09/02/2008 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • Although natural amenities are desirable, designated wetlands or non - upland protected areas that cannot be developed for active or passive (i.e., trails, overlooks, sitting areas) park purposes should not to be included in the acreage calculation for a neighborhood park. (Note: Protected areas are integrated into the larger greenway system to create complementary open space. Where feasible, the greenway system should directly abut the neighborhood park to create a contiguous park setting.) The distribution of future neighborhood parks is intrinsically linked to the greenway -based trail system, which provides the conduit for pedestrians to get to the park in a safe and appealing manner. The greenways also expand the park experience itself, whereby the neighborhood park becomes less of a defined space and more of a contiguous, linear park experience. The effect of tying neighborhood parks with the greenway system is that the spacing between individual parks can often be greater than traditional standards suggest. The system plan is based on this principle, with the greenway system playing a significant role in determining the number and location of future neighborhood parks necessary to meet community demands. Should the greenway system substantial change or not materialize the distribution of the accompanying neighborhood parks would need to be reconsidered. As illustrated on the Parks, Greenways, and Trail System Map, there are a number of areas where new neighborhood parks will be needed as future development occurs. Note that the locations for these parks are general and do not represent a specific parcel of land. Their actual location will be based on the specific developments that the park serves and how the park ties into any accompany greenway and trail system. The adopted plan identified 12 future neighborhood parks (labeled A — L on the map — See Figure 2 -9) to provide a comprehensive park system for existing and future residents. The following discusses the one additional neighborhood park that has been added to the system as part of this comprehensive plan update. The park location criteria were used to review the location of proposed parks within the emerging Resource Management System. The results of this analysis were used to update the Park, Greenway and Trails System plan as shown on Figure 2 -9 and summarized below: • Center of the service area for Neighborhood Park Areas C, I, K and L was modified slightly to include proposed residential areas that were not covered by a 1/4 to 1/2 mile service area. The modified location also took into account the location of the Resource Management System to connect parks to this emerging system. • New Neighborhood Park Area M — serves the Mixed Use area along the west side of I -35E in the eastern portion of the community. This area was previously guided for Industrial uses and no neighborhood park was contemplated. Since the adoption of the park plan, the city has guided the area for Mixed Use, including residential neighborhoods. The linear trail system is important for linking this park to other parks in the northeast area of the city and to future residential neighborhoods.