From Staff Reports

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 3 moved to protect 852 acres of rugged mountaintop land in the county from being developed.

Commissioners unanimously approved spending $1.6 million to purchase conservation easements from the owners of four remote land tracts.

Three of the parcels are in Sandy Mush, and a fourth is at the headwaters of South Hominy Creek in the southwestern corner of the county, near Mount Pisgah.

Conservation easements partially compensate property owners for the value of their land in exchange for their giving up the right to develop or subdivide the property.

The property owners can sell their land, but future buyers also are bound to the restrictions.

The four tracts include:

ï 200 acres known as the Jacob Barrocas Trust property in the Upper Hominy Township. The property includes 2,900 feet of the headwaters of South Hominy Creek and borders Pisgah National Forest. The countyís contribution to protecting the property is $500,000.

ï 500 acres known as the Bee Branch tract in Sandy Mush. The property, which is owned by Keith Wells and Pearl Black, contains a prominent ridgeline that is visible from surrounding areas. The county is paying $799,000 to protect the land.

ï 80 acres of farm land in Worley Cove in Sandy Mush, which is owned by R.J. and Lillie Blazer. The tract will cost the county $145,000.

ï 72 acres in Sandy Mush owned by Beth Shook. The county is paying $143,000 to protect that tract.

Albert Sneed, chair of the county Land Conservation Advisory Board, said the county spending will leverage $968,500. On an open market, the sellers would be able to fetch an estimated $3.7 million more.

The easement agreement was negotiated by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.