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1—7 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 1 - Summary of the Plan 1 One of the important distfnctfons between a county park system and a city park system is that smaller park types – such as mini-parks or neighborhood parks – best serve and are most easily-provided by municipalitfes where the populatfon density, transportatfon networks and public transit, water and sewer infrastructure and walking/driving tfme makes these smaller facilitfes more practfcal. In a large county of 400 square miles, with most of the areas of a rural nature, this plan concludes that the most effectfve service provision scale is to focus on district and regional parks and nature preserves. In additfon, where special communitfes and needs exist, community parks have been provided and may be appropriate. This is, in fact, the way the County park system has evolved over the past 16 years, working in conjunctfon with its sister systems in the towns and with State Parks. Master Plan Summary and Findings The new Master Plan to guide parks and recreatfon decisions through the year 2030 is a synthesis of the many reports, studies, surveys and needs assessments conducted to date and/or contained within. In review and comparison with the 1988 Master Plan, many of the same values and principles enumerated at that tfme remain valid in 2014. However, many conditfons have changed since 1988.  The county populatfon has grown by 56% since 1988, and is expected to grow again by 25% by the end of this master plan period.  The county, fueled by public support, has passed two parks and open space bonds to acquire and construct new parks and public open space, with six County parks now open, nature preserves protected, and several municipal parks funded.  Most of the parks called for in the 1988 plan are now either built, or land has acquired for future constructfon.  Recreatfon programs are more numerous and diverse, branching into areas barely envisioned in 1988.  The County owns a successful indoor sports facility in the Sportsplex, and has engaged in partnerships with other recreatfon providers for camps, athletfc leagues and other facilitfes. By any measure, Orange County is in a very different place in 2014 in terms of its parks, public open space and recreatfonal offerings. However, despite the accomplishments, many things remain to be completed – including future facilitfes secured but not yet constructed or opened. At a macro level, Orange County’s parks and recreatfon needs in 2014 as enumerated in this document are more aligned to finishing planned improvements than embarking on massive new facilitfes planning. This is reflected in the assessment of park classificatfons, standards and service delivery in Chapter 9. Table 9-2 illustrates the nature of the park classificatfon system that has evolved and will be needed going forward:  School Parks – Opportunitfes to utflize school play- ing fields and facilitfes for public recreatfon at existfng and future facilitfes.  Community Parks – Parks generally between 40-75 acres that serve smaller sub-areas of the county and offer a mix of actfve and low-impact recreatfon needs.  District Parks – The primary park for each of the County’s four larger designated districts as identffied in 1988 (Northeast, Cheeks/ Hillsborough, Bingham and Chapel Hill Township), these are usually 75-125 acres in size and also include actfve and low-impact recreatfon facilitfes, but also may include amphitheaters and water features, among other facilitfes.  Regional Parks – Large areas of 150 acres or more that serve all or most of the County, these typically feature miles of trails of different types and have picnic areas, water features and other natural exhibits or facilitfes.  Nature Preserve Access Areas – These are portfons of County Nature Preserves that are or would be accessible to the public for camping, hiking, wild- life viewing and other low-impact actfvitfes. These areas are defined sites within a larger natural area, located in less-sensitfve portfons of large areas of natural land, where the primary purpose is to protect significant natural or cultural resources present in the area. 21