Agenda - 10-06-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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25 1 courts, walking track, volleyball courts and trail connecting to the Town Police substation on 2 Rainey Avenue, and a parking lot. 3 4 The current parking lot was constructed as approved through the Town's Conditional Use 5 Permit approval process. The existing parking lot, which is located off Torain Street and adjoins 6 the picnic shelter, contains 44 spaces. Over the past four years of park operations, occasional 7 events at the shelter or ballfield have taxed this existing parking lot, with vehicles occasionally 8 parking along the street and in front of residents' homes. Phase II of the park was the 9 construction of a second, 68-space parking lot, which was not part of the Phase I construction. 10 This planned additional lot utilizes a new second entrance into the park from the east along 11 Orange County Public Works Drive. The existing drive would be extended through the Public 12 Works site, and wind its way up through a hilly wooded area to a site adjoining the existing 13 tennis courts. 14 15 During budget deliberations, the Board asked the Manager and staff about additional parking 16 needs at Fairview, and instructed that a recommended solution for additional parking be 17 brought back to the Board for review and direction after the summer break. A placeholder 18 amount of$100,000 was appropriated in the Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for the current fiscal 19 year, pending a more-complete recommendation. 20 21 Over the last three months, staff has looked at several potential parking options, including the 22 original master plan, variations on new parking areas, and short-term solutions previously 23 identified using the existing Town police substation parking lot and roadsides. This includes 24 sketches and designs with pricing prepared by the engineer who prepared the construction 25 drawings for Fairview Park, and the County's Landscape Architect. Several different possibilities 26 were examined, and discussed in meetings with Town and County staff and the Sheriff. 27 28 After considerable review and discussion, the Manager and staff recommend that the County 29 proceed with the original master plan parking lot option, extending Public Works Drive into the 30 park and building a lot adjacent to the tennis courts. While this option is more expensive than 31 other options, it has the substantial benefit of being located within the park adjoining existing 32 facilities, and minimizing some of the safety issues that other more-remote parking options 33 might create. It also brings the additional traffic coming from outside the community to the park 34 without increasing traffic on streets in the Fairview neighborhood. In talking with local groups 35 and the Town police, the predominant need for additional parking is for park patrons coming 36 from outside of the community. 37 38 If the Board agrees with this parking solution, the Manager and staff will incorporate the needed 39 funding for this parking lot in the upcoming CIP for FY 2016-17. Implementation of this (or any 40 of the) parking options will require additional survey work before construction drawings can be 41 prepared and submitted to the Town of Hillsborough for a Conditional Use Permit modification. 42 This permit and the work associated with the permit or construction will take several months, 43 which coincides with timing of additional funds that would be needed for the new fiscal year in 44 July 2016. Proceeding with this plan would enable the construction of the parking lot to be in 45 position to move straight to construction in the summer of 2016. Between now and July, the 46 Town also plans to pave the police substation parking lot, creating new parking spaces. Parking 47 along the east side of Rainey Avenue adjoining the park may also be used as overflow parking 48 until the new lot is built. 49