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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 7, 2024 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-g <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution of Approval — Donated Conservation Easement on Property of <br /> Circular Design Construction, LLC (Array) <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br /> and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Resolution of Approval David Stancil, 245-2510 <br /> 2. Location Map Christian Hirni, 245-2514 <br /> 3. Site Map <br /> 4. Survey Plat <br /> 5. Draft Conservation Easement <br /> PURPOSE: To adopt a resolution approving the acceptance by Orange County of a conservation <br /> easement for Circular Design Construction, LLC (Array) property. <br /> BACKGROUND: The acquisition of conservation easements to protect highly important natural <br /> and cultural resource lands in Orange County is a longstanding goal of the Board of <br /> Commissioners and is a priority of the Lands Legacy program. Since 2001, the County has <br /> partnered with landowners and other entities to protect 2,973 acres of significant natural areas <br /> and prime farmland with permanent conservation easements, leveraging well over $3 million in <br /> outside funding and grants toward these easements. <br /> Over the past year, DEAPR has worked with Jodi Bakst and the development team of the Array <br /> Subdivision on a project to conserve approximately 32 acres of the previously approved <br /> subdivision located off Orange Grove Road in the Bingham Township. The development was a <br /> BOCC approved flexible subdivision, with twelve (12) single family lots less than two (2) acres <br /> each, and the remainder of the property held as open space for the enjoyment of the residents. <br /> The entirely forested property is in the in the Haw River (Jordan Lake) Watershed in Bingham <br /> Township. The property contains just under 2,400 linear feet of Collins Creek, a primary tributary <br /> to the Haw River, which drains to Jordan Lake - a source of drinking water for the City of Raleigh <br /> and other jurisdictions. In addition, the property is forested and creates a large buffer to Collins <br /> Creek and its tributaries. The area being offered in easement is also listed in the Eno-New Hope <br /> Landscape Conservation Report as Sparsely Settled and General Wet-Mesic Hardwood Forests <br /> Wildlife Corridor. These factors combined make conservation of this tract a high priority for the <br /> Lands Legacy Program. <br />