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23 <br /> trespassers entering the Blackwood Division on foot or on bicycle from unauthorized trails <br /> through the adjacent county parcels and our undeveloped ten acres. Trespassers are a <br /> particular threat to the expensive equipment and monitoring instruments throughout these <br /> forests. Duke Forestry also has an ongoing problem with people dumping garbage in their <br /> Blackwood Division, especially on Wednesdays when the County's solid waste and recycling <br /> center on Eubanks Road is closed. The staff at Duke Forestry foresee these problems getting <br /> worse if and when Orange County develops the Millhouse Road Park for recreation, which will <br /> include a public parking lot. Our plans would therefore benefit Duke Forest when, for our own <br /> purposes, we add security to our 10-acre private-land buffer between the recreational fields <br /> and Duke Forest. <br /> Close to our 10-acre parcel, Duke Forest allows seasonal deer hunting and utilizes regular, <br /> prescribed burnings to maintain their "Piedmont Prairies" such as Blackwood Field. Knowing the <br /> ecological benefits of these practices, neither Duke Forestry nor the county will receive <br /> complaints from us about smoke or hunting. Likewise, knowing that ongoing research in the <br /> Blackwood Division may be sensitive to light pollution, we are happy to follow dark sky <br /> guidelines for avoiding any conflict. Our interests and ethos regarding trees, forests, and <br /> teaching are well aligned. <br /> To our north and west are County-owned parcels, largely undeveloped, that together <br /> compromise 78 acres. In 2004 and 2007, Orange County purchased these parcels with the idea <br /> of using them for future recreational facilities, including lighted fields and potentially an indoor <br /> recreational center, under the name Millhouse Road Park.14 In 2018 the Board of County <br /> Commissioners looked into the possibility of using its adjacent parcels for a 34-unit <br /> manufactured home park. This resulted in a 240 page property evaluation. Since all of this land <br /> is in the Rural Buffer, these sites would have depended on septic systems, ground water from <br /> wells, and rezoning to HP-CZD. The major obstacles appear to have been the inadequate soils, <br /> wetlands, and likely inadequate or cost-prohibitive well and waste-water options for the <br /> envisioned park."Aspirations for the manufactured home park appear to have been <br /> abandoned. <br /> Our 10-acre parcel is situated towards the back corner of the 78-acre Millhouse Road Park site. <br /> Our plans for our parcel are compatible with the County's plans for rezoning and development <br /> of the Millhouse Road Park site for recreational use. As a headquarters for our company, our <br /> 10-acres would also extend the recreational options for the community. In 2018 we began <br /> offering free-to-the public, in-depth weekly tree climbing courses. At our current location, which <br /> "2014 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, section 3-22 <br /> 15 see pp. 32f from the June 5th, BOCC meeting minutes <br /> 16 <br />