On September 13, 2018, Orange County Parks and Recreation held a public input meeting for the park coming to Taborfield Ave, adjacent to the new elementary school and also to Mabel Bridge HOA amenities. Approximately 25 people were in attendance including residents from Mabel Bridge and Thornhill. Here’s a review of what was covered at the meeting:
General Info – Neighborhood Park
Orange County Parks and Rec have recently built 4 parks in Horizon West. There are 11 more to go to fulfill the master plan for the area.
The Taborfield Park is 6.5 acres, which classifies it as a “Neighborhood Park.” $200,000 is dedicated for its design and engineering and $1M is dedicated for construction, Neighborhood Parks have:
- No parking
- No lights
- No bathrooms
And neighboring schools typically will allow parking during non-school hours
Officials provided some examples of possible amenities for a Neighborhood Park including:
-Dog park
-Community garden
-Playground
-Gazebo
-Shade trees benches walking path
-Flexible with movable furniture
-Open field
-Skateboarding
-Bike racks
-Exercise stations
They also provided examples of amenities that are not considered in Neighborhood Parks:
-Athletic fields and courts (basketball, tennis)
-Gyms
-Pools and splash pads
The park will not have a fence surrounding it, but there will be a fence around the school property and bus access road, which will directly abut Mable Bridge property.
Public Input
A survey was made available to ask residents what amenities they are interested in for this particular park. They received 177 responses, which was a higher than usual response rate. The survey will be open until 9/27, but there was discussion about reissuing the survey with a requirement for respondents to provide physical home addresses. (UPDATE: It seems they updated the existing survey rather than reissuing it. The survey now asks for your address)
Public input requested the following during the meeting:
-Parking (off street)
-Dog park
-Basketball
-Tennis
-Pickelball
-Fitness/Exercise stations with shade
-Playground for ages 5-12 (this is also planned for Phase II at Lakeside Village Park)
-Shade trees (keep existing)
-Community garden
-ADA compliant swing
-Grill at pavilion
-Bike racks
-Drinking Fountain
Timing
This was first of series of meetings planned for the park. The next meeting is scheduled for November 15th. Please mark your calendar. At the November meeting, a draft of the master plan will be presented and landscape architects will be on hand as well. If a third meeting is deemed necessary, it will be in January.
Construction is expected to begin in Oct 2019 and last approximately one year. They intend to open the park at the end of 2020.
Contacts – More Info
Remember to complete the survey if you haven’t already: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TaborfieldPark
This message is provided by the HOA to help keep you informed. We are not involved in the development of the park or any decision making surrounding it. If you have questions or comments, please contact the Parks Dept directly: Email parks@ocfl.net.
