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17 <br />5/26/99 <br />C. Impediments to Location of New Facilities <br />In recent years, more attention has been paid to the impacts of recreational <br />facilities. In particular, impacts of lighting, intensity of use, traffic and noise <br />have been cited as posing negative impacts to nearby neighborhoods in the <br />location of recreational facilities that involve active recreation fields, <br />programs and lighting. <br />The Parks and Recreation Directors met with staff to explore this issue. Since <br />these concerns are almost exclusively related to active and low- impact <br />recreation, a definition of active and passive recreation might be an <br />important first step to addressing impacts. <br />While many definitions could be developed for the terms active recreation <br />and low- impact_ recreation, the following might serve as a starting point: <br />Active Recreation: Recreation facilities programmable for structured <br />activities, such as ballfields, tennis courts and picnic shelters. <br />Low - Impact Recreation: Facilities that are designed for individual rather than <br />structured activities, such as hiking trails, open picnic tables, open fields and <br />other natural areas. <br />Having defined the nature of active recreation, several points were noted as <br />critical to resolution of future siting problems: <br />• Examples from other communities that have public education on <br />facility location and public input into decisions; <br />• Point out the positive components of nearby active recreation; <br />• Focus on greater community needs and the downside of not <br />providing active facilities; <br />• Work to better define the type of land appropriate for active <br />facilities with lights - locating adjacent to schools and other more- <br />intensive uses; <br />• Stress accessibility to pedestrians, bicycle riders, and public <br />transportation; <br />• If active facilities must be located in areas adjacent to residential <br />communities, buy larger land area to develop buffers for shielding <br />of light and noise. <br />More analysis is needed to explore the change in attitude toward park <br />impacts. However, the following suggestions may be ways to mitigate <br />concerns about active recreation facilities while meeting the public need: <br />The co- location of schools and parks can address this issue with <br />appropriate design. <br />Co- locating schools with parks may have superseded the old <br />concept of community (mid - level) parks. If this is the case, the <br />15 <br />