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11 90 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan Q CHAPTER 9- What Does It All Mean:Summary and Findings from inventories, Research,and input J 7. Some residents are unsure about whether B. Opportunities and Challenges future athletic programs or parks are needed, 14. The County has been successful in recent but among those expressing an opinion, a years in pursuing public/private or public/ significant majority favor new programs and non-profit partnerships for new facilities, and parks. should continueto explore these opportuni- 8. The highest levels of interest in new/ ties and engage where mutually-beneficial. expanded programs are for walking, hiking, swimming, biking,summer camps and yoga. 15. With the County having land-banked several park sites for future use, and little room for 9. Likewise, the top choices for new parks new parks inside the town borders,there may facilities desired are walking trails, nature be unprecedented opportunities for partner trails, biking trails, greenways, a swimming ships between the County and towns for new pool and water parks. park or recreation facilities. 10. Residents are almost universally supportive of 16. There are likely also financial benefits to coor- funding new parks and recreation facilities dination and collaboration among the towns through grants and corporate donations. and County for future parks. 11. Residents express strong support for financing 17. While not growing at the rate of the 1970's - future parks and recreation opportunities 1990's,the County continues to be a very- through voter-approved bonds or existing desirable place to live with a high quality of local taxes. There is less support for charging life, and population growth is expected to user fees, and increasing local taxes (other continue, adding another 36,000 residents than property taxes) was not a desired by the year 2030. These new residents will solution. likely be split between those in the towns 12. The County has successfully acquired sites for and those in the rural and suburban areas of new parks identified in the 1988 Master Plan, the County. with the exception of the Bingham District; 18. The County's Lands Legacy Program has and four new parks are projected in the Count wiped out the parkland deficit identified in y's Capital Investment Plan, along with 1999, and secured a number of future park, additions and improvements to existing parks. open space and nature preserve sites at 13. The creation of nature preserves in important strategic locations for future needs. natural areas of the county offers an 19. The adopted 1988 Master Recreation and opportunity for both public access and low- Parks Plan served the County well as a blue impact recreation and protection of important print for future needs, and most of the natural and cultural resources being facilities and programs anticipated in that protected. plan have been built, secured or implemented. Many of the basic philosophical and physical tenets of that plan are still valid. However, a solution to a park site for Bingham Township ' remains to be addressed. Y 20. Many opportunities for coordinated school/ park planning with the school systems appear to exist. 7 See appendix 9-1 for Endnotes w� 9-14