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11 <br /> since the inception of its comprehensive planning program, a goal of Orange <br /> County has been the completion of detailed inventories of its cultural, historical, <br /> recreational, biological, and geological resources. In 1986, the Planning Department <br /> completed a general listing of such sites in the unincorporated portions of the county. <br /> While some field surveys were conducted for site verification purposes, the listing was <br /> based exclusively on existing documentation. <br /> In 1988, a Master Recreation and Parks Plan was prepared for orange County. <br /> During the same year, the Triangle Land conservancy completed an Inventory of Natural <br /> Areas and wildlife Habitats of orange County. These studies provided the detailed <br /> inventory of recreational, geological, and biological sites. <br /> consistent with the above goal, in January, 1991, orange County applied for <br /> Survey and Planning Grant Funds to undertake an inventory of historic sites and <br /> structures in the unincorporated portions of Chapel Hill Township, the most populous <br /> and urbanized of the county's seven townships. <br /> Following notice of the grant award in May of 1991, the inventory project was <br /> begun in December and completed in June of 1992. Based on the inventory conducted by <br /> the consultants, the area contained 159 structures of significance. <br /> The Chapel Hill Township inventory was the first of a four-phase project. The <br /> second phase, and the one for which Planning and Survey Grant Funds are being used now, <br /> consists of an inventory of the remaining unincorporated portions of the county. Notice <br /> of the grant award occurred in May, 1992, and contracts with the consultants were <br /> signed in December. To date, a planning phase and four of 13 phases of the <br /> comprehensive survey have been completed. When completed in July of 1993, approximately <br /> 700 sites of historical significance will have been identified and surveyed. <br /> As noted in the 1992 grant application, the third phase, and the one for which <br /> Planning and Survey Funds are being requested, will consist of two parts, including the <br /> publication of a county-wide inventory and an inventory of archaeological sites. <br />