We need a community park in east Chapel Hill because:
- In these highly stressful times, parks are essential for human physical and emotional health.
- Preserving trees and open green space would put some action in Chapel Hill’s climate action plan.
- Chapel Hill’s 2022 Interactive Parks Map lists the entire American Legion property as “Open space reserve areas (land reserved for conservation purposes)”. This property has been identified as a potential park by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department since 2013. Subsequent community surveys and the 2017 American Legion Task Force have listed a park as the top priority for the former Legion property. The Parks, Greenways and Recreation Commission petitioned Council to create a park on the entire property in 2019.
- For equity, eastern Chapel Hill deserves a Community Park like Southern Community Park at Southern Village.
- Legion Community Park would serve Ephesus Elementary School, 193 affordable housing units, the residents of the ~3000 new apartments in the Blue Hill district and the wider community of Chapel Hill.
- Community volunteers from the Boy Scouts to East Chapel Hill High School students have already joined to make this vision a reality by removing invasive plant species while restoring native ones and by establishing a butterfly garden. Combined with the Legion pond these efforts will retain critical wildlife habitat, including that for the 88 bird species that thrive there.
- As a practical matter, Legion pond and the integrated Resource Conservation District will help maintain stormwater control for area homes and businesses.
- Future park amenities could include: an inclusive playground, splash pad, dog park, fishing pier, community gardens, canoe/kayaking launch, community event space (e.g., farmers’ market, food truck rodeo), apiary, guided nature trails etc.
- Previous voter-approved bonds for parks and recreation can help fund these amenities if not repurposed by council for other town needs.
- A majority on the town council have a very different vision that includes draining the pond, selling large portions of parkland along Legion Road for commercial development and building up to 160 affordable housing units where old hardwood forest now exists. This vision will be advanced for action early this fall, so… The time is now to speak up and step up to create Legion Community Park