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.s. <br /> 186 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT <br /> 306F REVERE ROAD <br /> HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 <br /> • ':2,1■ <br /> • <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> TO: Marvin Collins, Planning Director <br /> FROM: Emily Crudup, ASLA Planner II oat <br /> • DATE:. May 3, 1988 <br /> SUBJECT: Proposed Subdivision on Pickard's Mountain <br /> On March 22, the Planning Staff received an application for <br /> preliminary approval of a proposed major subdivision located <br /> in Bingham Township. on the east side of Dodsons Crossroads <br /> • south of Dairyland Road. The 62. 7 acre tract includes the <br /> western end of Pickard' s Mountain' as shown on the USGS White <br /> Cross 'Quadrangle. <br /> Approximately 1000 feet east of this site, a significant <br /> plant 'community was identified in the "Inventory of Sites <br /> of. . .Biological and Geological Significance in the <br /> Unincorporated Portions of Orange County. " The site was <br /> described as a "large mature stand of mixed hardwoods; beech, . <br /> poplar, white oak, chestnut oak, along with sourwood, <br /> dogwood, and blueberry, " and "on the southeast side of <br /> Pickard's Mountain. " <br /> Dawson Sather has also identified Pickard's Mountain as being <br /> the location of a "large stand of mesic and dry-mesic <br /> hardwoods, with some chestnut oak. " <br /> Upon visiting the site of the proposed subdivision, I noted <br /> that the plant community east of the creek is very similar to <br /> that described above. The majority of the trees on that <br /> portion of the site were in fact mature, chestnut oak, white , <br /> oak, and sourwood with the understory community of dogwood <br /> and blueberry. In addition, along the creek I noticed an <br /> abundance of ground pine and fern. <br /> I have discussed the Boulder Bluff site with Dawson Sather. <br /> He explained that one- o± the reason-s—for—tne—s-igni-ficance—of <br /> the Pickard' s Mountain plant community is its size, but that <br /> no boundaries had been established. I told him that the creek <br /> on this tact seemed to be a division between plant <br /> communities. I sent him a copy of the preliminary plan and <br /> vicinity map to help him locate the site and possibly to set <br /> a western boundary for the significant plant community: <br /> • <br /> • <br />