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6 DATE: August 19, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Derek Schweigart, Parks and Recreation Director
Frank Fanara, Parks Maintenance Manager
DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT: REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PARKS MASTER PLAN
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council, by Minute Order, review and accept the attached Parks Master Plan Public Participation Plan.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On May 6, 2024, the City Council awarded a Professional Services Agreement to Wallace Roberts & Todd Design, LLC (WRT) to provide professional planning and consultant support services for the Parks Master Plan Project (CIP 301-682). The scope of services for this project includes the parks master plan preparation, an inventory and assessment report, project management, development and execution of a public engagement process, working closely with staff to prepare the Plan, and creating a document for distribution to the public.
On July 22, 2024, WRT met with staff to discuss the community engagement strategy, including the timeline, task force, stakeholder and focus group meetings, project website, and surveys. Based on this discussion, an initial Parks Master Plan Public Participation Strategy was drafted for City Council’s review and acceptance.
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6 BACKGROUND
In 2018, the City Council hired Placeworks, Inc. to assess the current Parks System and develop a long-term vision and strategy to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse population for the foreseeable future. The initial work of Placeworks resulted in a preliminary assessment of City parks, and a community survey that was distributed to determine any unmet needs. However, the City’s priorities changed and the Placeworks contract was terminated in the spring of 2019 before several of the planned public engagement tasks were completed.
In June of 2021, the City Council returned to the idea of developing a comprehensive plan for the entire City’s park system. As a first step, the City Council directed staff to create a community engagement strategy and survey tool and to seek comments and suggestions from the Parks and Recreation Committee on the outreach strategy before presenting it to the City Council for further direction. An initial survey was conducted by ZenCity in 2021, and results summarized in their December 2021 report. The survey results, while broad and non-specific, provided insights into park usage patterns, preferences, and suggestions for enhancing parks, as well as the accessibility and convenience of park amenities. However, given several management changes and limited capacity, the project was put on hold until a new Parks and Recreation Director was hired to lead the initiative.
On December 18, 2023, the City Council approved the Request for Proposal/Qualifications (RFP/Q) for professional services to develop a new Parks Master Plan. The RFP/Q was issued on January 4, 2024, with proposals due by February 2024.
On May 6, 2024, the City Council awarded a contract to WRT. Part C of the scope of services in the signed agreement includes a robust Public Participation Plan:
C. Outreach and Public Participation
1. WRT will develop and coordinate a robust Public Participation Plan that includes open houses, workshops, intercept events, pop-up kiosks, and online surveys. In coordination with the City, WRT will schedule public meetings with the community, focus groups and stakeholders to gather all information needed. WRT will recommend to the City the most effective way to reach as many people as possible including users and non-users of the existing parks and recreational areas. As a starting point, WRT proposes the following:
•Meetings with stakeholders, individually or in small groups (up to 3). Stakeholders should represent a cross-section of park users and residents.
•Pop-up events early in the process to raise awareness of the planning effort and gather informal feedback on vision and values (up to 3).
•Community workshops or open houses (two) that enable the planning team to share findings and relevant context and get input 7 3
6 on priorities for the future parks, recreation and open space system.
2. In coordination with the City, WRT will administer a project website and other online engagement tools to share ideas with the community members and keep them apprised of project updates. We anticipate using the website to conduct online surveys at two points in the process, coinciding with the two community workshops.
3. WRT will prepare handouts, flyers, posters, press releases and other media for distribution including posting on the City’s website and social media.
4. WRT will consult will and provide recommendations to a Parks Master Plan Task Force that may be created by the City which may include representatives from a wide cross section of community groups and advisory committees, such as the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Committee, City staff, and key stakeholder groups. The group will serve as a sounding board to vet options and strategies based on their inherent community knowledge and work as project ambassadors who will provide updates to their constituents and promote public participation. We propose 4 presentations to the Task Force.
5. WRT will conduct formal presentations to up to four meetings total of the City Council, and Parks and Recreation Committee, in addition to providing support for written staff reports and other important written documents.
ANALYSIS
WRT in coordination with City staff developed a comprehensive and strategic Public Participation Plan which will help advance and inform the project through key milestones in the Needs Assessment phase.
Core to the multilayered Public Participation Plan is the formation of a Parks Master Plan Task Force made up of volunteers from a cross section of community and facility user groups and advisory committees, such as the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Committee and City staff. Members serving on advisory committees will select their representative(s) to serve on the task force, while others will be asked to complete an application and interest form and selected by the project team. The proposed task force composition was informed by the previous community engagement work that occurred recently with the Recreation Center Rebuild Project (RCRP) and ones mentioned earlier in the staff report. The proposed composition of the task force will aim to include the following representation:
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6 Parks and Recreation Director (1) Parks Maintenance Manager (1) Recreation Manager (1) Parks and Recreation Committee (2) Planning Commission (1) Citizen Sustainability Advisory Committee (1) Youth Advisory Committee (2) Sports Organizations (3)
Cultural Group (1) Lagoon User Group (1)
55+ Seniors Club (1) Tennis Club (1)
Pickleball Club (1) Rotary Club (1)
Lions Club (1) Resident at large (1)
In addition to the proposed task force, WRT and staff are proposing to conduct focus group meetings with various park stakeholder groups whose interests may range from programming in the parks and sports fields, lagoon users, park concessionaires, dog owners, and other parks and recreation related agencies and organizations (school district, BCDC etc.).
The Public Participation Plan includes various opportunities for public participation including offering two Community Open Houses and Workshops for residents and facility users to attend, hosting various intercept events and pop-up kiosks, conducting both a statistically valid survey as well as other online surveys to reach the community where they are at. In addition, a project website will be created and maintained throughout the project allowing the community to stay informed of the project development and progress, as well as through various social media platforms. As part of the public participation process, The City Council will also receive frequent updates by staff, as well as consultant led presentations at key milestones of the project, all of which the public will have an opportunity to provide input. The Public Participation Plan as proposed by WRT and staff is attached.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
Not applicable
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to accepting the Parks Master Plan Public Participation Plan.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Facilities and Infrastructure
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Public Participation Plan