County Parks Plan Released to Public

By Sam Scott, Star-News, Wilmington, N.C.

Dec. 15–Southern New Hanover County needs a community park. Northern New Hanover County needs an athletic complex. And both need indoor pools for competitive swimming and water safety.

Those were three of the recommendations in the New Hanover County master plan for parks, recreation and open space, which was made public Wednesday.

The county allocated $60,000 for a consultant — Site Solutions of Charlotte — to prepare the plan, worked on for more than six months. The last master plan was created in 1988.

The meeting was the last in a series of public gatherings and attracted only a handful of people. Owen Wexler, a resident in the Bradley Creek area annexed by the city in the late 1990s, was upset the plan included no neighborhood parks in his area.

Residents in his neighborhood had been poorly served by the county parks prior to annexation and by the city park system since it happened, he said. The plan did nothing to improve the situation.

“I can’t even take a grandchild to a swing I can walk to,” he said.

Derek Williams, with Site Solutions, said it is generally more appropriate for a county government to focus on larger projects and leave smaller playgrounds and neighborhood parks for municipalities like the city of Wilmington.

Neal Lewis, New Hanover County’s parks director, said the plan could still change. It goes to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board tonight and then to the county commissioners, who will have it in hand for their January budget retreat.

A telephone survey of 400 county residents found that 86 percent of residents thought there was at least some need for more parks.

More than 90 percent wanted to use them for low-key activities like rest and relaxation, walking and jogging.

The master plan also calls for the county to identify a system of greenway trails developed in conjunction with the city of Wilmington.

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