Minutes 06-07-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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15 VOTE: UNANIMOUS d. Approval of Contract to Purchase Real Property— S.L. Efland Heirs and Approval of Budget Amendment#9-A The Board considered approval of a contract to purchase approximately 37 acres from the S.L. Efland Heirs, LLC for an expansion of the County's Soccer.com Center in Efland, approval of Budget Amendment#9-A and authorize the Chair to sign. David Stancil, Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) Director, reviewed the background information, and showed some photographs via a PowerPoint presentation. He gave some facts and figures of the current facility, noting it has become a destination facility. The S.L. Efland Heirs, LLC owns approximately 37 acres located adjacent to Orange County's Soccer.com Center on West Ten Road in Efland. The County was interested in acquiring the property for an expansion of the soccer center facilities. Since the center opened in August 2009, there has been an increasing need for additional parking and playing fields; however there is no available space for new facilities on the existing County property. Rich Shaw, Land Conservation Manager, reviewed the contract information: The property is located four miles west of Hillsborough, and is part of a larger, 87-acre tract that is divided by Interstate 85/40. The County was only interested in acquiring the middle portion of the tract located south of the Interstate and north of West Ten Road. The 37-acre site shares a property boundary with the center and has 600 feet of frontage along West Ten Road. The existing Soccer.com Center is highly popular for both recreational leagues and also for club teams, tournaments and soccer showcase events. It features five full-sized soccer fields, one practice field, a 1A-mile walking track, concession stand, shelters, and restroom facilities. If the County acquires the adjacent property, it would allow for the potential of an additional three playing fields, vehicle parking, restroom facilities and a retention pond to capture stormwater and drainage from the existing fields. The collected water could be used to supplement well water used to irrigate the fields. Other potential uses of the site include nature/running trails and tennis courts. The site would address a significant need - additional parking. Currently, there are 108 spaces for vehicles at the park and another 120 spaces available for use at Gravelly Hill Middle School. There is a need for 250 additional parking spaces or more to accommodate league play and special soccer tournaments and events. The subject property is zoned Economic Development Buckhorn Higher Intensity (EDB-2), which is intended for a range of light industrial, distribution, retail, office, and services uses in the Buckhorn Economic Development District. Allowed uses include parks, government buildings, manufacturing, assembly and processing, wholesale trade, as well as various retail