The details of a proposal to create what some town parks and recreation officials are already calling the area’s future “flagship park” became a little clearer Monday at a Chapel Hill Town Council public hearing.
The town will begin the development process for the 72-acre Southern Community Park, to be built adjacent to the Southern Village and Dogwood Acre developments off U.S. 15-501 South, as soon as the council approves a special-use permit for the land — scheduled for April 5.
The town hopes to construct about 5,000 square feet of building area, 229 parking spaces and several athletic fields.
Playgrounds, trails and a large dog park are also slated to be included in the park.
Kathryn Spatz, director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the park proposal represents the town’s last chance for a flagship park.
“The community — the town’s soccer community, in particular — is in desperate need of this,” she said. “And our department doesn’t have any space for, say, family reunions.”
Council members raised concerns about several aspects of the project to presenter Brian Starkey of OBS Landscape Architects during Monday’s hearing.
Council member Jim Ward feared that the lack of a new traffic signal along Dogwood Acre Drive could create a dangerous situation for younger parkgoers.
“As a parent of young kids, the first reaction I had was that (we needed) a pedestrian-activated traffic signal so I could cross with my child to the other side,” he told Starkey. “I hope you won’t write that off.”
