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• - 8 <br /> • <br /> Proposal fo.r New -Hope Creek Corridor Master Plan <br /> ] Presented to Orange County <br /> • May 18, 1989 <br /> The New Hope Creek is a special riverine system. . Unlike <br /> streams such as the Eno River, it exhibits a very wide hydrologic <br /> influence. lellfrInft=r2sIlltatitn-large land areas <br /> 1 or <br /> valuable for habitat. stormwater filtration and absorption, .and • <br /> • other open space needs. including recreation. But at the same <br /> time, the New Hope Creek corridor enjoys little public awareness <br /> and appreciation because it is not often visible to the passing <br /> traveller. The corridor is a difficult phenomenon to visualize <br /> as it presently exists, but the tremendous potential remains. <br /> Rapid urbanization occuring in Orange and Durham Counties <br /> has made us more aware of the opportunities and problems <br /> associated with the New Hope Creek corridor. Public concern is <br /> focusing on the quality of our many waterways. Intense <br /> development pressures eminating from Durham and Chapel Hill are <br /> causing these two cities to grow together. The World Class <br /> Region Land Use Advisory Committee of the Triangle J Council of <br /> Governments has targeted the New Hope Creek corridor as crucial <br /> to the large-scale network of regional open space needed for <br /> . 1 conservation and recreation. Increasingly, planners are <br /> factoring ecological considerations with transportation and <br /> utilities as part of the infrastructure required to support . <br /> 1 • quality growth and development. <br /> Why a Master Plan is Needed <br /> "Master Plan" is a term used to describe both a process and a <br /> product. . The major reasons this project should be undertaken <br /> are: <br /> -to culminate the lengthy period of inventory, study, <br /> philosophies, and discussion in a systematic and meaningful way. <br /> to show decision-makers the options which are available to them. <br /> Such a document will enable Orange County to take action on <br /> available policy choices. including regulations, preservation, <br /> and acquisition. <br /> -to serve as a forum among the many entities with interests in <br /> the future of the New Hope Creek corridor: local government <br /> agencies. conservation groups, developers, and land owners; <br /> -to balance the beneficial functions of land left in its natural <br /> state with the need to develop land for human activities in this <br /> corridor; <br /> -to aid in public visualization of the landscapes which comprise <br /> 1 the corridor -- beyond scientific value as habitat, recreational <br /> value as open space -- a vast swath of land which few people <br /> presently see or comprehend. <br /> ii <br />