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2 <br /> Since the approval of the 400-foot Rural Buffer area, <br /> 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 having a bearing on the proposed amendment <br /> include the recently completed study of Duke Forest <br /> lands and the completion of the Natural Areas Inventory <br /> by the Triangle Land Conservancy. The Duke Forest study <br /> recommends that the bulk of the Blackwood Division be <br /> retained as Class 1 Permanent Research Forest or lands <br /> most intensively used for academic and research <br /> purposes. Such lands would be dedicated for academic <br /> purposes for a period of 50 years. A portion of the <br /> Blackwood Division south of Eubanks Road and near <br /> Carrboro's Transition Area has been designated Class 2 <br /> 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 /> Concurrent with this request, the Town of Carrboro has <br /> requested that the property in question be rezoned from <br /> Rural Buffer to Rural Residential (See Z-5-89) . To <br /> address concerns regarding natural areas and the Duke <br /> Forest Study, the Town has indicated a 100-foot <br /> undisturbed naturally vegetated setback would be <br /> retained along the Duke Forest border. <br /> This item was presented at public hearing on April 6, <br /> 1989. <br />