HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-18-2006-10bORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: April 18, 2006
Action Agenda
Item No. ID--b
SUBJECT: Possible Conservation Easements for Greene Tract
DEPARTMENT: ERCD/Manager
PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No
ATTACHMENT(S):
6/26/02 Greene Tract Work Group
Resolution
6/25/02 Concept Map
1999 Solid Waste Interlocal Agreement
INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Stancil, 919~~245-2590
Rod Visser, 919-245-2300
Excerpt
Estimated Greene Tract Reimbursement
Amounts (under separate cover)
PURPOSE: To discuss matters related to the passible recording of conservation easements
on portions of the Greene Tract to permanently protect those areas as open space.
BACKGROUND: The Greene Tract was acquired by the Landfill Owners Group (LOG) in 1984
as a possible future landfill site, pending further study. The Landfill Owners Group was an entity
with elected representatives of the three jurisdictions -Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro
-that awned the landfill and the Greene Tract prior to 1999. In 1999, the County and Towns of
Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough entered into an interlocal agreement governing the
future management of solid waste throughout Orange County. The agreement provided far the
transfer of solid waste management and recycling operations from the Town of Chapel Hill to
Orange County.
A significant element of the agreement covered the disposition of the Greene Tract (which was
explicitly designated by the agreement as a landfill asset) and the conditions under which
reimbursement would be due to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (which was the source of
funding for the $608,823 purchase price of the property in 1984). 60 acres of the Greene Tract
were deeded outright to Orange County to be reserved for solid waste management purposes.
The remainder of the property (104 acres, as subsequently determined by survey, compared to
the 109 acre balance assumed in the agreement) is still in joint ownership by the County,
Carrboro, and Chapel Hill.
In 2001-02, a Greene Tract Work Group comprised of elected representatives from each of the
LOG member jurisdictions began meeting to develop a concept plan for the remaining jointly
awned 104 acres of the Greene Tract. In .June 2002, the Work Group approved a resolution,
subsequently affirmed by all three jurisdictions, detailing recommendations that the three parties
agree to place a conservation easement on the 85.9-acre portion of the jointly held property that
was to be retained as open space, to ensure that future conservation would be achieved. The
other 18.1 acres of jointly owned property was targeted for future affordable housing.
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County staff was asked to facilitate development of a conservation easement at some paint in
the future.. Accordingly, staff has periodically discussed this possible easement with Triangle
Land Conservancy (TLC), to assess that organization's interest in being the fourth-
party/easement holder, To date there has been positive feedback from TLC, and in the last
several months, these discussions have become more formalized with renewed discussions
about the Greene Tract. Site visits have been held and the TLC Land Committee is preparing
to consider the easement,
One of the questions posed informally so far by TLC staff is about the potential for including the
60-acre County portion in the lands to be protected by easement, As one of the few local
governments with a formal land conservation program in the Lands Legacy Program, the
County could choose to enroll the 60 acres in that program, and/or allow for an easement to be
placed on it if additional conservation limitations were desired. Letters of March 24, 2000 from
the BOCC to the Town governing beards stated that "it is the intent of the current Board of
Commissioners that this sixty acres remain undisturbed," While there was an assessment
conducted of the property's physical attributes at the time the 60 acres was conveyed, the
BOCG has held no further formal discussion of the County's plans for the 60 acres.
The 1999 interlocal agreement explicitly provided that "any non System use of any portion of
the remainder of the Greene Tract or any disposition of any portion of the remainder of the
Greene Tract shall result in payment to the County of the Reimbursement Amount for deposit in
the system enterprise fund". Arguably, a similar approach might be applied to any portion of the
County's 60 acres that are ultimately used for other than solid waste system purposes, The
calculation of the "Reimbursement Amount" is spelled out in the agreement.
This agenda item provides an opportunity for the Board to receive a verbal report from staff
about the conservation easement discussions to date, to discuss the degree of desirability of
including the County~~owned 60 acres in any possible conservation easement, and to discuss
matters related to the amounts and timing of possible reimbursement payments from the
County and Towns to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund,
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Greene Tract Work Group recommendations included a "triggering
mechanism" for reimbursements to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund based on the placement of
former Greene Tract property under formal conservation easements. Estimated reimbursement
shares based on proportional LOG ownership shares (Orange County - 43%; Carrboro - 14%;
Chapel Hill - 43%) of the original March 1984 Greene Tract acquisition cost of $608,823, are
noted in a document under separate cover..
If a conservation easement is granted to a fourth party, there would be transaction costs and
potentially an endowment request from the easement holder, These costs are not yet known.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss matters related
to possible conservation easements on portions of the Greene Tract, and direct the Manager to
coordinate with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Town Managers to develop a proposed
reimbursement schedule to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund for discussion at the next
Assembly of Governments meeting in September 2006.
APPROVED
GREENE TRACT WARK GROUP
A RESOLUTION REPORTING THE RECOMMENDED CONCEPT PLAN FOR THE
PORTION OF THE GREENE TRACT THAT REMAINS IN JOINT OWNERSHIP
WHEREAS, Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill acquired the property
known as the Greene Tract in 1984 as an asset of the joint solid waste management system;
and
WHEREAS, title to 60 acres of this property was deeded exclusively to Orange County in 2000
under provisions of the 1999 interlocal "Agreement for Solid Waste Management"; and
WHEREAS, under the same interlocal agreement the County and Towns agreed to bargain in
good faith during the two year period following the effective date of the agreement to determine
the ultimate use or disposition of the balance of the acreage on the Greene Tract; and
WHEREAS, the end date of the "bargaining period" as defined in the agreement was April 17,
2002, the second anniversary of the date upon which the County assumed overall responsibility
for solid waste management in Orange County; and
WHEREAS, the Greene Tract Work Group considered direction from the respective governing
boards, comments from interested citizens and organizations, and information developed by
staff in response to Work Group inquiries in developing a recommended concept plan for the
balance of the Greene Tract; and
WHEREAS, the Work Group reported to all three governing boards in a resolution dated March
21, 2002 that it had reached substantial agreement on a concept plan providing for
approximately 78 acres to be earmarked for open space protected by conservation easements
and approximately 15 acres to be earmarked for affordable housing but had not yet reached
agreement regarding what designation should be placed on the remaining 11 acres; and
WHEREAS, the Work Group had recommended in that March 21, 2002 resolution that the
following additional steps be taken:
The area shown on the concept plan as open space should be protected by executing a
conservation easement between appropriate parties
The Board of County Commissioners should consider protecting its 60 acre portion of the
Greene Tract by executing a conservation easement with an appropriate party
The Chapel Hill Town Council should consider initiating a small area planning process to
examine desirable land uses for the Purefoy Road area
The property should be renamed in a manner that recognizes the significance of this area as
the headwaters for three important streams (Bolin Creek, Old Field Creek, and Booker
Creek)
The governing boards should take note of the public investment already made in the general
vicinity of the Greene Tract, as cataloged in an accompanying table; and
WHEREAS, the governing boards of all three jurisdictions approved resolutions extending the
bargaining period beyond Aprill7, 2002 in order to allow the Greene Tract Work Group
additional time to try to reach consensus on the basic uses to be established for the
approximately 11 acres at that time unresolved; and
APPROVED O
~-
WHEREAS, the Work Group received a technical report from the County Engineer outlining the
basic alternatives available and approximate costs for providing sewer service to a portion of the
Greene Tract, which service would be necessary for the economical and practical provision of
affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, the Work Group concluded by consensus that "the carrying capacity of the land"
should be the determining factor in establishing haw much of the unresolved 11 acres should be
earmarked for specific purposes, and that the ridge line reflected on the accompanying concept
map determines the portion (approximately one-third) of the 11 acres that can practically be
used for affordable housing served by a sewer line that would access the Greene Tract via
Purefoy Road:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby
recommend that the Carrbaro Board of Aldermen, the Chapel Hill Town Council, and the
Orange County Board of Commissioners accept the accompanying map as the Work Group's
consensus recommendation for a concept plan for that portion of the Greene Tract not deeded
exclusively to Orange County, with the acreage to be set aside for open space protected by
conservation easements approximating 85.90 acres and the acreage for affordable housing
approximating 18.10 acres;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to
the three governing boards that the acreage for affordable housing be placed in the Land Trust;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to
the three governing boards that the Managers investigate options for reimbursement of the Solid
Waste/Landfill Enterprise Fund for the portions of the site designated for affordable housing and
open space; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Greene Tract Work Group does hereby recommend to
the three governing boards that the triggering mechanism for reimbursement to the Solid
Waste/Landfill Enterprise Fund should be formal action taken by all three boards to approve
conservation easements protecting the designated open space, with such approvals taking
effect no sooner than July 1, 2003, and no later than July 1, 2005..
This, the 26'h day of June, 2002
Moses Carey, Jr.
Chair
Greene Tract Work Group
Greene Tract Concept Plan
Approved by the Greene Tract Workgroup, 6/26/02
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Orange County
Environment & Resource
Conservation Department
June 27 2002
B Young
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5. The Greene Tract will remain a landfill asset. Sixty acres of the
Greene Tract will be reserved for solid waste manacdement
purposes, and the three owners will work together to determine
the ultimate use of the remainder.
The Parties agree that the Greene Tract remains a landfill asset,
Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the County (the 'Greene Tract Owners")
will transfer to the County title to that portion of the Greene Tract
described on Exhibit E, which contains approximately sixty acres. The
County may use the property described on Exhibit E for System
purposes. The County states its current intention not to bury mixed
solid waste or construction and demolition waste on any portion of the
Greene Tract. The County states its recommendation to future County
Governing Boards that the County make no such burial.
The deed to this property will include -,a restriction prohibiting
~ the use of the property described on Exhibit~E for burying mixed solid
waste or construction and demolition waste., This restriction becomes
effective at the same time that the zoning change described in the
? next paragraph is effective; and it will remain effective so long as
zoning remains effective which allows solid waste management uses,
other than burial of mixed solid waste or construction and demolition
waste, as permitted uses as described in the next paragraph.
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~ Chapel Hill agrees to commence, and states its current intent to
complete, the process to make solid waste management uses not
including burial of mixed solid waste or construction and demolition
waste, but expressly including, but not limited to, a solid waste
transfer facility and a materials recovery facility, uses of the
Exhibit E property "permitted" uses under The Chapel Hill Development
t Code/Ordinance, subject only to staff level site plan and similar
reviews and not subject to special use or similar processes. Chapel
' Hill agrees to provide the other Parties with a plan, including a
planned schedule of reviews and approvals, to process the zoning
change described in this paragraph.
The Parties agree that nothing that they have agreed to herein
constitutes an agreement on the part of Chapel Hill to zone the
Exhibit E property in a particular way, It is instead, an agreement
that if the Exhibit E property is zoned a particular way one event
will follow and if the Exhibit E property is not zoned in a particular
way another event will follow.
f.
The Greene Tract Owners agree to bargain together in good faith
and with all due diligence, and to use their respective best efforts,
to determine an ultimate use or disposition of the remainder of the
Greene Tract as soon as possible and in any event by December 31,
2001, or two years after the effective date, whichever is later.
During this "bargaining period," no Greene Tract Owner shall make any
use of the remaining portion of the Greene Tract without the consent
G of the other Greene Tract Owners,
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The Greene Tract Owners agree that among the issues to be
addressed in the bargaining process are (1) the specific future uses,
or ranges of use, to be made of the remainder of the Greene Tract
(including issues of devoting different portions to different uses,
devoting portions to public uses and the possibility of making
portions available for sale or private use), and (2) whether to impose
specific use restrictions, either through deed restrictions or through
governmental regulation. The Greene Tract Owners agree that during the
"bargaining period" each should provide opportunity for public comment
on possible or proposed uses or dispositions.
During the "bargaining period," no Greene Tract Owner shall (1)
file any legal action or proceeding to force any sale or division of
the Greene Tract, or (2) enter into any agreement to sell, mortgage or
otherwise transfer all or any part of its ownership interest in the
Greene Tract, in either case without the consent of the other Greene
Tract Owners. To the extent permitted by law, Chapel Hill agrees not
to initiate any proceeding to rezone any po=tion of the Greene Tract
during the "bargaining period," without the consent of the other
Greene Tract Owners. Execution and delivery `of this Agreement by the
Greene Tract Owners constitutes consent of the Greene Tract Owners for
Chapel Hi11 to rezone the Exhibit E property "as described in this Part
5. Chapel Hill states its current intent to accommodate any agreed-
upon future uses or range of uses of the remainder of the Greene Tract
in its Development Code/Ordinances and states its recommendation to
future Chapel Hill Governing Boards to the same effect.
After the "bargaining period" is completed, namely, the day after
the last day of the bargaining period, no Greene Tract Owner shall (1)
file any legal action or proceeding to force any sale or division of
the Greene Tract, or (2) enter into any agreement to sell, mortgage or
otherwise transfer all or any part of its ownership interest in the
Greene Tract, in either case without giving the other Greene Tract
Owners at least 60 days' prior notice of such filing or entering into
an agreement. In addition, after the "bargaining period" is completed,
any Greene Tract Owner may give 60 days' prior notice of an election
to be no longer bound by the above restrictions pertaining to the uses
of and whether to impose use restrictions on the remainder of the
Greene Tract, and such election shall be effective at the end of the
notice period.
The Parties agree that any non System use of any portion of the
remainder of the Greene Tract or any disposition of any portion of the
remainder of the Greene Tract shall result in payment to the County of
the Reimbursement Amount 'for deposit in the System enterprise fund,
6. The County will finance community benefits from System funds to
the extent legally permissible.
The Parties will cooperate to provide public benefits to the
community of residents and property owners in the neighborhood of the
existing landfill,
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"Reimbursement Amount° means, (1) in the case of disposition to a
North Carolina local government that is also a Party, so long as that
government devotes the transferred portion to public purposes, (a)
$608,823, being the original purchase price of the Greene Tract,
~f multiplied (b) by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of
' whole acres of the Greene Tract being disposed and the denominator of
~ which is 169, plus (c) uncompounded interest on the product of (a) and
(~+ ~" (b) at the annual rate of 6.00% from March 30, 198x, to the effective
i~ date of any disposition, and (2) in the case of any other' disposition,
C the greater of either (a) the Reimbursement Amount to a North Carolina
local government that is also a Party, or (b) the net proceeds of a
r sale after the costs of the sale are paid.
--""" "Solid Waste" means all materials accepted by the County for
disposal at System Management Facilities, as the same may be
established and amended from time to _time under the Solid Waste
Management Plan and Policies (subject to. the provisions of Part 2
which authorize the County to refuse too" accept for disposal any
material or substance which the County rea'sbnably determines is barred
from such disposal by any applicable slaw or regulation or the
restrictions of any permit), other than County Recyclables.
"Solid Waste Management Plan and Policies" means, the combination
of (a) the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, and all future
modifications of that Plan, which is the report submitted pursuant to
law to State authorities describing the long-term plan for solid waste
management, which the County, as designated lead agency, files on
behalf of the County and the Towns, and (b) the Solid Waste Management
Policies, which are, collectively, all policies related to the System
and coordinated solid waste management for the County, the towns and
the persons and organizations in their jurisdictions,- as the same may
exist from time to time (including all such policies in effect as of
the date of this Agreement). The term "Solid Waste Management Plan and
Policies" thereby encompasses all policy choices, as in effect from
time to time, related to the management and operation of the System.
"State" means the State of North Carolina.
"System" means all assets, including both real and personal
property, used from time to time in the conduct of the functions of
collecting and processing County Recyclables, reducing solid waste,
disposing of Solid Waste and mulching, composting and re-using Solid
Waste, and includes both (a) the Existing System Assets and (b) all
moneys and investments related to such functions,
"System Debt" means all obligations for payments of principal and
interest with respect to borrowed money incurred or assumed by the
County in connection with the ownership or operation of the System,
without regard to the form of the transaction, and specifically
including leases or' similar financing agreements which are required to
be capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles. System Debt is "Outstanding" at all times after it is
issued or contracted until it is paid.
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