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

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34 Ho/ %w Rock Area /New Hope Creek Opportunities and Constraints wide undisturbed buffers (Resource Protection Areas). The site is within the Cape Fear River Basin (New Hope Creek sub - basin), but is not within a watershed protection overlay district identified in the Orange County Zoning Ordinance. The Durham County portion of the site is zoned RS -20, single family residential with 20,000 square foot lots. Perennial and intermittent streams on the Durham portion of the planning area require 50 -foot undisturbed buffers. In addition to the required local government (i.e., county) stream buffers, existing or future conservation easements held by the State of NC require 300 - foot -wide buffers along those same streams. III. Surrounding Land Uses The planning area is surrounded by a combination of undeveloped and rural residential properties, but suburban residential development occurs less than 1/z mile to the southeast. The portion of the site in Orange County is bordered to the west by New Hope Creek and the Fisher residence (1.7 acres; private), to the north and west by Erwin Road and Duke Forest, and to the southeast by private lands owned by Wade and Carolyn Penny for which a conservation easement is in progress. The portion of the site in Durham County is bordered on the north by the Solterra residential development, to the east by a 20.5 -acre undeveloped tract, and to the south by additional land owned by the Pennys (18.5 acres; private), which has limited development potential by virtue of conservation easements granted to Durham County. Further south on Pickett Road (past the Pennys) are Trinity School and the Hope Creek and Garrett Farms residential subdivisions. An aerial map of the property and surrounding area is provided as Figure D. IV. Location and Access The property is situated midway between Durham and Chapel Hill along Erwin Road (SR 1737) —a well traveled east -west roadway, and within two miles of the I -40 interchange with US 15 -501 (Durham to Chapel Hill Road). Access to the property can be either on Erwin Road or from Pickett Road (SR 1303), which begins at Erwin Road about 1,000 feet north of the New Hope Creek bridge crossing. This western end of Pickett Road is a fairly narrow gravel roadway from Erwin Road to the intersection with Cambridge Road. Pickett Road bisects the Hollow Rock park property and provides access to two residences above the Cambridge Road intersection. The New Hope Corridor Open Space Master Plan envisioned a small parking area on the west side of Pickett Road. Orange County acquired the 7 -acre property located at the corner of Erwin and Pickett roads for that purpose. The master plan did not, however, anticipate the acquisition of land east of Pickett Road. Because the property is on both sides of Pickett Road there needs to be further consideration of where to locate the park entrance(s) and parking area(s). Pedestrian access to the property from nearby residential neighborhoods and schools should also be considered. Page 3 of 8