AGENDA #6

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Triangle Land Conservancy Petition

 

DATE:             January 10, 2000

RESUBMITTED:  JANUARY 24, 2000

 

 

The attached resolution would add references to Chapel Hill’s Draft Comprehensive Plan to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s report “Rating Land in Orange County by its Wildlife Value.”

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

On November 8, 1999, Haven Wiley and Livy Ludington from the Triangle Land Conservancy presented findings of the 1999 Triangle Land Conservancy’s report, “Rating Land in Orange County by its Wildlife Value.” They highlighted maps from the report that prioritize forested Orange County tracts according to their wildlife habitat value. The Town Council asked for a staff report to consider how the Council might work with Orange County to preserve the identified tracts.

 

On November 22, 1999, the Triangle Land Conservancy submitted a petition to the Council (see Attachment 1) to include Maps 7 and 8 from the report, “Rating Land in Orange County by its Wildlife Value” in the Chapel Hill Draft Comprehensive Plan. The Council received the petition and referred it to staff.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The 1999 report is the second phase of the 1997 Triangle Land Conservancy report, “A Landscape With Wildlife for Orange County.”  The earlier report identified prime forested areas for wildlife habitat whereas the later report prioritizes those areas. The reports are based on 1988 aerial photos. Forested tracts were prioritized according to intrinsic and contextual values that influence the viability of wildlife habitat; then parcels with building permits through 1998 were excluded (permit data for Chapel Hill was not included in the database used to create the maps).

 

This memorandum addresses two issues in regard to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s report and petition:

 

  1. Methods of cooperation with other governments in Orange County to enhance preservation of identified forested wildlife habitat tracts.

 

  1. Inclusion of Maps 7 and 8 in the Draft Chapel Hill Comprehensive Plan.

 

Cooperation with Other Governments

 

The Triangle Land Conservancy recently made a presentation of wildlife habitat prioritization to the Orange County Commissioners. The Triangle Land Conservancy data could be integrated into the Orange County Comprehensive Plan as well as Shaping Orange County’s Future (both now under development).  

 

Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County could agree to use the Triangle Land Conservancy wildlife habitat report data as an area-wide framework for preservation of forested land. Orange County could coordinate updating data, such as building permits, through their Geographic Information System.

 

According to Orange County staff, the Orange County Commissioners are currently preparing a comprehensive land acquisition package called the “Lands Legacy Program.” It identifies natural areas, wildlife habitat, parklands, riparian buffers, prime farmland, and cultural and historic sites. This program is designed for countywide and/or use by local governments. The Lands Legacy Program may be an effective mechanism to foster regional cooperation for wildlife habitat preservation.

 

Comprehensive Plan

 

Currently the Chapel Hill Draft Comprehensive Plan has two references to area-wide land preservation, mostly in regard to the Rural Buffer. In addition, Figure 11 identifies natural areas and environmentally sensitive areas. This figure and sections could be modified in the following manner:

 

  1. Regional Context, “Develop An Area-Wide Map Of Potential Conservation Lands” (p. 44, second paragraph):  This section recommends developing an area-wide map of potential conservation lands for the Rural Buffer (See Attachment 2). We suggest this section could be amended to refer to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s report, including the prioritized tracts of forest suitable for wildlife habitat and note efforts to increase regional cooperation by working with Orange County and Carrboro.

 

  1. Natural Environment, “Vegetation/Natural Areas” (p. 86, third paragraph): This section is an overview of forested and natural areas in Chapel Hill and discusses the 1988 Triangle Land Conservancy’s 1988 report documenting natural areas in Orange County (see Attachment 3). The new Triangle Land Conservancy’s recent report and Figure 11 (modified with the Triangle Land Conservancy data) could be referred to as tools for wildlife habitat preservation. This recommendation is consistent with our Nov. 23, 1999 Worksession comments responding to citizen and advisory board comments (see Attachment 4).
  2. Figure 11, “Natural Areas and Environmentally Sensitive Areas” (p. 88): This map shows streams and ponds, the 100-year floodplain with Resource Conservation District and steep slopes >15% (See Attachment 5). We suggest using the data from Map 8, “Wildlife Ratings for Orange County Forests (excluding property and building permits, total ratings)” to integrate the Triangle Land Conservancy’s mapped data for the Town’s Urban Services Area into Figure 11.  It would also be essential that the information be modified to remove parcels for which building permits have been issued. This recommendation is consistent with our Nov. 23, 1999 Worksession comments responding to citizen and advisory board comments (see Attachment 6).

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

The Town’s Draft Comprehensive Plan recommends a strategy to prepare an area-wide map of potential conservation lands for the Rural Buffer. We recommend integrating the Triangle Land Conservancy report into this strategy. Implementing the strategy would require cooperation with other governments in Orange County to maintain the database begun by the Triangle Land Conservancy.

 

We also recommend making adjustments as noted above to the Town’s Draft Comprehensive Plan to incorporate the Triangle Land Conservancy report.

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

1.            Petition from Haven Wiley and Livy Ludington of the Triangle Land Conservancy, November 22, 1999 (p. 5).

2.            Excerpt from “Planning for Chapel Hill’s Future: The Comprehensive Plan,” September 27, 1999 Draft, (Section 5.0, Regional Context, p. 44, second paragraph) (p. 6).

3.            Excerpt from “Planning for Chapel Hill’s Future: The Comprehensive Plan,” September 27, 1999 Draft, (Section 9.0, Natural Environment, p. 86-87, third paragraph) (p. 7).

4.            Excerpt from Agenda item #1, “Work Session on the Draft Comprehensive Plan” (#35, p. 10-11) (p. 9).

5.            Excerpt from “Planning for Chapel Hill’s Future: The Comprehensive Plan,” September 27, 1999 Draft, (Section 9.0, Natural Environment, p. 88) (p. 11).

6.            Excerpt from Agenda item #1, “Work Session on the Draft Comprehensive Plan” /p. 29) (p. 12).

                                                                       


 

A RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE TRIANGLE LAND CONSERVANCY REPORT, “RATING LAND IN ORANGE COUNTY BY ITS WILDLIFE VALUE” (2000-01-24/R-5)

 

WHEREAS, the Triangle Land Conservancy has petitioned the Town Council to include its report, “Rating Land in Orange County by its Wildlife Value” in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan; and

 

WHEREAS, the Town’s goal in the Draft Comprehensive Plan is to “Identify, protect, and preserve open spaces and critical natural areas and enhance the community’s air quality and water resources” (Natural Environment, p. 87);

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council authorizes adding references in the Draft Comprehensive Plan to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s report, “Rating Land in Orange County by its Wildlife Value,” as follows:

 

  1. Regional Context, “Develop An Area-Wide Map Of Potential Conservation Lands” (p. 44, second paragraph):  Add references to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s recent report, including the prioritized tracts of forest suitable for wildlife habitat and note the efforts to increase regional cooperation by working with Orange County and Carrboro.

 

  1. Natural Environment, “Vegetation/Natural Areas” (p. 86, third paragraph): Add references to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s recent report and Figure 11 (modified with the Triangle Land Conservancy data) could be referred to as tools for wildlife habitat preservation.

 

  1. Figure 11, “Natural Areas and Environmentally Sensitive Areas” (p. 88): Add data from the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Map 8 (corrected by including Chapel Hill building permits) to the Town’s Urban Services Area.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Council will seek to work with other governments in Orange County to carry out the Comprehensive Plan’s implementation strategy to prepare an area-wide map of potential conservation lands for the Rural Buffer.

 

This the 24th day of January, 2000.