Orange County NC Website
RB6083 186 17119 Exhibit <br />Summary of Baseline Documentation Report <br />Volpe Conservation Easement (South) <br />Orange County DEAPR (December 20 10) <br />This is a summary of the Baseline Documentation Report for a Conservation Easement to be <br />granted to Orange County, North Carolina (Grantee) by Mark and Lori Volpe (Grantors), <br />having an address of 1717 Halls Mill Road, Hillsborough, NC 27278. <br />Background <br />Mark and Lori Volpe are owners of a 5.18 -acre parcel of land (PIN 9856 -44 -3429) that will be <br />subject to the Conservation Easement. The property is located north of Halls Mill Road (SR <br />1336) approximately three miles northwest of Hillsborough (Cheeks Township). The <br />property is adjacent to 66 acres (multiple parcels) owned by the Volpes, which includes their <br />family residence. Access to the Easement Area is by way of a driveway leading from Halls <br />Mill Road to the Volpe residence. The residence is located north of the Easement Area. <br />The Volpe property is located adjacent to the Eno River, which flows along the western <br />boundary of the Easement Area southward to Corporation Lake, a public water supply for <br />residents in Orange County. The Easement Area is within the "critical area" of the Upper Eno <br />Protected Watershed Overlay District, an Orange County overlay zoning district that further <br />limits the density of future development in the watershed to protect water quality. <br />Conservation Values <br />The Easement Area has important conservation values that will be protected by the <br />Conservation Easement. Those values are described below. <br />1) Natural area and wildlife habitat: It is a primary purpose of the Easement to protect the <br />natural areas and wildlife habitat that exists on the property. The Easement Area is <br />completely forested (hardwood -pine mix) and has steep slopes leading down to a narrow <br />floodplain along the Eno River. This segment of the Eno River is recognized as having <br />aquatic habitat of national significance. Conserving this property will help protect <br />habitat for a variety of native plants and animals described on Pages 78 -82 of the <br />Inventory of the Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats of Orange County, North Carolina (2004). <br />The upper Eno River corridor contains some of the most scenic and ecologically <br />important natural areas in the eastern piedmont of the state. The river has an extremely <br />diverse aquatic fauna, including nine rare freshwater mussels, three rare fish, and one <br />rare amphibian. Element occurrences of the state endangered Atlantic pigtoe and Yellow <br />l.ampmussel, as well as the state threatened Triangle Floater, have been recorded in the <br />river in the vicinity of the Easement Area. The upper Eno is home to one federally <br />endangered mussel species —the dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon). <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />