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The tract is characterized by rolling topography that surrounds and drains toward several <br />stream valleys. The Johnston Branch flows out of a pond on the south side of Whitfield Road under the road <br />and north along the western boundary of the subdivision until it joins Old Field Creek as it emerges from the <br />Oosting Natural Area near the central portion of the site. Old Field Creek continues in a northeast direction <br />and flows into New Hope Creek at an oxbow near Turkey Farm Road. The 100-year floodplain on Old Field <br />Creek and New Hope Creek is indicated on the Preliminary Plan. <br />All three (3) streams are included on the greenways strategy map in the Joint Planning Area <br />Land Use Plan and are suggested wildlife corridors in the Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats of <br />Orange County, North Carolina. The width for wildlife corridors recommended in the inventory is 100 meters <br />(328 feet) on each side of a creek. <br />Public roads are proposed to serve the development with a connector road running from Mt. <br />Sinai to Turkey Farm road. NCDOT is recommending a left turn lane on Mt. Sinai Road. <br />Old Field Creek connects the Oosting Natural Area, 162 acres of Class 2 "Research Project <br />Land," with wildlife movement along New Hope Creek that also flows through the Korstian Division of Duke <br />Forest extending from Turkey Farm Road to Erwin Road near the Durham County line. The Oosting Natural <br />Area as defined in the Inventory of Natural Areas also includes a portion of the bottomland and adjacent <br />slopes on the Creek Wood property. <br />The zoning of the property is Rural Buffer (flexible development does not apply in the Rural <br />Buffer). The applicant has coordinated with Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) to propose a cluster <br />subdivision featuring 64 lots on 139.10 acres, with 265.20 acres of open space, all of which will be <br />purchased by TLC. An additional 58.60 acres adjacent to Mt. Sinai Road are reserved for future <br />development. The average lot size is two (2) acres; the minimum lot size proposed is 1.1 acre. The lots will <br />be served by individual septic systems and a community water system. Seven (7) lots will have septic <br />easements. <br />The open space is approximately 57 percent of the 462-acre tract. The minimum open space <br />required is 92 acres (20 percent of 462 acres). Early in the design process, Triangle Land Conservancy <br />identified the areas that were most critical to protect. The 265 acres that will be owned and managed by <br />Triangle Land Conservancy follow the stream valleys described above, including floodplain and adjacent <br />slopes. The proposed open space also adjoins the existing recreation area for Stoneridge Subdivision. <br />In conformance with the plan for the New Hope Creek Corridor in the Joint Planning Area <br />Land Use Plan, Triangle Land Conservancy plans to establish hiking trails on the property that will be <br />accessible to the general public and to homeowners in the new neighborhood. The trail system will run <br />along New Hope Creek and both sides of the downstream portion of Old Field Creek. <br />The 139 acres to be developed for 64 lots is located on the upland portion of the site. Access <br />to the lots will be provided by a new public road system featuring a collector road with entrances on <br />Whitfield Road and Turkey Farm Road. Approximately 37 lots will access the collector road from four (4) cul <br />de sacs. <br />The Planning Board unanimously approved the Concept Plan for this subdivision under the <br />name of the Johnston Trust Property on September 2, 1998. Two (2) lots have been deleted and lot lines <br />have been adjusted at the request of the Triangle Land Conservancy. Otherwise, the subdivision layout is <br />the same as approved on the Concept Plan. <br />On February 3, 1999, the Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of the <br />Preliminary Plan for Creek Wood Subdivision subject to the conditions contained in the Resolution of <br />Approval. <br />One (1) change under Item E-2 of the resolution is recommended for approval is that the <br />proposed hiking trails provide a connectivity to any future acquisition of the greenway system that might <br />occur. The change should read: "A document shall be prepared and submitted to create hiking trails on the <br />TLC property that will be accessible to the general public. The trail system shall extend along New Hope <br />Creek and down the northern side of Old Field Creek, to the western property line, in order to provide <br />connectivity to any future acquisition of the greenway system as defined by the Greenway Strategy Map <br />and the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan. This document shall be reviewed by the County and recorded <br />with the final plat."