08-H Parks Master Plan Amndmnt - Laserfiche WebLink

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GREENBELT AND NATURAL OPEN SPACE NEEDS The City needs to adopt a policy of acquiring property along creeks, drainage easements and floodways as it becomes available. This will provide the necessary land for future trail projects linking parks, schools and neighborhoods while providing passive recreational opportunities. Additionally, parcels containing unique topography, character or other natural features should be acquired and preserved as natural open space to reflect the unique natural resources of the Paris community. Future park land acquisition should allow for natural open space in both neighborhood parks and community parks to provide residents with opportunities for primitive recreation. Generally, these types of recreational opportunities can be broken down further into greenbelts and natural areas. Greenbelts Greenbelts or greenbelt parkways are linear parks usually developed around a natural resource such as a creek, river, utility easement, or lake shore. The potential benefits of a greenbelt system are numerous. Not only can a greenbelt system preserve valuable open space and natural habitat, it can provide a natural environment for walking, jogging, and bicycling trails, provide a transportation corridor linking neighborhoods to parks, schools, and shopping areas and provide a variety of passive recreational opportunities free, or relatively free, from automobile interference. Greenbelts also serve as natural buffers between land uses, serve as utility (underground) easements, and can usually be acquired at a relatively inexpensive price due to the restrictions on development. Design standards for greenbelts are relatively loose in order to allow the maximum use of the natural environment in the design. Greenbelt corridor widths are often determined by the existing topography, severity of flooding, and other unique natural features. Greenbelt corridors of less than fifty (50) 4