Soccer fields, dog park cited as needs
Thursday, December 03, 2009 (Daily Advance)
MOYOCK — Soccer fields, shooting and archery ranges, an outdoor music venue and a dog park are among the types of facilities Currituck residents want to see included in an updated county master plan for recreation.
About 25 county residents and officials turned out at Moyock Middle School earlier this week for a community forum, the second of five designed to receive public input on the plan.
The turnout in Moyock was an improvement on the five people who showed up for the first meeting on Nov. 24 in Corolla, according to Currituck Parks and Recreation Director Jason Weeks.
“We didn’t have near the turnout we had tonight,” Weeks said Tuesday night. “Sometimes the public feels that their opinions won’t be taken seriously, but If they don’t come and voice their opinion, then their opinion will never be heard. It’s important that folks come out and share what’s on their mind.”
Currituck’s current recreation plan was last updated by a team from East Carolina University in 2002, Weeks said.
“It’s recommended by the state that you do a new (plan) every five or six years, so it’s just time to revamp it and update it — hopefully make it a little more accurate,” he said. “There are state standards that exist, but we’d rather have our public input to know exactly what our community wants.”
During the forum Tuesday night, participants were separated into groups and asked to brainstorm ideas for new programs and facilities. Afterward, ideas were ranked according to popularity on a chart using colored stickers.
Among the most popular ideas for facilities were shooting and archery ranges, a dog park, soccer fields, a sportsplex, a community recreation center, community walking and running tracks, soundside public beach access and an outdoor music facility.
The most popular ideas for programs were coaching clinics,kayaking, summer youth programs that include bus pickup and drop-off, arts and crafts, basic adult computer classes, and mentoring programs such as Big Brother and Big Sister.
The last plan update cost the county $6,000. Weeks told residents that the county hoped to save costs for the current update by doing most of the legwork itself.
“Hopefully we’ll contract a quality organization to write the document for us,” he said. “But in order to save dollars, we’re going to try to do a lot of legwork ourselves and that’s why we’re holding the public hearings.”
Weeks said the time frame for producing the final plan is roughly 12 months.
“We’re well into that process now,” he said. “I’d like to say that in seven or eight months down the road we’ll have the plan. But that’s not as important to me as it is to get it done right.”
Weeks noted that the Currituck Planning Department is in the process of rewriting the county’s Unified Development Ordinance, and that part of his plan includes staying consistent with that agency’s efforts.
“UDO is a major document for them and for the future development of this county,” he said. “So we’re going to try to stay in line with that UDO — we want our policies and procedures to make sense with what they’re doing.”
Planning Director Ben Woody said planning for recreation facilities plays a key role in updating the UDO.
“When the community identifies the types of facilities they’re looking for, planning will take that information and make sure we’re putting those in areas where there’s high population growth, and make sure the facilities we put in those areas accommodate those types of users,” he said. “An example would be putting a baseball field in Corolla when there really aren’t any kids in Corolla to play baseball.”
Woody said holding forums across Currituck helps ensure that recreation plans cater specifically to those specific communities.
A forum was held Thursday night at Jarvisburg Elementary School. The next forum will be held Jan. 5 at Knotts Island Elementary School.
More Information:
Jason S. Weeks, Director
P.O. Box 39
Currituck, NC 27929
Phone: 252-232-3007
Fax: 252-232-2045
E-mail: jweeks@co.currituck.nc.us
Leto Copeley, candidate for judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2010, will be the guest speaker at the September 24 general meeting of the Currituck County Democratic Party.