Orange County NC Website
07 <br /> Preliminary Report of the <br /> Orange County Open space Task Force <br /> April 17 , 2001 <br /> Executive Summary <br /> The Open Space Task Force , formed in May 2000 , includes Commissioners Margaret <br /> Brown and Alice Gordon and County staff. <br /> A . Background <br /> In the spring and fall of last year , the Task Force worked to help develop the Annual <br /> Action Plan for the Lands Legacy program . <br /> In the last few months , the attention of the Task Force has turned to evaluating the many <br /> different needs that have been identified for parks and open space . This evaluation has <br /> been compiled in the Open Space Task Force report . The report uses the following source <br /> materials to identify short - term and long - term priorities for park and open space land <br /> acquisition , and parks facilities development : <br /> 1 . The 1999 Joint Master Recreation and Parks Report ( adopted by the BOCC 5 /3 /00 ) <br /> 2 . Joint Parks Guidelines and Criteria ( adopted 12/7/99 and 5 /3 /00 ) <br /> 3 . The State of the Environment report (February 2000 ) <br /> 4 . " A Lands Legacy Program for Orange County " , ( adopted by the BOCC 4/4/00 ) <br /> 5 . The Lands Legacy Interim Action Plan ( adopted 5 /3 /00 ) <br /> 6 . Lands Legacy Long-Term Priorities 2002 - 2010 (presented 3 /27/01 ) <br /> 7 . Report of the Soccer Facilities Symposium Task Force (November , 2000 ) <br /> A theme that is common to all of these reports is the need for proactive steps for " land- <br /> banking " to preserve future parklands and existing natural areas , before they are gone . <br /> The 1999 Joint Master Recreation and Parks (JMRP ) report emphasizes that point , as <br /> shown in this quotation from that report : <br /> . . . the Work Group has determined that the current critical need is to begin long - term land <br /> acquisition ("land banking ') . This concept is similar to any kind of bank — it essentially <br /> establishes a "savings account" of land. Once the savings account has been fully funded, <br /> land can be withdrawn and developed for specific parks and recreation needs . <br /> The JMRP report then goes on to note : <br /> Simultaneous with the population increase, land in Orange County is rapidly increasing in <br /> value . Large tracts are being subdivided, and options for geographic locations of parkland <br /> in every township are diminishing. A priority for use of future funds clearly must be land <br /> acquisition for long - term park needs, rather than simply developing recreational facilities <br /> (which can be developed over time as the population increases) . <br /> I <br />