Buncombe County Parks & Recreation Invites Residents to Provide Input at First Systemwide Master Plan Community Meeting

The first Systemwide Parks & Recreation Master Plan community meeting will be taking place on Thursday, February 1 from 5-7 p.m. at East Asheville Library. This meeting will be interactive, so participants should come prepared to share their voice and feedback by participating in various parks, recreation, greenways, trails, and open space planning exercises. By asking how residents currently use County parks and services, and what they want to see in the future, these exercises will create the roadmap for Parks & Recreation to follow for the next 20 years. 

Kimley Horn (the master planning consultant) will present an overview of the systemwide planning process as well as information on the current state of Buncombe County's Parks and Recreation Department, greenways, and open space. After the presentation, County staff from the Parks & Recreation, Open Space, and Agriculture & Land departments will be available at various stations around the room to answer questions and receive your input. The livestream of this event and the online survey will be available on the Systemwide Parks & Recreation Master Plan website.

The second community meeting will take place on Thursday, March 21 from 5-7 p.m. at Enka High School. Language services will be available to Spanish-speaking community members at both community meetings. 

Buncombe County Parks & Recreation will be launching the online survey for their systemwide master plan on January 25, 2024. The online survey will be available until early fall for the public to share their vision of the future of parks, recreation, greenways, trails, and open space. Take the survey here. 

Background 

As Buncombe County becomes more diverse, so too do the desires for recreation, outdoor activities, trails, and open space. To meet these evolving needs, Buncombe County Parks & Recreation is creating a systemwide plan to define how they will continue to provide high-quality options for residents. This systemwide plan will result in the first Parks & Recreation Master Plan, an updated Greenways and Trails Master Plan, and an Open Space Plan. Public guidance is the cornerstone of the planning process.  

Community members will be invited to interactive meetings, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and pop-up events throughout the County. There will also be online and paper surveys mailed to Buncombe County residents.  

The Systemwide Parks & Recreation Master Plan is an umbrella planning effort that will yield three plans, which are the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, Greenways and Trails Master Plan, and an Open Space Plan. These services will be encompassed in systemwide master plan to ensure that a unified strategy is created for these interconnected services.  

For questions or for more information, please call (828) 250-4260 or email parks@buncombecounty.org.