Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Graylyn tidbits

We have received many questions for updates on the Graylyn issue. I am sharing the following e-mail reply from Charlie Peek from NC Parks and Recreation regarding questions we submitted to him regarding when/how results of the public comment will be shared and whether modifications in the alternatives would be considered:

Ms. Cooper,
Thank you for understanding. While not all the comments were positive, we view the experience as positive. It's always good to connect in a thorough way with so many people that use our parks. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can at this time.
When we get all these comments compiled, I'll be happy to post them on our Web site. That would likely be linked from Umstead's home page.
The Division of Parks and Recreation's intent is to adopt one of the three alternatives described, though there could be modifications to any one of the alternatives after more careful review. We must retain some flexibility but those alternatives were created from the best information gathered by park operations staff, our professional planners and natural resource managers. The most popular "variation" was, of course, reestablishing some type of small parking area at the park boundary near the end of Graylyn Drive for the convenience of runners and bikers. (It was suggested many times that park gates could simply be relocated to accommodate this.) This is not an option the state parks system is prepared to consider as it would present serious problems of management, security and natural resource protection.
Be assured that when a course of action is decided, I'll be very anxious to share that with the public. I cannot predict when any decisions will be made, but I'll make sure to contact you and the media.
chp

Friday, October 10, 2008

NC Parks' survey of related interest

NC Parks has provided another on-line survey that should be of interest to the active community for future planning efforts of NC Parks. We gleaned this info from Joe Miller’s blog at blogs.newsobserver.com/joemiller/take-the-state-parks-survey#comments. It does not address local access issues specifically but attempts to elicit public feedback on areas pertinent to NC Parks . To complete the survey, click on www.ncparks.gov/Visit/main.php, go to Items of Interest on the left and click on State Parks Survey. The survey does require answers for all questions (so is difficult if it is not relevant to your interests) and takes some time but well-worth providing information to NC Parks for interests going forward. We applaud NC Parks for attempting to elicit this information and encourage you to provide input.