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9—3 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 9 - What Does It All Mean: Summary and Findings from Inventories, Research, and Input 9 1. A Park Classification System In its 1988 Master Recreation and Parks Plan, Orange County set forth a framework for the type of parks that would meet community needs. While times have changed since 1988, part of this basic framework of park styles remains valid for the County, while the evolution of park design, actual park construction and operation, and the changed conditions and need since 1988 warrant the revisiting of this classification system. One of the lessons learned since 1988 is that smaller parks are better suited to be provided by municipal or urban park systems, and are inefficient and lack economies of scale for a larger countywide scope of parks. In an urban setting, with clusters of homes close by, mini-parks and neighborhood parks serve a valuable role. These type of parks are designed for the service of close-by neighborhoods with a range of urban services and public transportation that may not exist in the rural or suburban areas of the county. As such, the County has made a conscious decision over the last 15 years to forego mini-parks and neighborhood parks, and focus on the larger community, district and regional parks where economies of scale for operation and maintenance may be expected and the rural and suburban community needs better met. In fact, the 1988 master plan, while listing these as types of parks, in Section 6 came to a similar conclusion, recommend- ing that mini-parks and neighborhood parks be developed by the municipalities. Accordingly, no parks of this type were recommended for acquisition and construction. Another changed situation relating to the type and style of parks and public open spaces is the County’s embarkation in April, 2000 on a program to conserve important natural and cultural resource lands through the Lands Legacy program. This program has not only acquired a number of different park sites that fit into the classes listed above, but also has worked to protect important natural lands and accumulate them in nature preserves in two key areas of the county (the Upper Eno River corridor, and lower New Hope Creek). While the main focus of the nature preserve is the protection of the flora, fauna and wildlife habitat, it is possible to build in human interactions with the natural areas by working on the edges and fringes of the preserve to offer opportunities for trails, camping and wildlife viewing. To this end, a series of Public Access Areas (PAA’s) are envisioned and in some cases, underway in conjunction with these nature preserves. These places should be designed with care and in harmony with the natural environment, and as such do not have specific acreage needs, service area or popula- tion standards. These would be designed on a case-by-case basis with the specific site. 97