Agenda - 06-21-1999 - 10d - Laserfiche WebLink

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41 5/26/99 of park /recreation land in order to meet national adequacy standards. With current park facilities (including projected acquisitions in the next year), a deficit of 645 acres will exist in 2000. In 2025, the County will need 3100 acres with a current projected deficit of 1265 acres. Details on how these projections were generated may be found in Appendix J. Based on the projected future need for 1,265 new acres of parkland, the Work Group has determined that the current critical need is to begin long -term land acquisition ( "land banking "). This concept is similar to any kind of bank — it essentially estabiishes a "savings account" of land. Once the savings account has been fully funded, land can be withdrawn and developed for specific parks and recreation needs. Based on the most commonly accepted standards, the county /towns will need the following new parks just to meet current deficits: * - The total acreage in community parks currently exceeds acreage needs, but the existing community parks (three in Chapel Hill, one in Carrboro and one at Efland- Cheeks) may not meet the geographic needs of the County. Community park needs appear to exist in Hillsborough, northern Orange County and southwestern Orange. The estimated cost of purchasing this acreage. countywide, in 1999 dollars, is $10.12 million. Over time, the cost of purchasing land-for parks will undoubtedly rise dramatically. I. Recommendations for Use of Current Funds and Future Funding Needs Simultaneous with the population increase, land in Orange County is rapidly increasing in value. Large tracts are being subdivided, and options for geographic locations of parkland in every township are diminishing. A priority for use of future funds clearly must be land acquisition for long -term park needs, rather than simply developing recreational facilities (which can be developed over time as 39