Page 33 - parks-master-plan

34

Ohio Regional Planning Commission to discuss their knowledge and preferences for regional bike trails and bike route connections to the City of Dublin. In addition, City of Dublin staff met numerous times to discuss the various trail designations, current routes and future path routes throughout the city. The pedestrian linkages are discussed in detail in Chapter 8.

Natural Resource Inventory

In its continuing endeavors to provide excellence in recreation opportunities for its residents, Dublin emphasizes the protection of natural resources both within areas of current development and in areas slated for future development. It is considered critical to protect Dublin’s rural landscape and the associated natural resources, including riparian corridors, greenways, forested land tracts, protected species and wetlands. The ever-present struggle between the protection of these natural resources and the development pressures of a growing community was addressed during this study by means of a natural resource inventory and corresponding suitability model.

The Natural Resource Inventory for this plan was performed as a complementary component of the Dublin Community Plan (Chapter 2,

Section 2) and to provide a continuous ranking of environmental importance of Dublin's currently undeveloped land. The analysis identified several landscape attributes that are independently important or critical considerations when development is being considered. When combined with several similar attributes, this helps the City prioritize lands with natural environments that need greater protection and careful attention during development.

Landscape features included in the Natural Resource Analysis include:

• Agricultural land cover

• Endangered species protection zones

• Flood zones

• Forest land cover

• Ground water pollution potential

• Scenic road buffers

• Soil summaries (includes ratings for woodland and wetland wildlife, wetland plants, forests etc.)

• Stream buffers

• Wetlands

Each of these categories and their importance in the suitability model are described in detail in the Natural Resource Assessment.