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38 <br /> Completion of National Register Nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Historic District <br /> July 17, 1996 <br /> Page Two <br /> In May, 1995 the Historic Preservation Commission held a series of community meetings <br /> to gather public input on goals, objectives and action strategies for the Historic <br /> Preservation Element of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan. During these meetings, <br /> citizens were asked to identify places they felt were the most historically significant in the <br /> county. The Cedar Grove crossroads area was consistently cited as one of the County's <br /> most treasured historic resources because of its rural character and sense of place. <br /> Consequently, nomination of Cedar Grove crossroads area as a National Register Historic <br /> District was identified as one of the priority preservation goals in the Historic Preservation <br /> Element, or Preservation Plan, which was adopted by the BOCC on April 1, 1996. Also, <br /> the Cedar Grove Grove Historic District was adopted as a BOCC goal on May 14, 1996. <br /> Determination of Historic District Boundaries. After review of the Sexton draft <br /> nomination, the SHPO National Register Coordinator recommended an expansion of the <br /> proposed historic district boundary to include the historical landscapes associated with the <br /> crossroads area. The same recommendation is found in the Preservation Plan, which <br /> advocates an approach to delineating historic district boundaries that considers structures <br /> and their associated landscape settings. This approach effectively links historic <br /> preservation goals with the County's goal of preserving rural character. Accordingly, <br /> completion of the Cedar Grove National Register nomination should require an <br /> assessment of the crossroads area as a historic"cultural landscape" - a landscape that has <br /> been modified by human activity. Cedar Grove is an excellent example of a historic <br /> landscape, as it remains essentially unaltered from traditional patterns of agricultural <br /> village life in the nineteenth century. <br /> Proiect Funding. The Historic Preservation Commission has vigorously pursued grant <br /> funds for the completion of the Cedar Grove National Register Nomination. In 1995, with <br /> the Board of County Commissioners' approval, the HPC applied to the NC Department of <br /> Cultural Resources State Grants Program for a $50,000 grant to complete the National <br /> Register nomination as well as to undertake an extensive citizen-based planning initiative <br /> to develop a long range plan for the Cedar Grove Crossroads Area. In January, 1996, the <br /> BOCC approved submission of a Certified Local Government grant application for$8,655 <br /> (plus a $%790 County match) to complete a nomination. Unfortunately, neither grant <br /> proposal was selected for funding. In May 1996, the Historic Preservation Commission <br /> asked the Board of County Commissioners to include $11,180 in the FY1996-97 budget, <br /> despite the lack of State grant funds. Following Board discussion of the upcoming <br /> budget, the Planning Department requested line item transfers from savings in other <br /> departmental accounts to fund the project. The $11,180 was rolled over from the <br /> previous year's budget to be included in current year funds. <br /> 2 Attachment#7 <br />