AGENDA #6
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Presentation by the Friends of Bolin Creek regarding Possible Creation of a Bolin Creek Open Space Master Plan
DATE: November 25, 2002
Representatives of the Friends of Bolin Creek have requested that the Council receive the attached information regarding the possible creation of a Bolin Creek Open Space Master Plan. We understand that David Otto of the Environmental Protection Agency will make a presentation for the Council at tonight’s meeting.
ATTACHMENT
1. “Creating an Open Space Master Plan for the Bolin Creek Corridor” (p. 2).
CREATING AN OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN
FOR THE BOLIN CREEK CORRIDOR
Presentation to the Chapel Hill Town Council, November 25, 2002
Summary of presentation to be made by Dave Otto, Chairman of the Friends of Bolin Creek, a group of Orange County citizens dedicated to preserving the habitat along the Bolin Creek Corridor:
We want to make you aware that the Friends of Bolin Creek have initiated a campaign to preserve this special corridor which runs from the northern transition area of Carrboro through the Horace Williams Tract and then eastward through Carrboro and Chapel Hill to merge with Booker Creek east of the 15-501 bypass. The Bolin Creek Corridor includes one of the last stretches of significant native forest habitat left in southern Orange County. At several well‑attended public meetings earlier this year, we were encouraged by the enthusiasm of many citizens who also desire to help us save this creek and the lands around it.
We believe that initiating a Bolin Creek Corridor Open Space Master Plan is the next appropriate step in our community’s effort to save and preserve Bolin Creek. We envision a process similar to that used in developing the New Hope Creek Corridor Master Plan more than ten years ago. In that case, the governing boards of Chapel Hill, Orange County, Durham and Durham County passed a common resolution recognizing the value of the New Hope Creek Corridor. The governing boards appointed an Advisory Committee representing each of the jurisdictions that worked with planning staffs and a consultant to prepare an Open Space Master Plan.
On November 25, we will be presenting to you an overview of our concept and asking Chapel Hill to join with Carrboro and Orange County to begin a similar process for the study of the Bolin Creek Corridor. We propose that the three governing bodies appoint an Advisory Committee representing each of the jurisdictions and other key stakeholders along the following lines: the Advisory Committee should be composed of 15 members, four each appointed by Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County, and one each appointed by key stakeholders including UNC-Chapel Hill (Horace Williams Tract), Duke University (Duke Forest interest in the northern reaches of the corridor) and OWASA. We respectfully suggest that the governing bodies appoint representatives along these lines: an elected member of the board or other board representative; a member of a government environmental advisory committee; a member of the Friends of Bolin Creek Steering Committee residing in that jurisdiction; and a landowner in proximity to Bolin Creek residing in that jurisdiction.
The Advisory Committee would be charged with hiring a consultant and working with that consultant and planning staffs to conduct a thorough biological examination of this valuable regional resource, leading to recommendations to guide its protection. A significant aspect of this study would be to integrate current planning processes initiated by the three jurisdictions and other key stakeholders.
Additionally, we ask Chapel Hill to assist in funding or in identifying funding sources to hire the consultant to develop the Open Space Master Plan described above. (Possible funding sources outside operating budgets include Orange County Open Space bond funds, the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and the U.S. Land & Water Conservation Fund.) We have obtained rough consulting estimates ranging from $30,000-$50,000. We will be making similar requests in the near future to Carrboro and the Orange County Commissioners to assist in this project. We are keenly aware of the success of the New Hope Master Plan which has served as a blueprint in identifying critical parcels for acquisition and protection over the past decade and believe that this approach will yield a similarly useful blueprint to guide the acquisition and preservation of the Bolin Creek Corridor.
Why should we preserve the Bolin Creek Corridor? We believe the following four reasons are very important:
(1) With burgeoning growth in southern Orange County, this is a critical period where it is essential to carefully manage urban growth in the Bolin Creek watershed. If the watershed is not preserved over the next few years, the opportunity will be lost forever. Although the Chapel Hill sections of the watershed are largely built out, construction upstream in Carrboro and the Northern Transition Zone could have enormous impact on Chapel Hill, exacerbating the chronic flood problems in the University Mall/Camelot Apartments area.
(2) There is an important need to establish connectivity of natural areas, existing and planned parks and greenways. Chapel Hill is far ahead of Carrboro in implementing a greenway/bikeway stretching along Bolin Creek from the Community Center on Estes Drive to Airport Road, but the job is not yet finished. There is a hauntingly beautiful section of the creek below the bluff at Village West that few have seen or appreciated (you will see it Monday night!). It is our dream to continue the Chapel Hill greenway from Airport Road to Umstead Park and Estes Drive, to have the State DOT restore the streambed under Estes Drive Extension and build a bridge over the creek wide enough to allow wildlife and greenway corridors (as part of the improvements that will be made to Estes Drive to accommodate traffic to the new Horace Williams Campus), connect to the planned Carrboro Greenway, run connectors to Seawell Elementary, Smith Middle and Chapel Hill High Schools, a possible connector along the tributary which arises on the Greene Tract, and another segment continuing through Winmore up Jones Creek to the planned County park.
(3) We want to preserve the last intact stretches of native forest habitat remaining in southern Orange County. Two studies by Triangle Land Conservancy within the last five years identified much of the forest areas in the Horace Williams Tract and the Northern Transition Zone as botanically sensitive and ecologically valuable (A Landscape With Wildlife for Orange County and A Landscape With Wildlife for Orange County, Part II by Haven Wiley, Steve Hall and Livy Ludington). Another natural treasure is the Adams Tract, about 30 acres between Estes Drive and Watters Road in Carrboro. This jewel is an important gateway and access to the park and preserve that we want to establish. Carrboro has requested bond funds from Orange County, the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund and other sources to purchase this tract. We view the Adams Tract as the first critical step in realizing the proposed master plan!
(4) We want to leave a natural legacy that our children, our grandchildren and future generations can enjoy. Christopher Alexander and his colleagues have expressed it well in A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction: “When the countryside is far away, the city becomes a prison” and “Every city inhabitant should be within a 10 minute walk of a natural area.” We have a critical opportunity to preserve the natural corridor along Bolin Creek before it is engulfed by the rising tide of development in this area. It is essential to act now while considerable open space still exists!
We will be coming to you on Monday evening to request your support—political, physical, monetary and spiritual. Realization of this dream will require the joint efforts and support of many people and many jurisdictions—Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, the State of North Carolina, and perhaps the federal government. It is a dream that has the enthusiastic support of a large cross-section of the local population—hikers, joggers, dog-walkers, bikers and nature lovers. We respectfully invite you to join and support us in our efforts to create a Bolin Creek Corridor Open Space Master Plan!