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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: December 10, 2013 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-f <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution of Approval — Hughes-Morgan Conservation Easement Donation <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> Parks and Recreation <br /> (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Resolution of Approval <br /> Vicinity Map David Stancil, 919-245-2510 <br /> Site Map Rich Shaw, 919-245-2514 <br /> Draft Conservation Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a resolution to approve the acceptance by Orange County of a <br /> conservation easement to protect a portion of the Hughes-Morgan property. <br /> BACKGROUND: The Lands Legacy Program works with landowners and other conservation <br /> partners to protect important natural and cultural resource lands in Orange County. Through <br /> this program, the County uses a variety of voluntary means to protect lands, including fee- <br /> simple acquisition, land donations, and purchase or donation of conservation easements. Since <br /> the program's inception (April 2000), the County and its partners have protected over 2,000 <br /> acres of prime farmland and riparian buffers with permanent conservation easements, and <br /> another 1,000 acres of important natural and cultural resource lands by other means. <br /> Michael Hughes and Dale Morgan own a 29-acre property located east of Orange Grove Road <br /> (Bingham Township). Along with the family's residence and outbuildings, the parcel includes a <br /> forested area containing approximately 1,000 linear feet of Collins Creek, a perennial stream <br /> that originates in Orange County and flows into Chatham County and the Haw River. <br /> The owners intend to protect an 11-acre portion of the property with a permanent conservation <br /> easement, which would safeguard forested buffers and wildlife habitat along both sides of <br /> Collins Creek. Collins Creek is one of only four water bodies within Orange County's jurisdiction <br /> with water quality designated as "impaired" by the State of North Carolina. The County's 2030 <br /> Comprehensive Plan includes a specific objective to reduce the number of State-listed impaired <br /> streams by minimizing impacts of non-point and point source pollution. <br /> DEAPR Staff and the County Attorney are working with the owners to prepare an agreement <br /> that meets their needs and the County's interests. The easement will prohibit future subdivision, <br /> thereby eliminating two potential house sites, and preserve the mixed hardwood forest and <br />