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9—6 <br />Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan <br /> CHAPTER 9 - What Does It All Mean: Summary and Findings from Inventories, Research, and Input 9 <br />C. Proposed Guiding Principles for Park <br />Standards – Orange County NC <br /> <br /> <br />Section I – Parks Standards <br /> <br />1. The use of national standards for parks and park <br />facilities is no longer a common practice. Most <br />communities now develop their own standards based <br />on local needs and driving factors. <br /> <br />2. The County should periodically convene a series of fo- <br />rums to develop community-specific standards that <br />reflect the unique needs of the county residents. These <br />forums should occur no less that once every four years. <br />For the purposes of this master plan, the community <br />needs assessments, focus groups, relevant staff and <br />deliberations of the Parks and Recreation Council and <br />the Board of County Commissioners should determine <br />the strategies for future facilities and programs. <br /> <br />3. As a county park system, certain types of parks are best <br />provided by urban or municipal park systems. These <br />include mini-parks (1 acre or less) or neighborhood <br />parks (defined here as 20 acres or less). These types of <br />parks are designed for the service or close-by <br />neighborhoods with a range or urban services and <br />transportation that may not exist in the rural or <br />suburban areas of the county. <br /> <br />4. In keeping with established practice of the last 15 <br />years, Orange County will seek to create the following <br />types of parks: <br /> <br />a. School Parks – Opportunities exist for the creation <br /> of school parks for playing fields and other open <br /> spaces at current and future Orange County <br /> Schools. The size of these parks would be variable, <br /> depending on the opportunity. The joint use of <br /> these facilities would allow for school resources and <br /> needs to be met, while also enhancing community <br /> recreation needs at publicly-funded and built <br /> playing fields and school facilities. (Efland Cheeks <br /> Park is a current example of a School Park) <br /> <br />b. Community Parks – Parks of 40-75 acres in size <br /> which provide for the recreation and open space/ <br /> leisure needs for a defined collection of neighbor <br /> hoods, subdivisions and residential areas within a <br /> section of the County. Community Parks should <br /> generally be within a 5-mile radius of the area to be <br /> served. (Cedar Grove Park is an example of a <br /> Community Park). <br /> <br /> <br />c. District Parks – Parks of 75-150 acres in size which <br /> provide for a wide range of recreation and open <br /> space leisure needs (or may have a specific theme <br /> of use) for a defined section of the County, In some <br /> cases, townships may be districts. District Parks <br /> should general be within a 10-mile radius for the <br /> service area, and contain a larger palette of <br /> facilities and recreation opportunities. (the future <br /> Twin Creeks Park (Moniese Nomp) would be an <br /> example of a District Park – and a School Park) <br /> <br />d. Regional Parks – Parks of 150 acres or more which <br /> provide for a unique natural or low-impact <br /> orientation and nature-based outdoor activities. <br /> Regional parks serve the entire county and should <br /> be within a 20-mile radius, and may serve multiple <br /> counties as part of the potential service area, and <br /> are thus conducive to multi-jurisdictional partner <br /> ships. (Little River Regional Park and Natural Area is <br /> a Regional Park). <br /> <br />e. Nature Preserves – In certain cases, topography, <br /> geology and hydrology may combine with <br /> identified natural areas to create opportunities for <br /> nature preserves. A nature preserve’s primary <br /> focus is the protection of the natural resources <br /> present, but also allows for limited public access <br /> for low-impact recreation. <br /> <br />5. While community-specific needs assessment will be <br /> the driving factor in planning for future facilities and <br /> programs, the use of population-based standards is <br /> still appropriate as a “benchmark” and double-check <br /> of potential needs. <br /> <br />6. For purposes of standards calculation, the process <br />should be initiated with examination of the entirety of <br />the County with a subsequent assessment of munici- <br />pal parks that exist or are planned which may help <br />address the identified need. These existing or planned <br />municipal parks can then be subtracted from the total <br />county need to identify needs that remain for the <br />County. <br /> <br /> Example – If Orange County calculated standards reflect a <br /> need for 1200 acres of district parks to meet the current <br /> population of the county. If approximately 600 acres of <br /> district parks exist within the towns of the county, and 400 <br /> acres exist or are planned in the County system, the need for <br /> the County parks system is 200 acres. <br /> <br />7. In addressing parks needs for Orange County, signify <br /> cant coordination is needed with municipal systems <br /> both in terms of calculating countywide needs, and in <br /> coordinating future plans and park development. <br />100