Agenda - 12-17-1996 - 8g - Laserfiche WebLink

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34 Completion of National Register Nomination for the Cedar Grove Rural Historic District July 24, 1996 Page Two presented during a statewide preservation consultants' workshop held in Orange County in October, 1995. In May, 1995 the Historic Preservation Commission held a series of community meetings to gather public input on goals, objectives and action strategies for the Historic Preservation Element of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan. During these meeting^, citizens were asked to identify places they felt were the most historically significant in the county. :he Cedar Grove crossroads area was consistently cited as one of the County's most treasured historic resources because of its rural character and sense of place. Consequently, nomination of Cedar Grove crossroads area as a National Register Historic District was identified as one of the priority preservation goals in the Historic Preservation Element, or Preservation Plan, which was adopted by the BOCC on April 1, 1996. Also, the Cedar Grove Grove Historic District was adopted as a BOCC goal on May 14, 1996. Determination of Historic District Boundaries. After review of the Sexton draft nomination,the SHPO National Register Coordinator recommended an expansion of the proposed historic district boundary to include the historical landscapes associated with the crossroads area. The same recommendation is found in the Preservation Plan, which advocates an approach to delineating historic district boundaries that considers structures and their associated landscape settings. This approach effectively links historic preservation goals with the County's goal of preserving rural character. Accordingly, completion of the Cedar Grove National Register nomination should require an assessment of the crossroads area as a historic"cultural landscape"-a landscape that has been modified by human activity. Cedar Grove is an excellent example of a historic landscape, as it remains essentially unaltered from traditional patterns of agricultural village life in the nineteenth century. Proiect Funding. The Historic Preservation Commission has vigorously pursued grant funds for the completion of the Cedar Grove National Register Nomination. In 1995, with the Board of County Commissioners' approval, the UPC applied to the NC Department of Cultural Resources State Grants Program for a$50,000 grant to complete the National Register nomination as well as to undertake an extensive citizen-based planning initiative to develop a long range plan for the Cedar Grove Crossroads Area. In January, 1996, the BOCC approved submission of a Certified Local Government grant application for $8,655 (plus a $5,790 County match) to complete a nomination. Unfortunately, neither grant proposal was selected for funding. In May 1996, the Historic Preservation Commission asked the Board of County Commissioners to include $11,180 in the FYI 996-97 budget, despite the lack of State grant funds. Following Board discussion of the upcoming budget, the Planning Department requested line item transfers from savings in other departmental accounts to fund the project. The $11,180 was rolled over from the previous year's budget to be included in current year funds. Attachment#6