Orange County NC Website
4 <br />important to be consistent with~surrounding land uses. Ideas on ways to mitigate.... <br />the impacts of larger active facilities include co-location of schools and parks, <br />combining .active. and low-.impact.- recreation in larger park settings to buffer- <br />-. residential areas, and the. need for a proactive land acquisition program to <br />purchase lands for- long-term .use as parks (and/or schools). <br />The- potential for coordinating parks planning. exists beyond the scope of the local <br />governments involved in this effort. In particular, the report notes the significant <br />potential for coordination .with UNC, OWASA and Duke University in meeting <br />long-term needs of mutual interest. While UNC provides ..many facilities used by <br />students (and local residents), there is also an .undefined. impact on local <br />recreation facilities from faculty and staff of the University. Programs such as the <br />Carolina Outdoor Recreation Center offer a means for sharing resources, and thee.. <br />potential exists for collaboration on future recreational facilities with UNC. <br />Likewise, OWASA currently provides recreation facilities at both- University Lake <br />..and .Cane Creek Reservoir. OWASA .holds over 3,000 acres of- land in the County,.: <br />some of which appears to offer the opportunity for, coordinated .recreational use... <br />A memo .from the OWASA Board (Appendix: F) indicates. a willingness to discus <br />certain parcels for future- public 'use. And finally, Duke Forest. also provides a <br />recreational resource to County citizens. While concerns about protecting the <br />integrity of .the forest resources will. be paramount,. opportunities exist.to work <br />with Duke in the, future, particularly in terms of .carefully-located trails that fit <br />with the University's plans. <br />3. Adequate Provision of Parkland and Natural Corridors. <br />One of the most prominent needs identified is to preserve green .corridors, <br />whether in an urban or rural setting. This section.. of the report addresses the <br />potential for linking some existing and proposed. greenway networks in Chapel <br />Hill,.. Carrboro and Hillsborough to future parks .and regional .open space such as <br />Eno River State-Park and Duke Forest. <br />The importance of existing and future greenways in the Towns is noted, as welt <br />as the existence of a schematic.-plan .for greenways extending from the Chapel <br />Hill/Carrboro area into the Rural Buffer, -developed in 1986 as part. of the Joint <br />Planning Area Land.Use Plan. Wildlife corridors in the rural areas were introduced <br />into County- planning efforts through the 1988 Inventory of Natural Areas and <br />Wildlife Habitat, and are important to the overall County and regional ecosystem <br />as part of the :`green infrastructure." These. corridors are undeveloped riparian <br />stream corridors or overland connectors that exist in a natural state. Any trails <br />would exist only as they have evolved over time by use of wildlife or humans. <br />However, as the County and Towns continue to grow, it will become important to <br />link Town parks to regional corridors such as Eno-River-State Park, nodes of <br />3 <br />