Twin Creeks District Park and Educational Campus Master Plan - 5-3-2005, Item 9a

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10 Staff Review of Comments from Area Citizen ("Jay Bryan—Comments on Twin Creeks") April 29,2005 Jay Bryan, a landowner near Twin Creeks has submitted a series of 19 comments on Twin Creeks. On April 14t, staff was asked to assess these comments and provide a response,. In general, these comments may be grouped into four categories: • Natural Resource Protection • Conditional Use Permit/Development Standards • Park Construction • Other The comments are addressed below,by category(and by Mr. Bryan's numbering scheme): Natural Resource Protection (1,2,3,7) 1.. The lands described are planned to be left in a largely natural state as per the Master Plan. At this time, pending further analysis,the rhyolite quarry area (the hilly portion of the site to the west along Old 86) is not proposed for any facilities beyond unpaved rustic trails in a possible future phase. While the County is very much an advocate of conservation easements as a preservation tool, staff feels that a conservation easement(which would involve the creation of a legal document, survey of the areas to be covered and possibly a subdivision of the property--as well as a third party to hold the easement and an interest in the land)would be cumbersome and not warranted, and that the lands in question will be protected as part of the park and the adopted Master Plan. 2. All trees of 18-inch caliper and greater were identified in the topographic survey conducted in 2002, Further, evaluation of species of significance on the property has been addressed through two different biological and botanical assessments, Staff expects that further evaluations may occur through the CUP process. Some clarification of what constitutes a"special or native"tree would be needed, as there are several possible definitions. However, an additional walk of the site to look again for botanical significance could be useful, and staff would propose to do so with the Resource Conservation Manager, Open Space Design Specialist, Park Services Director and members of the Biological Resources Committee of the Commission for the Environment who have training in this area, to see if there are any additional species of significance that have not yet been identified, Other persons with specialized training could also be invited to participate in this walk. 3. Staff feels the idea of boardwalks along Jones Creek and Buckhorn Branch is worthy of further consideration, and should be explored in future phases of the park, when detailed drawings of the exact locations for future trails would be finalized. No such trails are planned for Phase I of the park.