Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
18 <br />5/26/99 <br />focus for future parks and recreation development could be <br />targeted to smaller,"less- intensive neighborhood parks and larger <br />district parks. <br />• By combining active and low- impact recreation needs at the district <br />park level (100 -plus acres), it may be possible to develop trails and <br />retain natural areas on the perimeter while dedicating the interior <br />to active facilities and "hidden" parking areas. Care must be <br />exercised to ensure the integrity of natural areas, however. <br />• Buffers should contain enough land and mature tree canopy to <br />minimize sound and lighting to an acceptable level. <br />• Place future programmed active recreation facilities in larger district <br />parks and make neighborhood parks low- impact. <br />• Look countywide to define future neighborhood and district parks - <br />working with UNC, OWASA and other entities. <br />• Related to the above, land acquisition for parks is needed now to <br />begin to identify and save priority parklands. Several local <br />governments (including some city /county joint efforts) are <br />presently engaged in this (sometimes called land banking). <br />D. Mechanisms for Implementing Goals Through <br />Capital Improvement Plans (CIP's) and Long- <br />term Parkland Acquisition <br />To be developed. A meeting of the Managers, elected representatives and <br />staffs is being scheduled to address these issues. <br />E. Coordination Opportunities with UNC / <br />Implications of UNC Expansion <br />The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides both facilities that are <br />used by the greater town and County populations, and users of local <br />recreational facilities in the form of students who live on and (particularly) <br />off- campus. <br />Currently, UNC provides the following recreational facilities for its students. <br />Policy does not allow use by non - students, although this policy is not strictly <br />enforced and many Town residents avail themselves of facilities like the <br />Botanical Gardens, Finley Golf Course, Kenan Stadium, Fetzer Field /Belk <br />Track, and groups like Rainbow Soccer use fields owned by the University. <br />In the 1996 report "Recreation and Park Issues in Orange County ", the work <br />group "determined that in applying standards to the population of Orange <br />County that 11,000 people (students living in dormitories and <br />fraternities /sororities) could be subtracted from population totals in deriving <br />park acreage needs. The assumption underlying this adjustment is that these <br />students reside on campus and have their recreation needs met wholly by <br />I <br />