Groups unite to buy land for conservation

Area leaders’ last-ditch efforts to save a large tract of land along the border between Orange and Durham counties came together Friday to thwart a developer’s plans.

If a coalition of area governments and environmentalists didn’t procure $1.5 million by Friday, Duke University was prepared to sell the tract, located off Erwin Road, to developer Crosland Inc.

Crosland was hoping to put a development on the tract, known as the Erwin Trace property.

The land straddles New Hope Creek. Populated with bass, it flows past rocky bluffs undercut by sandy banks below a mixed pine forest.

Area conservationists have said the tract provides recreational and water-quality benefits.

Although many parties worked on the deal, the total sum was only cemented Thursday, when the last $75,000 came together after last-minute wrangling.

“It was a work in progress up until the ink was dry on the agreement,” said Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron. “But it’s done now.”

The last $75,000 came from three separate sources: the Penny family, which owns adjoining land, donated $25,000 through the Triangle Land Conservancy; the conservancy kicked in $25,000 of its own; and the Chapel Hill Town Council gave $25,000 more, in addition to its original $100,000.

“We had to step in to keep it rolling along to the finish,” said council member Ed Harrison.

Durham commissioners initiated the effort in January and contributed $900,000 of the total purchase, the most of any group, though they hope to receive more than $500,000 from grants.

The city of Durham contributed $75,000, which the conservancy matched with another $25,000.

About $200,000 came from local residents, led by the Erwin Area Neighborhood Group. Of that, about $40,000 still needs to be raised.

Heron said the neighborhood groups also provided much of the impetus for the project.

Efforts to buy the main tract have since spurred other nearby conservation projects. Orange County is buying an adjoining wedge of land outright from Duke, and the Pennys have donated 25 of their acres to form a park and placed a conservation easement on the rest.

“The Penny property was the one that completed the puzzle,” Harrison said.

Officials said the Erwin deal was urgent, in large part because the deal finally brought the Penny property into the deal.

Heron boiled down the importance of the purchase:

“Once it is gone, it’s gone,” she said of the tract.

“You won’t get it back.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.