Attachment 3
1 Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan – January 2026 City Council and Community Feedback Summary of Feedback Themes and Plan Revisions
On January 27, 2026, the City Council held a Study Session to review and provide feedback on the draft Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan (Plan), which had been available for public review beginning January 13, 2026. During the public review period, staff met with community members and received written input through the project website and by email. During the Study Session, Councilmembers offered positive feedback on the Plan’s accuracy and completeness, as well as the goals, strategies, and action plan. Council also directed staff to make revisions in the following areas:
• Establishing a new goal focused on biodiversity and natural park design elements and incorporating the importance of parks as part of the natural environment throughout the Plan;
• Refining and strengthening the Plan’s vision statement; • Allocating trail corridor acreage by Planning Area;
• Adding an Action Item to continue to expand Learn-to-Swim opportunities; and • Integrating opportunities for “Friends of Parks” groups and incorporating a review of POPA Standards within existing action items;
Due to the breadth of revisions, the updated draft is not presented in track changes format. The purpose of this attachment is to summarize the key themes raised by the City Council and community members, and to identify where and how those themes have been addressed in the revised Plan presented for Parks and Recreation Commission review on March 17, 2026.
Attachment 3
2 Feedback Theme Revision to Draft Plan
Establish a new goal focused
on Biodiversity
• Added Goal 2, Biodiversity, to Section 8.2 and Section 8.6.2, and renumbered existing goals
• Developed two strategies to support the new goal as noted in Section 8.4, Strategies
• Moved existing actions related to biodiversity from the Parks, Trails and Open Space Goal to the new Biodiversity goal and strategies (Section 8.6.2)
Allocate trail corridor acreage
by Planning Area.
Note:
Previously, all trail acreage
had been allocated entirely to
the North Bayshore Planning
Area. With this modification,
the acreage for any trail
segment that traverses
through a Planning Area is
allocated to that Planning
Area.
With this change, the Plan has
been updated to focus on
expanding park acres in
Planning Areas that fall below
2 acres per 1,000 residents
(previously the Plan proposed
focusing on Planning Areas
below 1.5 acres per 1,000).
The five Planning Areas with
the lowest level of service
(Rengstorff, Thompson,
Sylvan-Dale, Stierlin, and
Central) have not changed.
One additional Planning Area
(San Antonio) has been added
to create a list of six Planning
Areas with the lowest level of
service (under 2/acres per
1,000 residents).
• Allocated trail corridor acreage by Planning Area and added information to Section 5.4.4, Calculating Planning Area Level of Service, to speak to the trail corridor system and how the acreage is now allocated
• Updated Planning Area park acreage calculations in
Calculating Planning Area Level of Service (Section 5.4.4) and Appendix G to proportionally allocate trail corridor acreage to the applicable Planning Areas (North Bayshore, Rengstorff, Whisman, Stierlin, Central, and Grant), and
revised related Level of Service references accordingly • Updated the focus to Planning Areas below 2 acres/1,000 residents and added the San Antonio Planning Area to the list in the Executive Summary (Section 1.1.1 and 1.1.4), Introduction (Chapter 2), Calculating Citywide Level of Service and Planning Area Level of Service (Section 5.4.3 and Section 5.4.4), Neighborhood Park Investment (Section
7.4.1), Prioritization Criteria (Section 8.6.7), the Cost of Implementing the Action Plan and Potential Funding
(Section 8.6.8), and Performance Metrics (Section 8.7.2) • Based on trail corridor acres now included in multiple Planning Areas, updated the number of acres needed to
meet 3 acres per 1,000, not including the North Bayshore Planning Area, based on 2020 Census population data into The Cost of Implementing the Action Plan and Potential
Funding Options (Section 8.6.8) and Introduction (Chapter 2)
Attachment 3
3 Feedback Theme Revision to Draft Plan
Revise the vision statement • The revised vision statement is incorporated within the Executive Summary (Section 1.1.7), the Introduction
(Chapter 2), and Section 8.1, Vision Statement
Strengthen the integration of
natural elements in park
design
• Emphasized natural elements in Park Design Guidelines by Assessment Criteria (Section 6.1) for each key area – Access and Connectivity, Condition, Functionality, and Safety and Comfort
• Added a “Biodiversity Anchor” for each park type under Park Design Guidelines by Park Type (Section 6.2)
• Emphasized natural elements under “Potential Amenities” list for each park type under Park Design Guidelines by Park Type (Section 6.2)
• Incorporated language related to natural elements into Goal 2, Biodiversity (Section 8.2)
Add an Action to continue to
expand Learn-to-Swim
opportunities
• Added Action 3.1.7 to Action Plan (Section 8.6) to continue to expand access to Learn-to-Swim opportunities, with an emphasis on youth water safety
Add to Action 4.1.7 or Action
2.2.1 (previous action item
numbers): Look at
opportunities to create
Friends of Parks groups
• Added milestone to Action 3.2.1 in Action Plan (Section 8.6) to evaluate how opportunities to work with Friends of Parks- style groups could be included within the Council Work Plan project to create a volunteer partnership framework
• Added milestone to Action 5.1.7 in Action Plan (Section 8.6) to explore the feasibility of a “Friends of Parks” or similar nonprofit support model
Expand options for staff to
look into POPA standards as
part of the update to Chapter
41 • Updated Action 5.1.2 in Action Plan (Section 8.6) to incorporate a review and potential update to POPA
Standards as part of updating Chapter 41
Add an Action to incorporate
inclusive design
improvements into existing
parks
• Added Action 1.2.9 to Action Plan (Section 8.6) to
incorporate inclusive design improvement in existing parks guided by the City’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan
Further emphasize park
design for all abilities
• Emphasized park design for all abilities in Park Design Guidelines by Assessment Criteria (Section 6.1) and Park Design Guidelines by Park Type (Section 6.2)
• Added Action Item 1.2.9 to Action Plan (Section 8.6)