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1 <br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: August 17, 2004 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. <br />SUBJECT: Resolution in Support of Scenic Byway Designation for Old NC 86 <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />Conservation <br />ATTACHMENT INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />1) Resolution of Support <br />2) Map of Proposed Byway Corridor David Stancil, 245 -2590 <br />3) Preliminary Application Christina Moon, 245 -2583 <br />4) Historic Preservation Commission Letter <br />5) NC Scenic Byways Q & A Sheet TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />6) Descriptions of Two Existing Scenic Byways Hillsborough 732 -8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968 -4501 <br />Durham 688 -7331 <br />Mebane 336 - 227 -2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a resolution of support for an application to have a segment of Old <br />86 designated as a North Carolina Scenic Byway. <br />BACKGROUND: Over the past few months, a group of citizens along with the Northern <br />Transition Area Advisory Board have developed an application to the North Carolina Scenic <br />Byways program to have a segment of Old NC 86 designated as a Scenic Byway. The <br />Northern Transition Area (NTA) Advisory Board has two members appointed by the Carrboro <br />Board of Aldermen and three members appointed by Orange County to review and consider <br />land use issues in the Transition Area north of Carrboro. <br />In November of 2003, the NTA Advisory Board applied to the Department of Transportation <br />to have Old 86 placed on the Study List for Scenic Byway Designation. (A copy of that <br />preliminary application is attached.) The application cites a number of historical, scenic, <br />recreational, natural, educational and wildlife features of Old 86 making it a worthy and viable <br />candidate for Scenic Byway designation. Historically, maps from 1777 appear to indicate <br />that it was the main road between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. Portions of property along <br />the road were originally given as land grants. Meadow Flats, the home site of Thomas Lloyd, <br />a well -known colonial settler, legislator and judicial official, is located just off this road. <br />The road crosses several creeks and in proximity to the road are several sites listed on the <br />County's Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat and with the N.C. Natural Heritage <br />Program, as well as large areas of land protected by Duke University and the Triangle Land <br />Conservancy. The natural areas include Bald Mountain, Blackwood Mountain, Currie Hill, <br />