Agenda - 02-29-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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•. Between 1993 and 1994, county population grew by 3,069 (all residential growth off campus). During July 1, 1994 to July 1, 1995, municipal planners project the combined growth in Canboro and Chapel Hill to total 2,417. These two municipalities, in order to meet Chapel Hill's standard for this projected year, would need to acquire and develop an additional 12 acres of community parks, 6 acres of neighborhood parks, and the standard for mini-parks is presently exceeded. The County would need to bring on-line 12 acres in district parks. Perhaps the most glaring deficit in the chart above is that Orange County has not acquired and developed any parks of sufficient size to be classified as district parks. • Under the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965, federal funds were available to the states and local governments for development of outdoor recreation. To receive funds, each state had to do a state-wide comprehensive recreation plan (SCORP) and update the document at five-year increments. The SCORP provided state standards for local governments to use. The State of NC has just published its preliminary SCORP and will no longer provide state standards for park and recreation facilities. Also, Land and Water Conservation Act funds are no longer available on the federal level. The plan instead ranks each of the one hundred counties in several recreation and park categories. Appendix 4 provides data about Orange County's position in the state and other pertinent SCORP information. • The National Recreation and Park Association is contemplating moving from standards based on population number and instead ranking under population size much like the state has done. The problem with state data is that the preliminary SCORP ranking is based on 1990-91 survey data. Also, without federal funds for outdoor recreation and their subsequent requirement that the states do the SCORP, there is no assurance that the SCORP will be done again or in what, if any, form. • This information demands that each community become self-reliant on establishing their own standards without assistant or guidance by state and national authorities. The local jurisdictions cannot collect data on all counties in the state to evaluate their position by rank as the SCORP has done in the past. • Recreation and park services speak to the quality of life in a town, county or region. Orange County is constantly compared to our "sister counties" in the Triangle. Wake and Durham Counties may be an acceptable comparison to see how Orange County ranks with their park acreage and facilities. One other adjoining county (Alamance, etc.) could be reviewed. An annual survey of their facilities would be manageable and Page 7