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<br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: January 23, 2018 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-a <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Approval of Planned Mountains to Sea Trail Map/Route Through Orange County <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br />& Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Planned Mountains to Sea Trail Map <br />December 12, 2017 Staff Memo <br />MST Frequently Asked Questions <br />January 12, 2018 Letter to Landowners <br /> <br /> <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />David Stancil, 919-245-2522 <br />Kim Livingston, 919-245-2514 <br />Marabeth Carr, 919-245-2516 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />PURPOSE: To consider approving a map and planned route for the portions of the North <br />Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) within Orange County, as directed on December 12. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: At the December 12 BOCC meeting, the Board discussed a petition received <br />at its December 4 meeting. As a result of that discussion, staff was directed to bring back the <br />Proposed Trail route map for possible Board action at the January 23 meeting. <br /> <br />The North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail is a part of the North Carolina State Parks system, <br />and work is actively underway in many parts of the state to complete the unfinished segments of <br />the MST. On September 19, 2017, the Board received a report on the trail planning process <br />authorized in 2016, which included a map with a Proposed Trail route for “Segment 11” (from <br />Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area to Alamance County). At that time, the Board <br />provided direction to the County Manager and staff on next steps for work on this project. The <br />attached December 12 information item memo contains a summary of these steps. <br /> <br />Note: There are two segments of the MST in Orange County. Segment 11 from the Statewide <br />Master Plan begins at the Alamance County line and continues to Occoneechee Mountain State <br />Natural Area. Segment 12 begins at Occoneechee Mountain and continues east through <br />Hillsborough and into Eno River State Park to the Durham County line. In preparing the attached <br />map of the proposed MST route, staff has added “Segment 12” of the trail (from Occoneechee <br />Mountain through Hillsborough to Durham County) to the original Segment 11 map, in <br />consultation with State Parks officials. Segment 12 of the MST was not part of the trail planning <br />public process, since almost the entirety of the MST in this part of the county will be either the <br />Hillsborough Riverwalk, adjoining public trails on properties owned by Classical American <br />Homes, or within Eno River State Park. As such, the trail corridor for Segment 12 has been <br />known for some time, and no trail routing was needed. It should be noted that the proposed <br />MST route through Eno River State Park is subject to revision and alteration as State Parks <br />finalizes which of its network of trails within the park will host the MST. For current purposes, the <br />1