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County, airport in talks over Lake Crabtree lease as mountain-bike trail access could end June 30

2254315 · February 10, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Wake County staff briefed commissioners on negotiations with RDU airport to renew leases covering Lake Crabtree County Park. Commissioners raised concerns about potential development of Track 6, the future of accessible mountain-bike trails and rising lease costs tied to FAA fair-market requirements.

Wake County officials on Feb. 10 discussed a pending lease renewal with the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority (RDU) that could affect public access to parts of Lake Crabtree County Park and adjacent mountain-bike trails.

Chris Snow, director of Parks, Recreation and Open Space for Wake County, briefed the Wake County Board of Commissioners on the park’s history, current lease terms and negotiations with the airport. Snow said the county is working to finalize a draft lease to return to the board for approval.

Background and scope

Lake Crabtree is one of 10 county flood-control sites and is identified in county records as Site 23. The county began acquiring land in the 1970s and 1980s; Snow said about 869 acres were purchased for the site overall. A 1979 memorandum of agreement between the county and the airport recognizes recreation on flood-control lands provided it does not impact airport operations.

In 1985 the county entered a lease with the airport for 33.19 acres to construct Lake Crabtree County Park; a 1994 amendment added Track 6 and enabled the county to develop mountain-bike trails. Lake Crabtree County Park opened in 1988 and is the county’s oldest and most visited park, Snow said; the park had…

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