CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
May 21, 2024 {{section.number}}c
CAYS PARK MASTER PLAN PREFERRED DESIGN PLAN
RECOMMENDATION:
Consider and adopt the Cays Master Plan and approve the Preferred Plan design and park theme and find the project exempt from environmental review.
BACKGROUND:
Coronado Cays Park (Cays Park), located along Coronado Cays Boulevard and adjacent to the intersection with Grand Caribe Causeway, is Coronado’s largest City-owned park, totaling approximately 16 acres. The park currently has four athletic fields, a children’s play area, dog run, tennis, pickleball, and basketball courts, as well as restrooms and a parking lot.
Cays Park has a significant amount of maintenance and replacement needs. Ongoing maintenance has addressed temporary repairs of areas such as the restrooms which were recently repainted; however, due to the age of the park, the following amenities are in need of significant upgrades in order to properly serve Coronado residents:
• Irrigation system replacement
• Resod of entire park
• Resurface parking lot
• New restrooms
• New pathway and overhead lighting
• New storage facility
• Tennis/Pickleball/Basketball Court replacement in 5-7 years (as degraded conditions will not allow any additional resurfacing)
Staff has assessed the existing condition of the above listed park amenities/systems and estimates that repairs and/or replacement would cost approximately $13-15 million to rehabilitate the park.
Cays Park Master Plan
In October 2022, the City initiated a new park master planning effort to develop a long-range vision for Cays Park that would create a signature park to serve Coronado now and into the future while also addressing the existing maintenance needs.
In early 2023, the City hired the renowned community park planners, Schmidt Design Group to manage the Cays Park Master Planning project. The park master planning process has included robust community engagement from residents and other stakeholders over a multi-year engagement process.
The City Council directed staff and the design team to pursue conceptual Master Plan design options of:
1. 25% of active field space and 75% passive space;
2. 50% of active field space and 50% passive space;
3. 75% of active field space and 25% passive space; and,
4. maintaining 100% of the current active field space.
Current active field space is defined as the open field use for sports and the softball field (horseshoe pits, volleyball court, dog park, children’s playground, basketball, pickleball and tennis courts are excluded).
2023 Public Outreach and Engagement (Phase I)
The City kicked off a robust public outreach process in February 2023 that spanned small stakeholder group meetings to multiple public outreach sessions over phases of the planning process. A project website was created for the Cays Master Plan where regular updates were provided to interested stakeholders and individuals could sign-up for email notifications (https://www.projectcoronado.org/cays-park).
A public survey was also administered by an outside consultant, True North Research, specializing in conducting public opinion surveys. The survey was conducted in English and Spanish between May 24 and June 14, 2023 and followed a mixed-method design that employed multiple forms of recruiting methods (mail, email, text, and telephone) and multiple data collection methods (telephone and online). The 2023 survey was designed to profile the recreation activities of interest to Coronado residents, identify the frequency with which residents visit Coronado’s parks and Cays Park in particular, measure how well existing parks and facilities are meeting residents‘ needs, what improvements that are most desired and, residents’ top-of-mind ideas for how Cays Park can be improved with prioritization of a variety of potential amenities.
There were 464 respondents to the survey, resulting in a maximum margin of error ± 4.4% providing a 95% level of confidence. The geographic breakdown of respondents by neighborhood is representative of the Census population for those neighborhoods and included military housing.
This represents a very healthy response rate for a community of Coronado’s size.
When residents were asked their park improvement priorities, shade trees, paths for walking and jogging, bicycle amenities, children’s playground equipment, and the dog park garnered the most support. Feedback from stakeholder group meetings and the results of the survey were utilized by the Schmidt Design Group to help inform development of initial design plan options.
Four Design Plan Options
Four conceptual designs were developed by the Schmidt Design Group and then shared with the community for additional input through a series of five public outreach meetings in 2023, including pop-up events and displays at the following locations:
• September 12: Coronado Cays Yacht Club
• September 27: Cays Park
• October 5: Coronado Public Library
• October 9 – November 3: Community Center Lobby (display only) • October 19: Cays Homeowners Association
• November 2: Parks and Recreation Commission
Approximately 230 participants attended the series of meetings, providing comments and feedback on the four design plan options. In addition to in-person opportunities, residents were provided the ability to provide their comments and thoughts online via the project website to the design team.
As of November 1, 2023 the City received 130 project emails, 104 website submissions and 724 handwritten comments received during the public workshops. The majority of comments received were from Coronado Cays residents.
City Council Direction – December 2023
The four park plan options were shared with the City Council at their December 5, 2023 meeting.
After review of all public comments received and feedback from the Parks & Recreation Commission, the City Council directed the design team to move forward with development of a Preferred Plan Design that incorporates the following main elements:
• maintain 75% of the current field space for active programmed use, • include an additional turf space for unprogrammed/passive recreation, • adopt the Natural and Cultural Wonders of the Silver Strand theme, • keep the dog park substantially the same size including fencing with shrubs and enclosed fencing,
• retain the current location of the tennis and pickleball courts with four tennis and eight pickleball courts. Explore additional pickleball courts, if space allows. • include a softball backstop but not a skinned infield, • maintain a full-sized basketball court,
• remove the cul-de-sac to create additional recreation space, • preserve approximately the same number of existing parking spaces, • eliminate the concrete median noses in specified locations on Cays Boulevard to create additional street parking to offset any loss of parking due to the removal of the cul-desac, • exclude a direct connection with the Bayshore Bikeway, • implement an improved and ADA accessible playground,
• explore options for fitness stations or a fitness hub, • include a sunset view deck and hill, reducing the west wall height to accommodate enhanced views, with a secure design,
• install pedestrian security lighting and court lighting with no permanent ballfield lighting but exploring portable lighting alternatives,
• select trees and their placement to minimize impact on views, • uses fabric shade structures where possible to minimize view impacts, • include flexible open space for park events,
• include opportunities for public art,
• construct one larger restroom, potentially similar to the Spreckels Park restrooms.
ANALYSIS:
Preferred Plan Design and Public Outreach (Phase II)
Based on public feedback received through 2023 and City Council direction, the Schmidt Design Group produced a preferred design that incorporates all of the aforementioned design elements.
The design team then engaged the public to solicit additional feedback on the preferred plan.
Twelve ads were placed in local newspapers to notify the community of opportunities for participation, and the workshops were also promoted on social media.
Three additional public workshops were held to solicit additional feedback on the preferred plan:
• Community Workshop #1 – March 14, 2024, Coronado Library Winn Room • Community Workshop #2 – March 18, 2024, Cays Homeowners Association • Parks and Recreation Commission – May 6, 2024
Approximately 140 people attended the two workshops. In addition, an online feedback survey has been available on the City’s project website starting March 14 through May 6 for members of the public to share their thoughts on the preferred plan design. The Preferred Plan is included in Attachment 1.
On May 6, 2024, the public was also invited to participate in the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting as they reviewed the Preferred Plan. A draft summary of the May 6, 2024 Parks and Recreation Commission minutes and comments from the Commissioners is included as Attachment 7. Commissioners voted 4-0 in support of the Preferred Plan and encouraged the design team to look at the possibility of adding an additional small bathroom near the tennis and pickleball courts.
In the Phase II Outreach, as of May 7, 2024, the City received 16 project emails, 13 website survey submissions and 26 comments during the public workshops. The majority of comments received were from Coronado Cays residents. Feedback from the public in Phase II can be summarized by the following themes: support for the Preferred Plan, support for no changes to the park, support for maintaining the existing length of the dog park, lack of support for the overall cost of the park improvements, and general support for the sunset deck, children’s playground, and fencing for the dog park. A copy of all public comments received through Phases I and II is included in Attachment 5, with Phase II comments starting on page 357 of the attachment.
In addition, the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association (CCHOA) sent staff a letter supporting the preferred plan on April 10. The CCHOA also suggested within the letter that the City look at charging a fee to sports leagues for use of storage areas within the park.
Cost Estimate and Project Phasing
As part of the overall scope of the Master Plan, the City hired Psomas Engineering to provide Preliminary Cost Estimates of the Preferred Design Plan option produced by Schmidt Design Group. The estimate is a summary of probable construction costs, including prevailing wage, bonding, and design/construction contingencies which total $31.1 million.
A phasing plan for the project has also been developed with three phases to minimize impacts to existing programming at the park during construction periods. A description of amenities within each phase and a cost breakdown is included as Attachment 4 and is summarized as follows:
• Phase 1 – Dog Park, Sunset Deck, Native, Gardens, Kite Hill, and Children’s Playground = $10.5 million
• Phase 2 – Two Turf Fields, Plaza, Parking Lot = $8.5 million • Phase 3 – Pocket Park, Basketball Court, Tennis and Pickleball Courts, Turf Field, Maintenance Facility, Storage = $12.2 million
The City will explore state and federal funding options, such as State Park grants, to help achieve financing goals as part of development of the final Cays Master Plan. The City is also currently reviewing long term maintenance costs for the park once fully renovated.
Next Steps
The second phase of public workshops and outreach has been completed. If the City Council chooses to approve the Preferred Plan option, it will be integrated into the overall Master Plan document that will serve as the long-term roadmap for future improvements to Cays Park. If adopted, staff will integrate the project into the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan based upon City Council feedback on phasing and further explore options for the future funding of the park renovation including coordination of the project with future construction of the Cays Fire Station.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The cost of services outlined by the current agreement with Schmidt Design Group totals $225,967 with funding allocated in the Cays Park Master Plan project account (40070000-97170- 18008). Cost estimates for the future renovation of Cays Park will be determined by the amenities selected and project scope determined by City Council.
ALTERNATIVE:
City Council could choose to not adopt the Cays Park Master Plan or provide additional direction to staff on the Preferred Plan and project phasing.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT:
This activity is not considered a project as defined by CEQA and is therefore exempt from environmental review. Environmental review will occur in conjunction with permitting and execution of a construction contract.
PUBLIC NOTICE:
No notice required.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Preferred Park Design
2. Preferred Park Design – Park Amenities Summary
3. Preferred Park Design – Parking Summary
4. Cays Park Phasing Plan
5. Summary of Feedback Received from Public – Phase I and Phase II
6. Letter from the Cays Homeowners Association – April 4, 2024
7. Draft Minutes from Parks & Recreation Commission – May 6, 2024 Submitted By: City Manager's Office / Tony Winney