Busa Land Use Proposal Committee Report 03-14-2011

Browse Search

Children, families, walkers, joggers, and the entire neighborhood could use the other recreational elements of the proposed park year- round. The proposed playground would be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- accessible and consist of structures for children ages 2 -12. The proposal includes a park in the center of the property for passive recreation, such as a family picnic, play catch, throw around a Frisbee, or to fly a kite. Under this proposal, there would also be trails throughout the park for walking, jogging, or running. Fitness stations could be located along the trails. Given the proximity of the playground to some parking spaces, fencing would be installed around the perimeter of the playground to ensure the safety of children. Other proposed site amenities located throughout the park include a bike rack, recyclable park benches, picnic tables, signage, and trash /recycle receptacles. During the course of the BLUPC's work, LRC presented three variations of this concept with different field sizes. Each proposal is described in chronological order below. On November 4, 2010, the Lexington Recreation Committee proposed a 3.54 -acre area of the Busa Land be used for active and passive recreation, including: 1. Multipurpose, regulation, full -size grass athletic field, which could be used for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, football and ultimate Frisbee. The proposed field was described as being 350' x 245' (includes a safety zone on all sides and buffer zone on three sides, actual playing field is 330' x 195') = 85,750 square feet or 1.97 acres. 2. Playground — 5, 058 square feet or .12 acres; 3. Passive Recreation Area — 32,957 square feet or .76 acres; 4. Trails — 22,278 square feet or .51 acres; 5. Parking Area (47 parking spaces) = 8,333 square feet or 0.19 acres; Total Proposed Recreation Land Use = 154,376 square feet or approximately 3.55 acres. Next, in email from the LRC dated December 2 2010, dimensional inaccuracies of the initial November 4t" presentation were acknowledged. LRC called to the BLUPC's attention that it had located the 330' x 195' field on the plan without any buffers or safety zone (even though such were described in text). In addition, LRC stated the buffers needed to be increased to 40' from the buffers they had initially proposed. LRC stated that a 330' x 195' field with 40' buffers does not fit on the Busa property in the location illustrated by the November 4th concept plan. In that email, the LRC asked that the BLUPC consider an intermediate -size field ( "intermediate field ") measuring 240' x 150' (without buffer zones) in the same orientation, if a regulation field would not fit. An intermediate -size field could be used for 6v6 soccer or 8v8 soccer. The U9 and U10 programs play 6v6 while the U11 and U12 play 8v8 soccer. In 2010, Lexington United Soccer Club (LUSC) had a total of 2,543 participants in their spring and fall programs. There were 562 participants in the U9 and U10 programs and 514 participants in the U11 and U12 programs, for a total of 1,076 participants (or 42.3% of all LUSC participants) that could utilize an intermediate -size field. The Recreation Department has Busa Land Use Proposal Committee Report Page 19 / 52