types, including townhouses. These zones are located where public utilities either are available or envisioned within the next ten years." She also read the following rationale for the MDR zone as follows: "This district is designed to provide permanent protection for those who want to live in a moderately high density residential environment. This district is designed to provide the principal location for a wide variety of residential types." In a MDR district, she said one might find detached single family homes, attached single family homes (townhouses or row houses) and amenity subdivisions with open space. Although a high density residential/mixed use district is not proposed, she read a portion of the intent statement as follows, "This district is iGtended to allow for a wide range of residential uses and will be the primary location for multifamily development." She reiterated the applicant is not requesting high density residential in this application. In this zoning district, she said each single family attached homes would have its own lot, would not be considered as multifamily and would require a subdivision plat. For the Office/Institutional (O/I) district, which is how the property is currently zoned, she read the intent statement as follows, "This district is intended to accommodate relatively low intensity office and institutional uses at an intensity complementary to residential land use. Where appropriate, this district can serve as a transition between residential land use and higher intensity non-residential land use." For example, she said an office/institutional area can serve as a transitional zone between commercial areas and residential areas. She said the office/ insti tutional area may include a church, school or office building. She presented the following rationale for the OI zone as follows: "This district is used to provide for low intensity office and institutional uses that can be complementary to adjacent residential land use. This district features employment options and essential services which require a moderate number of average daily trips. Those uses will have a minimum impact on the surrounding area because these trips will generally occur during regular business hours, thus, not competing with residential traffic at peak hours and weekends. This district should be located adjacent to residential zones or in areas where its use would serve as a transition between residential land use and higher intensity non- residential land use. Higher intensity non-residential land use may include commercial zones, light industrial or mixed use zones. When bordering residential zones, care should be taken to ensure natural or manmade buffering and/or architectural compatibility so that the nonresidential activities are not a nuisance to residential use." She explained the OI zone would serve as a transitional zone and based on the design standards, which do apply in the OI zone and would include required buffers, building placement, parking behind the buildings and screening from residential areas. She also read the following intent statement for the General Commercial (GC) zone: "The primary purpose of this zone is to provide locations for large scale commercial activities. This level of commercial activity usually draws clientele regionally as well as from nearby neighborhoods, requires siting on maj or thoroughfares and requires relatively large-scale off street parking. The zone will accommodate a wide variety of office, retail and lodging land uses. General commercial may boarder the other less intense commercial zone or either of the two industrial zones. A general commercial zone may boarder a higher density residential zone but care should be taken to assure a buffer between the two." She said these areas include shopping centers, commercial uses, office buildings, mixed-use areas and there could be more intensive commercial uses there such as auto repair. Next, she read the GC rationale as follows: "This district is intended to provide the principal location for large scale commercial development in Cabarrus County." She explained this zone is where uses would go that may have nuisances like noise or generate a lot of traffic requiring off-street parking. She reported this information is what staff considers when reviewing a straight rezoning. Chairman Carruth asked what makes this project consistent with the Land Use Plan. Ms. Zakraisek reported the draft Land Use Plan calls for this area to be a mixed use. She said the definition in the ordinance says a mixed-use