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2 <br />Strategic Growth and Rural Conservation (SGRC) <br />The BOCC approved the selection of The Louis Berger Group / UNC Charlotte Urban Institute <br />on December 14, 2004 and the contract for a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Feasibility <br />Study on March 1, 2005. A steering committee was formed to assess the multifaceted aspects <br />of such a program. During the analyses and staff review of the project, the concept was re- <br />named "Strategic Growth and Resource Conservation" or SGRC to more clearly describe the <br />program in Orange County. <br />In its simplest form, SGRC would involve the transfer of development rights from one or more <br />sending area properties and transfer such rights or value to a receiving area property. Transfers <br />would only occur from lands within the Orange County planning jurisdiction to lands within the <br />Orange County planning jurisdiction. Such a "paired" transfer of development rights would only <br />be voluntary in an open market between willing sellers in the sending areas and willing buyers <br />in the receiving areas. The County would regulate how the rights are affixed to receiving area <br />lands through a conditional zoning process. <br />Sending Areas are intended to protect lands contained within or containing: <br />• Water Supply Watershed designated Critical Areas <br />• 150-foot stream buffers on major streams and water bodies <br />• Wetlands as indicated by presence of hydric soils <br />• Prime farm soils, as designated by Natural Resources Conservation Service <br />• Properties of 50 acres or more in rural areas, as likely farmed lands <br />• Prime forest/habit areas, as identified by County Environment and Resource <br />Conservation Department <br />• Natural Heritage Inventory areas, as identified by County <br />• Existing or potential rural buffer areas around Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough <br />• Properties with historic sites or structures <br />• Properties with moderate to high archaeological potential, as identified by County <br />• Properties within one-quarter mile of rural crossroads communities' centers <br />• Properties within one-half mile of a designated Scenic Byway road. <br />Receiving Areas are those County lands designated in the Land Use Element Map as: <br />1. Transition Areas, <br />2. Rural Community Nodes, and <br />3. Economic Development Districts. <br />The SGRC process will involve a sending area conservation easement and a receiving area <br />specific site area plan. The specific site area plan shall be based on sustainable energy efficient <br />design, smart growth principles, and affordable housing criteria. <br />The BOCC appointed a Task Force which made a recommendation at the June 2006 Quarterly <br />Public Hearing to accept the first two phases of the study (Background Analysis, Case Studies, <br />and Feasibility). A Working Group replaced the Task Force to complete Phase 3 (Concept <br />Report and Implementation). <br />The original contract timeline proposed completion of work in late 2007. However, delays <br />occurred in scheduling meetings with appropriate stakeholders and advisory groups and the <br />adoption of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan delayed SGRC Plan adoption. The BOCC <br />