Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
some difficulties have been experienced by property <br /> owners whose land is split by the boundary line. The <br /> approval of two jurisdictions, Carrboro and Orange <br /> County, is necessary, creating administrative as well <br /> as design problems. Developments are resulting in a mix <br /> of one and two-acre lots. In some cases, water and <br /> sewer extensions may be possible to part of a <br /> development and not to the remainder. <br /> Factors have a bearing on the proposed amendment <br /> include the recently completed study of Duke Forest <br /> lands, the completion of the Natural Areas Inventory by <br /> the Triangle Land Conservancy, and the proposed PID - <br /> Public Interest District proposals by the County. <br /> The Duke Forest study recommends that the bulk of the <br /> Blackwood Division be retained as Class 1 Permanent <br /> Research Forest or lands most intensively used for <br /> academic and research purposes. Such lands would be <br /> dedicated for academic purposes for a period of 50 <br /> years. A portion of the Blackwood Division south of <br /> Eubanks Road and near Carrboro's Transition Area has <br /> been designated Class 2 Research Project Land. <br /> Class 2 property is expected to remain in its present <br /> forested state and continue to be used for current <br /> research and teaching activities. Because such areas <br /> have less intensive academic usage at the present time, <br /> and research and teaching may not be the most <br /> appropriate use over the long term, any proposal that <br /> would lock in land use for more than five years would <br /> be made only after proper deliberative review by the <br /> Duke Land Resources Board. <br /> Four sites were identified in the Natural Areas <br /> Inventory as significant areas. They include: (1) the <br /> Bald Mountain Hardwood Slopes; (2) the Bald Mountain <br /> • Gabbro Depression; (3) Meadow Flats; and (4) Eubanks <br /> • Road Montmorillonite Forest. Two of the sites, Bald <br /> Mountain Hardwood Slopes and Meadow Flats, have been <br /> • recommended for registration as a State Natural Area <br /> with the N.C. Natural Heritage Program. <br /> • The PID proposals of Orange County included two classes <br /> of Public Interest District to align with the proposed <br /> • Class 1 and Class 2 Duke Forest lands. PID-1 is a <br /> zoning district in which the minimum required lot area <br /> would be approximately 11 acres; uses would be limited <br /> primarily to academic or research forest, public <br /> reservoirs, and State parklands; and the life <br /> expectancy of such facilities would be 20 years or <br /> more. PID-2 is a zoning district in which the minimum <br /> required lot area would be five (5) acres; residential <br /> uses would be permitted in addition to academic or <br />