After being a key project component touted by the developers of South Creek, 80 acres of land near Southern Village in Chapel Hill is now permanently protected from future construction.
Earlier this month, Beechwood Homes said it finalized a deal with the Triangle Conservancy to convey the largest undeveloped and privately-owned tract of land within Chapel Hill town limits. While the South Creek project is one of the biggest housing developments happening in town, it will have a new and publicly accessible natural feature too.
The idea of preserving this piece of property is not new: not only did South Creek include it during the earliest stages of project proposal to the town, but its predecessor Obey Creek also planned to keep the 80 acres from being developed. Part of that is because of the challenging topography and the nature of constructing right next to a creek – but according to Bo Howes of the Triangle Land Conservancy, there are many natural reasons to preserve the property too…