Agenda - 04-20-2010 - 4f - Laserfiche WebLink

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32 Ho/ %w Rock Area / New Hope Creek Opportunities and Constraints I. Background The planning area is located south of Erwin Road (SR 1734) near the intersection with Pickett Road (SR 1303). It extends from New Hope Creek eastward approximately 1,000 feet beyond the Orange and Durham county boundary. The 75 -acre planning area is comprised of multiple parcels of land owned by Orange County, Duke University or the Triangle Land Conservancy. The property presently owned by Duke University is under contract for purchase by Durham County, Orange County and the Town of Chapel Hill in April 2008. The planning area consists of approximately 42.75 acres in Orange County and 32.15 acres in Durham County. A vicinity map (Figure A) and a site map (Figure B) are attached. The planning area is completely forested with a combination of mature pine and mixed hardwoods except for a two -acre clearing for a home site located on the Triangle Land Conservancy parcel. The land slopes generally to the southwest toward New Hope Creek, which forms the western property boundary. Small creeks flow through the middle of the site before draining to New Hope Creek. Land protection along the New Hope Creek corridor extends beyond the boundaries of this parkland planning area. Duke University manages 1,900 acres of the Duke Forest (Korstian Division) north of Erwin Road and adjacent to New Hope Creek; Orange County and Durham County own over 260 acres of additional conservation lands downstream of the Hollow Rock Access area, with a nearly continuous open space corridor to Jordan Lake. New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan The planning area was acquired to support the implementation of the New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan, which was adopted in 1991 by the governing boards of Durham, Chapel Hill, Durham County, and Orange County. The master plan called for the protection of an open space corridor along New Hope Creek and its tributary streams for recreational trails and conserving wildlife habitat. The master plan identified 10 geographic areas —one of which was the "Hollow Rock Access Area" (Appendix 1). The "Hollow Rock" area along New Hope Creek has a long and colorful history of use dating back to the pre - Colonial period. There is evidence of significant Native American presence, an historic crossroads, the farming of rich bottomland soils along the creek, the former Patterson mill and Hollow Rock store, large -scale timber management in Duke Forest, and the ongoing use of the New Hope Creek corridor by the people and wildlife in the Hollow Rock community. The name "Hollow Rock" comes from an unusual sandstone rock outcrop located along the bank of New Hope Creek, north of the Erwin Road crossing and north of the planning area. The rock has been carved out over time by flow of the river. A popular Page 1 of 8