Orange County NC Website
2 <br /> Greene Tract Environmental Assessment <br /> The Greene Tract Resolution for a Path Forward initiated the drafting of an environmental <br /> assessment in order to obtain site-specific information on environmental and cultural conditions <br /> present on the Greene Tract. Following a Request for Proposal (RFP) and bid process, <br /> SynTerra was selected to complete the Environmental Assessment. Beginning in May 2020, <br /> SynTerra reviewed background information, conducted fieldwork, and completed an <br /> environmental analysis of the Greene Tract. The final assessment was presented to the local <br /> governments in July 2020 and can be found at the following link: <br /> https://www.orangecountVnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14103/2020-Greene-Tract- <br /> Environmental-Assessment. <br /> 2021 Greene Tract Interlocal Agreement <br /> The Interlocal Agreement Between Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill <br /> Regarding the Current and Future Use of the Jointly Owned Greene Tract adopted by the three <br /> local governments in April 2021 provided a decision-making process for the three local <br /> governments and other key elements including: <br /> ■ Required that the parties act jointly in selecting professional services; entering into <br /> development agreements; engaging in public outreach; receiving public input; assigning <br /> the Mayors, Chair, and Managers to form a working group to negotiate ultimate uses of <br /> the Greene Tract before submitting their recommendations to the governing boards of the <br /> parties; and reaching final determinations of the ultimate uses of the property within 18 <br /> months of execution of the Agreement; <br /> ■ Agreed that the initial intent of the parties is for the property to include mixed use (e.g. <br /> residential and/or low intensity commercial, service uses, and maker/incubator space, <br /> which serve the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods) affordable housing, a school <br /> site with a public recreation component, a joint preserve area, and connectivity <br /> (pedestrian, vehicular, utility, transportation). <br /> Modifications to the County-Owned (Headwaters Preserve) and Joint-Owned Tracts <br /> Over the summer, planning, environmental, stormwater, transportation, surveying, and <br /> engineering staff met to review the findings of the Greene Tract Environmental Assessment and <br /> discuss other key elements (i.e. connectivity, green space, infrastructure, land use, transit, etc.) <br /> in order to assist in determining the modified parcel lines of the County-owned (60 acres) and <br /> Joint-owned (107 acres) tracts. <br /> One of the main goals of this process was to encompass the most environmentally sensitive <br /> features of the Greene Tract within the County-owned (Headwaters Preserve) or future Greene <br /> Tract Preserve areas. The purpose of this was to protect and preserve these areas in the future <br /> while balancing development goals of the Greene Tract related to affordable and mixed income <br /> housing (housing which is affordable to residents at different income levels) needs and the <br /> public school and recreational site. In order to achieve this, environmental staff reviewed <br /> preservation plans from 2019 and the Environmental Assessment, completed fieldwork, and <br /> drafted new parcel lines for the County-owned and Joint-owned tracts. The proposed parcel <br /> lines were presented to the MMC for their review. Based on comments received from the MMC, <br /> land use acreages designated in the 2020 Resolution, and additional analysis and fieldwork, <br /> modified parcel lines for the County- and Joint-owned tracts were drafted (Attachment 3). The <br /> final draft of the proposed County-owned and Joint-owned parcels was utilized in preparing the <br /> draft recombination plat and conceptual plan contained in Attachment 1 . <br />