Agenda - 02-11-2014 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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P 94 Co r,?ty--Comp-e12ensive Pa;-ks a;,d Rec,•eatio,2-IIIioea•Ple.;f C14APTER 10-Goals, Objec-ives, an Reconimlen dations For example, the County already has four park on a somewhat-arbitrary plan of requiring parks in districts that are the basic level of service provision. many outlying areas where service areas would over- This district level service model has worked well lap and the population may be served inefficiently. since it was first identified in 1988. Changing away For example, the fact that the Cedar Grove Park from existing and planned district park service mod- servicearea does not capture the very northwestern- els would constitute a major disruption to the opera- most corner of Orange County should not be read to tion of existing parks and the planning for new ones. mean that another park is needed to cover this This district park approach is also the basis for the "gap." Indeed, there is nothing magical about the "land dedication/payment-in-lieu of land dedication" three-mile community park radius that is used and program that has been in place since the 1980s. Park mapped. County residents living four miles away can planning, parkland acquisition and construction of and do use the park, and still may choose to frequent new facilities in the last 15 years has been based on any of the area parks for that matter. Similarly, an this premise. Most of the district park sites,the basic additional two-minute drive time outside of a service level of the County parks system, have been acquired area circle does not constitute the need for an addi- and await funding for future construction. Only in tional park facility (unless other community-specific the Bingham district of southwestern Orange County factors are noted through the master plan review is there no land-banked district park site, and efforts process and indicate otherwise). The service area are underway to secure that location. boundaries are provided as a way to identify the We also know from prior master planning and 15 homes and residents that are within a defined years of experience the types of parks that are distance. needed. While recognizing there needs to be some level of flexibility to address special cases, and that Additionally, the County's four district parks, when some park sites warrant a different level of treat- completed, have defined district areas based on ment,the five types of parks and public open spaces transportation and land use patterns. These do not noted in the Guiding Principles of Chapter 9 provide conform exactly to a six-mile radius from the park a framework that is consistent with previous plan- location. Residents in Bingham Township may, for ning and park construction,and a filter for identifying example, find it more convenient to visit and and categorizing future needs: frequent the future Twin Creeks District Park (the Chapel Hill Township district park), and vice-versa. • Community Parks Service area definition is simply another tool to • District Parks consider geography and immediacy, rather than the • School Parks limits of residents who are served by a park. in fact, • Regional Parks and • Nature Preserve(Public Access Areas) geographical service areas are better suited to municipal park planning than county park planning, The maps in Chapter 9 identify the locations of as municipalities generally have more uniform levels existing and future parks, and the service areas of population density, more expansive and multi- associated with them. It is important to note that the modal transportation networks, and walkability concept of service levels, in a county with significant standards — making parks within fixed distances (or rural areas, should be read as an area within which a the elimination of service area gaps) a more valid park is considered to be well-located or approach to urban parks planning. For that reason, a "convenient." It is not the intention of this plan to set of countywide parks standards — once identified imply that all areas not within a defined service area as a goal — is not practical, but rather, coordination are not served. Not all areas must fall within a and consistency between the municipal and county service area circle.To do so would require embarking standards is encouraged. 10-4