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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-13-1997 - 4 ORANGECOUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 13, 1997 Action Agenda Item # 4 SUBJECT: Update on various open space/conservation easement programs and initiatives within Orange County DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: Yes No ATTACHMENT(S): BUDGET AMENDMENT: Yes No County Engineer's report INFORMATION CONTACT: County Engineer Extension 2303 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough - 732-8181 Durham - 688-7331 Mebane - 227-2031 Chapel Hill - 967-9251/968-4501 PURPOSE: To provide the Board with an update on open space/conservation easement activities ongoing within Orange County. BACKGROUND: Since at least 1990, the BOCC has included an open space preservation element in its annual goal statements. Preservation of open space is specifically referenced in the following goals: 1)Update of the Master Recreation and Parks Plan; 2)Natural Resource Preservation; 3) Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Program; and 4)Rural Character Preservation. Some of the strategies and action items of these goals have been completed and implemented; some are still being developed. There are a number of new and ongoing programs and initiatives involving agencies that are either outside of or only peripherally associated with Orange County government that are also impact on the County's open space. These agencies include Orange Water and Sewer Authority(OWASA) and several agencies that are in some manner subsidiary to the US Department of Agriculture(USDA). OWASA open space initiatives are primarily associated with protection of the water quality in its raw water reservoirs or its wastewater sludge disposal operations. USDA programs are primarily concerned with wildlife conservation, watershed/waterway protection and control of erosion from crop lands. The efforts of these agencies has the potential to have significant long and short-term impact on the quantity and quality of open space within Orange County. RECOMMENDATION: Receive the report as information. r MEMORANDUM TO: County Commissioners FROM: Paul Thames, PE, County Enginee DATE: March 6, 1997 SUBJECT: Existing and proposed open space/conservation easement programs and processes within Orange County COPIES: John Link, County Manger Marvin Collins, Planning Director Don Cox, Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Brent Bogue, District Conservationist, NRCS In accordance with the request of the County Manger,_I have endeavored to discover and examine some of the various organizations, programs, initiatives, etc., which may impact efforts to create or preserve open space within Orange County. Agencies involved in the various open space programs include the Orange County Planning Department, the Natural Resources Conservation Service(MRCS)/Orange County Soil and Water District/US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Orange Water and Sewer Authority(OWASA). The programs or initiatives which these agencies use to implement open space strategies include OWASA's water shed protection and agricultural nutrient recycling programs; the Planning Department's farmland preservation, PDR/TDR, flexible development and land trust management plans; and the NRCS/Soil and Water Conservation District/USDA Conservation Easement Program, Wetland Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program(WHIP), Conservation Reserve Program(CRP) and Environmental Quality Improvement Program(EQUIP). Currently a number of Planning Department open space related initiatives are either being developed or have already been implemented. Planning staff are currently working with the Agricultural Districts Advisory Board to develop strategies for farmland preservation. One strategy involves developing and evaluating a proposal to use a voluntary purchase of development rights (PDR's) process which would be funded by roll back tax receipts. These revenues become available when land use is converted from uses (primarily agraiculture and forestry)that receive property tax use valuation to uses which receive pmarket value property tax valuation. Planning staff have determined that in the period from 1991 to 1995 roll back tax receipts have totaled approximately $900,000 as generated by the removal of 11,568 acres from use valuation. OWASA operations related to watershed protection and recycling of biosolids create significant open space potential within Orange County. Currently, under the auspices of its Agricultural Nutrient Recycling Program, OWASA owns and operates 750 acres on which it applies nitrogenous biosolids. This land is then used to grow a variety of grain and silage crops used primarily for animal feed. It is assumed that this land will remain as open space for an extended period of time, although biosolid disposal regulations presume that there is ultimately a finite quantity of biosolids which may be applied to any tract of land. OWASA also purchases and owns land in the University Lake and Cane Creek watershed. Most of this land is located in the Cane Creek watershed (approximately 510 acres) and is intended to reduce and limit overall development or other land uses having the potential to degrade water quality. This land is separate from the acreage containing the reservoir and its immediate environs (1630 acres). The OWASA Board of Directors, staff and consultants are, in conjunction with Cane Creek watershed protection initiatives, also evaluating strategies to record conservation easements on land within the watershed. One strategy which, according to OWASA staff, has not proven to be popular with land owners is the purchase of conservation easements. A second strategy, which is still in the discussion stage, involves purchasing land outright, recording a conservation easement and reselling the land for agricultural or forestry uses. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in conjunction with the local Soil and Water Conservation District, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the Farm Services Agency(FSA) and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, has a number of existing and proposed programs which can help preserve open space for ten to fifty year periods. Most of the USDA programs use financial incentives and contractual agreements with land owners to provide wildlife habitat or to protect wetland and riparian areas from the effects of erosion. The specific programs that currently exist or in the development stage are as follows: 1)the existing Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program(WHIP), co- administered by NRCS and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, is used to enhance the habitat for small game animals and involves the installation of cover and feed planting or controlled bums in set aside areas. Five to ten year contracts specifying landowner maintenance and planting responsibilities and USDA incentive payments are executed; 2) the proposed Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP) will probably require preservation of open spaces, wildlife corridors and habitat and protection of waterways by creation and maintenance of riparian buffers. The program has been funded but final rules and specifics are not anticipated to be finalized and disseminated for at least the next thirty to sixty days; 3)the existing Conservation Reserve Program(CRP) is used to protect water sheds and reduce cropland erosion potential by taking areas of highly erodable soils and areas bordering waterways out of the crop production process. The areas are generally protected by the installation of cover and forest plantings. Five to ten year contracts specifying landowner management, maintenance and planting responsibilities and USDA incentive payments are executed; 4)the existing Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)is used to preserve and protect wetland areas from agricultural uses. There is no record of this program being used in Orange County to date. It is a contractual incentive program that probably sees the most wide spread uses,in coastal and lowland areas; and 5) the existing Conservation Easement Program is used in conjunction with repayment of Farm Services Agency farm loans (formerly FmHA loans). Generally the program is applied when a loan holder wishes to obtain loan repayment relief by deeding a long term(50 year) conservation easement over to a sponsoring (public) agency. The conservation easement can be used for watershed protection, wildlife habitat, passive recreation or a combination of these uses. Land may not be used for agricultural or timber production and the owner is responsible for initial plantings of trees or cover for wildlife, etc. This has recently been used for a large tract of land just north of Lake Orange where the Recreation and Parks Department has been designed as the sponsoring organization. Another potentially important program which could be undertaken by this group of agencies arises from the section of the charter for the Soil and Water Conservation District that allows it to function in a manner similar to that of the various land conservancies. That is, with the proper application of public funds to meet staffing requirements, the District can provide the requisite management and administrative functions associated with the acceptance of a temporary or permanent conservation easement. In 1996, the District's Board of Supervisors voted to accept responsibility for conservation easements like that developed for the Nutter Farm. On a similar note, the Planning Director is also currently working on an initiative which would provide for the creation of a County Land Trust. The purpose of the County's trust would be to take on the various management, administrative and legal responsibilities associated with the public ownership of open space and conservation easements that could be generated by the County's flexible development and open space options for major subdivisions. Over the last several years, a number of USDA programs have been deleted, created, or undergone significant revision. It is very difficult to predict the long term impact of USDA sponsored programs on the open space/conservation easement situation in Orange County. The information provided above is by no means exhaustive. Activities of the Triangle Land Conservancy, the University of North Carolina and Duke University have had or could have a significant impact on open space within the County. Potential modifications to the County's existing subdivision and zoning ordinances, processes and standards related to flexible development and provision of open space may also significantly increase the impact of those instruments on the quantity and quality of open space. If I may provide additional information, please advise.