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approved by voters and also funds of $3.7 million in grant funds. There are five areas of focus <br />of the program: <br />• Park land purchases <br />• Natural areas and wildlife habitat <br />• Riparian watersheds <br />• Farmland conservation easements <br />• Historic and cultural sites <br />He said that partnerships are critical to Orange County. The program functions by <br />having two-year action plans that are approved by the Board. He said that the conservation <br />efforts do not stop at county lines. <br />Dave Stancil answered several clarifying questions about the Lands Legacy Program <br />from Chatham County Commissioners. <br />George Lucier asked about a map and Dave Stancil said that he does have a <br />conservation map and can make it available at a later date. <br />Chair Carey said that Carl Thompson just asked him about Transfer of Development <br />Rights and if Orange County has considered this. He asked Craig Benedict to explain this. <br />Planning Director Craig Benedict said that Orange County hired a consultant to help with <br />this endeavor and it has been in three phases. The first and second phases were research, <br />data collection, and case studies of other attempts in North Carolina and the United States. <br />There was then a feasibility stage. In June of last year, it was decided that it is feasible in <br />Orange County just transferring development rights from rural Orange County to urbanizing <br />Orange County, using existing development authority that is given by existing legislation. The <br />next phase is implementation. In the fall there will be public hearings before this goes into the <br />ordinance phase. <br />Craig Benedict answered clarifying questions of the Chatham County Commissioners. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that this will be driven by the market and not the government. <br />He said that the notion of transferring residential density to commercial square footage is almost <br />unheard of. He said that this part will be more unique because usually it goes from residential <br />density to residential density, and this is not what Orange County wants in the EDD. <br />Mayor Voller said that this is a good idea, but he understands that the county cannot <br />transfer from county to municipality without enabling legislation. He said that the problem is that <br />if they had been able to drive more people into Pittsboro from the northwest corridor, they could <br />get transportation a lot quicker because there would be density. Right now, there is a lot of <br />farmland being chewed up. He does not see a way to stop it without a mechanism like this. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that Orange County did a joint plan with the Town of <br />Hillsborough, and as part of the joint plan, the Town will be able to expand its extraterritorial <br />jurisdiction. TDR could be used here and it would become a part of Hillsborough. <br />Craig Benedict said that Orange County is treading new ground on this proposal. <br />4. Jordan Lake Macrosite Natural Heritage Area <br />Dave Stancil said that this is a natural area that spans three counties (Orange, Durham, <br />and Chatham}, and there are a number of animal and plant species and opportunities for <br />collaboration among a variety of partners in this area -the counties and land trusts. <br />George Lucier asked about buffers on the Jordan Lake watershed in Orange County and <br />Chapel Hill. He said that the Chatham Board of County Commissioners is very interested in <br />this. Dave Stancil said that there are new rules coming into effect. He said that Chapel Hill <br />does have some fairly extensive buffer requirements in the resource conservation areas. <br />Orange County's jurisdiction, within the Jordan Lake watershed, is primarily the southern <br />