
	Triangle Land Conservancy 1101 Haynes Street Suite 205 Raleigh, NC 27604 919.833.3662

Penny Family Sells Land for Conservation on New Hope Creek

Orange County owns 22 more acres at Erwin and Pickett roads

Published July 2006

(Chapel Hill, NC) – The Durham landowners who offered in 2005 to conserve their land if Durham and Orange counties would save 43 adjacent acres from development have come through on their pledge.

Wade and Carolyn Penny on June 29 made a bargain sale of 22.37 acres on Pickett Road, the first step in meeting their pledge made to county commissioners in February 2005.

A large rock hanging over New Hope Creek on the Penny tract creates a mirror image reflection on the water.

At that time, Wade Penny said if local governments would buy a Duke University-owned tract, he and his wife, Carolyn, would restrict development on land adjacent to the Duke tract and New Hope Creek.

The Pennys' offer helped convince Durham and Orange commissioners, along with the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Durham City Council, that the $1.5 million price for the Duke land would be worth it. The offer also convinced Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) to get involved in the discussions. The importance of conserving the Penny land, which had been identified in the New Hope Creek Corridor Open Space Master Plan adopted by all four governments in the early 1990s, raised the conservation value of the Duke land in TLC's eyes, and the eyes of the counties.

"The inclusion of the Penny property is what ultimately made the New Hope Preserve effort such an attractive proposition to Orange County. Protecting this key parcel along New Hope Creek fulfills plans that have been in place for nearly 20 years," said Barry Jacobs, Chair of the Orange County Commissioners.

In a complicated three-part transaction, the Pennys sold 22.37 acres in Orange County to TLC for $123,035-$5,500 per acre. TLC in turn sold a conservation easement on 20.14 of those acres to the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program for $110,770. The easement covers 300-foot buffers on New Hope Creek and a direct New Hope tributary that bisects the tract. Finally, TLC sold all 22.37 acres to Orange County for $12,265-$5,500 per acre for the 2.23 acres outside of the NC EEP conservation easement. Wildlife habitat and future low-impact recreation add to the water quality benefits of conserving the land.

Land in this area typically sells for more than $20,000 per acre. The Pennys could have expected to receive more than $450,000 if they sold their land on the open market.

"Thanks to Carolyn and Wade Penny's generous decision to sell their land at a fraction of its worth, we are a very big step closer to the vision of a nature trail along New Hope Creek connecting Jordan Lake to Duke Forest," said Kevin Brice, TLC's Executive Director. "TLC and our conservation partners showed what can be accomplished when we work together for the future of our communities."

The Pennys continue to work on a conservation easement with Orange and Durham counties on approximately 30 more acres of which they wish to maintain ownership.

Conservation partners have now protected 75 acres on New Hope Creek at Erwin and Pickett Roads. This includes the 43 acres of Duke University land which is currently being purchased by Durham and Orange counties (to be completed in 2008), a 7-acre triangle of land at the corner of Erwin and Pickett roads purchased by Orange County from Duke in February of this year, 2 acres owned by TLC, and a 1-acre conservation easement held by Orange County. All of this lies directly across Erwin Road from one of the entrances to Duke Forest's Korstian Division, which encompasses about 1,900 acres on New Hope Creek.

"The combined efforts that brought this purchase to fruition, and in the process preserved some 72 contiguous acres along the Durham-Orange line, also illustrate the power of working collaboratively across jurisdictional borders," said Jacobs. "Such partnerships make it easier and more cost-effective to expand the acreage protected by Orange County's Lands Legacy Program, now totaling nearly 1,700 acres, with agreements on 500 additional acres pending."