Orange County NC Website
iV83��1U��iuiiuium��u <br />C. To the extent practicable, the Grantors and Grantee wish to maintain the <br />Easement Area as a combination of woodland and open space suitable as habitat for the native <br />flora and fauna of the North Carolina Piedmont, and to protect the quality of water running off <br />from this land and into the Eno River, which river has both conservation value and is a public <br />water supply for residents of Orange County. The grant of this Conservation Easement further <br />said wish, and will serve the following "Conservation Purposes," as such term is defined in <br />Section 170 (h)(4)(A) of the Code: <br />The Easement Area contains a natural area that has not been subject to significant <br />development, which provides a "...relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar <br />ecosystem," as that phrase is used in P.L. 96 -541, 26 UCS 170(h)(A)(ii), as amended, and in <br />regulations promulgated thereunder. <br />Specifically, the Easement Area is habitat for a variety of native plants and animals <br />known to inhabit the Upper Eno River Macrosite as described on Pages 78 -82 of the Inventory of <br />the Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats of Orange County, North Carolina (2004), by the North <br />Carolina Natural Heritage Program. <br />The Easement Area also is within a zone designated by Orange County as a "critical <br />area" of the Upper Eno Watershed —a protected water supply watershed for the Corporation <br />Lake and Lake Ben Johnson reservoirs. Another primary purpose of this Easement is to protect <br />the undeveloped nature of the Grantors' Easement Area and, in doing so, helping to protect the <br />high quality of that drinking water supply serving the people of Orange County. <br />The Easement Area also contributes to the open space and rural character of northern <br />Cheeks Township and the Upper Eno Protected Watershed, so classified in the Orange County <br />Zoning Ordinance. It is a further purpose of this Easement to help to protect the rural character <br />and open space of northern Cheeks Township. <br />The natural habitat of the Easement Area, and its contribution to the protection of the <br />public water supply watershed, as well as the open space and rural character of Cheeks Township <br />are collectively referred to as the "conservation values" of the Easement Area. <br />The Grantors and Grantee agree that the current uses of and improvements to the <br />Easement Area are consistent with the conservation purposes of this Conservation Easement. <br />The conservation purposes of this easement, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained <br />herein, are also recognized by, and this Conservation Easement will also serve, the following <br />clearly delineated governmental conservation policies: <br />(1) the Orange County Board of Commissioners' goal (adopted June 21, 1999) to <br />identify and coordinate the preservation of the County's most significant natural areas; and <br />Page 2 of 15 <br />