Item:
Title
Conservation Easement Amendment for the Van Ellis Farm
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: May 13, 2019
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to approve an amendment to the county's existing conservation easement on the Van Ellis farm. The Ellis farm was protected with a conservation easement on 69.1 acres that was completed in December 2013. The farm easement was acquired with the grant assistance from the USDA NRCS's federal farm and ranchland protection program. The Ellis's are interested in permitting Wildlands Engineering (Wildlands) to perform a restoration on two stream sections of Dry Creek, totaling 3,818 linear feet and upstream from Lake Michie. The stream restoration would have a long-term positive impact on the water quality on the farm and downstream by reducing stream bank erosion, improving the floodplain function, and providing additional vegetation enhancements. The stream restoration would be undertaken by Wildlands under a contract with the State of North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services and the US Army Corps of Engineers to provide compensatory mitigation credits by restoring streams on the Ellis farm and four other downstream properties.
The stream restoration project requires that an additional easement be conveyed for the stream restoration area totaling 10 acres. The State of NC requires a stream restoration conservation easement to permanently protect the improvements/enhancement on the 10-acre area. The county's conservation easement explicitly permits additional easements so long as the new easement is compatible with the conservation purposes the underlying farm easement. OSRE staff have reviewed the detailed request and determined that the proposed additional easement is compatible with, and supportive of, the overall conservation values of the property and county-held agricultural easement. The additional easement along the stream would be subordinate to the County's conserv...
Click here for full text