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I <br />4 <br />New Hope Corridor Open Spa" Master PPkn <br />1. Purchase of Rights <br />Outright purchase offers the fullest protection. However, purchase of partial <br />interest, typically in the form of building/development rights may be as <br />effective. Public acquisition of only the development rights may be less <br />expensive than outright purchase, particularly in the case of development rights <br />that pertain to areas that really should not be built upon in any event. The <br />purchase of rights rather than full ownership of the land would provide the <br />public benefit of keeping the land in its natural state and, at the same time, the <br />private owner would retain ownership and the right of private enjoyment and no <br />trespass. <br />2. Exchange of Rights (Clustering) <br />In some cases, it may be beneficial to permit the exchange of building rights. <br />In the floodplain areas other than the Erwin Road and Chapel Hill- Durham <br />Boulevard wildlife protection area and where the ownership pattern is <br />appropriate, building rights for the floodplain portion of the tract could be <br />transferred to a buildable portion. Such transfers should be permitted only with <br />sensitivity for adjacent tracts. <br />k �� <br />For personal reasons, an owner may wish to give the land or an interest in the <br />land to the public or a private nonprofit agency. Such a situation would be very <br />desirable, but a public agency should not rely upon donation of the land as a <br />primary method of guaranteeing appropriate open space values. <br />It should be noted that the most appropriate location for a trail in many situations will <br />be directly at the edge of a floodplain or, stated differently, between the buildable <br />portion of a tract and the floodplain. In such a situation, the owner may have no <br />interest in retaining ownership of the floodplain. Should that be the case, the public <br />agency should acquire complete interest. <br />Finally, the extensive wildlife protection area between the Boulevard and Erwin Road <br />should be given added protection because of its wildlife value. In addition to <br />preserving the floodplain and steep slopes by purchasing the fee simple interest or <br />development rights, the adjacent buildable areas up to the nearest road should be kept <br />at as low a density as possible by acquiring development rights so that the resulting <br />density will be the same as that provided for in the Orange County rural buffer <br />4 13 <br />