Growing Interest In Land Preservation

I continue to be amazed at the quality and beauty of properties that have been recommended for preservation to the Guilford County Open Space Committee. Community interest is definitely growing and we are receiving more calls than ever from interested property owners. In many instances these property owners are so eager to preserve their tracts that they are offering them significantly below the appraised value. One recent owner is considering simply gifting their beautiful tract to Guilford County. Direct tax credits from the State of N.C. can provide some important benefits for below market value transactions and for land gifts to the county or state.

It is very impressive to work with property owners with land that has been in their family for several generations. Their commitment to permanently preserve their land becomes more important for them than receiving top dollar from a developer.

We have had two property walks this week that were simply stunning. One near Deep River in South West Guilford County and the other was off of Yanceyville Rd. that backs up to Lake Townsend. It seems like gradually the word is getting out about the work of the Open Space Committee and its very ambitious goal to protect 100 acres of park and open space per 1,000 residents of Guilford County.

In the last inventory of protected land in Guilford County we sadly found “that (only) 4.69% of the total land within Guilford County is currently protected by some form of government ownership or conservation easement. In other words, of the 417,308 total acres of land in Guilford County, 19,565 acres (including 5,308 of surface water) are currently protected."

We are perhaps in our last decade to still have access to important tracts for preservation. Our work over the next ten years is crucial. The $10million Open Space Bond approved in 2004 is the core of our funds for land preservation but we have been able to tag team with state funds and clean water trust funds to help that money go much farther. No doubt another bond will be needed for additional land preservation in several more years.

Indeed This Land is Magical !

Taft Wireback's N&R article today broke the important story of the Richardson/Morton/Mountains-to-Sea Trail developing project just off of Plainfield Rd. and north of the Lake Towsend Watershed.

This developing project created by the Guilford County Open Space Committee could protect and preserve between 300 to 500 acres of beautiful land. Much like the Haw River State Park Project that was initially conceived by the Guilford County Open Space Committee this project should be significantly funded by the state because this land can be part of the state’s Mountains-to Sea Trail.

The Guilford County part of this possible $5 million project could turn out to be less than $2 million. That $2 million, if approved by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, would come from already set aside Open Space Bonds that were approved by voters in 2004. The other key to this project is that as much as $1 million from those bond funds could be reimbursed to Guilford County from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund since this purchase would significantly protect the water quality of Lake Townsend.

Also in the early stages it appears that the two key property owners the Morton’s and Richardson’s may be willing to sell their land below the appraised value to make this entire project very attractive for everyone involved.

Like the Haw River State Park it is almost too good to be true! But it is all heading in the right direction with many loose ends coming together.

It will take broad community support and the approval of the Guilford County Parks & Rec. Commission and the Guilford County Commissioners to make this project become a reality.

And by the way while a lot of energy is centered on the northern area of the county the Open Space Committee is actively pursuing other open space projects in the southern parts of Guilford County including properties near Deep River.