Mebane’s city council will consider whether to spend $2.9 million to buy two sites for two future parks during its next meeting on Monday night.
Funds for both land purchases would be appropriated from Mebane’s general capital reserve fund, which is comprised of revenue from annual tax collections and fund balance (i.e., “rainy-day savings”) within the general fund in the annual budget.
The first 32.7-acre site is located at the intersection of N.C. Highway 119 and Mebane Rogers Road and owned by former Mebane city councilwoman Jill Auditori, who has offered to sell the property to the city for $1.4 million.
Auditori’s property is located west of Mebane’s municipal limits but is within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. The site is zoned R-20 for low-density residential and agricultural uses. While the R-20 zoning designation allows for public parks, a Special Use Permit would be required for any athletic fields that might be used in competitive sports, according to a staff report.
The city council will also discuss a proposal to spend $1.5 million to buy 50 acres along West Ten Road, east of Mebane, for a future park.
The property along West Ten Road is located over the Alamance County line, in western Orange County – outside both Mebane’s municipal limits and outside its ETJ – and should be annexed into the city and zoned prior to the purchase, according to Mebane officials.
The city’s staff has recommended zoning the property for light manufacturing uses if the purchase is approved, though the council won’t be asked to vote on annexation and rezoning during its meeting on Monday night, only to purchase the West Ten Road property.
The owner, Seven Mile Farm, intends to seek annexation and rezoning for light manufacturing for a separate, 500-acre site west of Mt. Willing Road in Efland if the council agrees to purchase its land along West Ten Road on Monday night. Mebane city officials are recommending that condition as a prerequisite for purchasing the acreage.
Seven Mile Farm has historically leased the open acreage for farm land, which Mebane officials believe will cut down on the city’s mowing expenses until recreational projects can be built on the West Ten Road site, based on a report from the city’s staff.
Mebane officials have previously concluded that the city will need additional land for recreation in the future, in keeping with a Recreation and Parks Comprehensive Master Plan that Mebane’s city council adopted in March 2024.
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