HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-10-2002-8lORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 10, 2002
Action Agen a
Item No. _
SUBJECT• Approval of Recommendations from the Greene Tract Work Group
DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No
ATTACHMENT(S):
6/26/02 Work Group Resolution
(incorporates Map of Concept Plan)
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rod Visser, 245-2308
Dave Stancil, 245-2598
Chapel Hill
Durham
Mebane
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsborough 732-8181
968-4501
688-7331
336-227-2031
PURPOSE: To consider formal approval of the recommendations from the Greene Tract
Work Group regarding the disposition of the 104 acres of the Greene Tract that remain in joint
ownership.
BACKGROUND: The solid waste management interlocal agreement signed by the County
and Towns in September 1999 and amended in March 2000 lays out parameters under which
the Greene Tract owners are to resolve the ultimate disposition of the approximately 104 acres
of that parcel that remain in joint ownership. The agreement also addresses how the Solid
Waste/Landfill Enterprise Fund is to be reimbursed if the property is put to uses that are not
related to the solid waste enterprise. The interlocal agreement anticipated that the Greene
Tract owners would reach agreement on the disposition of the property during a bargaining
period that concluded on April 17, 2002 (the two year anniversary of the effective date upon
which Orange County assumed overall responsibility for solid waste management in Orange
County).
The Greene Tract Work Group provided an interim report to the three governing boards in the
form of a resolution dated March 21, 2002. That resolution requested that each of the three
governing boards approve an extension to the bargaining period to allow the completion of
discussions that could lead to consensus on a concept plan for the remainder of the Greene
Tract. All three governing boards approved an extension of the bargaining period, which led to
the Work Group (with Commissioners Brown and Carey representing the BOCC) reaching
consensus on a concept plan for the ultimate disposition of the 104 acres of the Greene Tract
remaining under joint ownership. The accompanying resolution and concept plan map reflect
the Work Group's recommendations.
The BOCC received a report on the Work Group recommendations at the October 15, 2002
meeting, and indicated general concurrence with the Work Group recommendations. Since that
time, the governing boards of Carrboro and Chapel Hill have both acted to accept the Work
Group recommendations. This agenda item provides the BOCC with the opportunity to take
formal action to accept the Work Group recommendations, as outlined in the accompanying
Work Group resolution.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated directly with the discussion of
the resolution. However, the County and Towns will be obliged to reimburse the Landfill
Enterprise Fund for the original 1984 purchase price of $608,000, plus interest, if, as
recommended by the Work Group, the Greene Tract is used for purposes other than those of
the solid waste system. As directed by the Board at the October 15 meeting, the Manager will
confer with the Carrboro and Chapel Hill Town Managers to develop recommendations by
March 2003 back to the respective governing boards regarding the structure, timing, and source
of reimbursement funding to the Landfill Enterprise Fund.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the
recommendations outlined in the accompanying Greene Tract Work Group resolution.
APPRC?VED ~'+'
GREENE TRACT WORK 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 April17, 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
APPRC?VED
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 how 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 Carrboro 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
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Greene Tract ancept flan
file://H:\DEPTS\SolidWaste\GreeneTract\WorkGroup\conceptplan062502.jpg 12/04/2002
Approved b~lthe Greene Tract V\lorkgroup, 6126!02