ATTACHMENT F
February 8, 2022 Page 1 of 3
Update on Park Planning Priorities
A two-year limited-term Senior Park Planner position was restored with the FY21-23 Biennial Budget aided by one-time American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds. With the City’s 2020 organizational restructuring, long-term park planning was moved from the former Community and Cultural Services Department (now the Community Services Department) into Community Development (formerly Planning and Community Development). Specifically, the park planning function was moved into the City Planning Division to better align long-range park and open space planning with the City Planning Division’s citywide planning efforts.
After discussion with Community Services and Public Works staff (e.g. Community Recreation, Public Landscape, Architectural Services) involved in maintaining, operating, and improving parks, the following represents the priority work plan for the two-year limited term position:
1. Policy Development & Action Plan – Revisit Parks & Recreation Master Plan Update Through Data Collection and Analysis related to park system and the beach. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan (PRMP) Update will be revisited in order to provide an updated framework for the PRMP in light of new realities (both economic and the way that parks are used) brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The intent in revisiting the PRMP is to develop an action plan for the PRMP’s broad vision for parks to guide decision-making. Revisiting the PRMP will involve four major components:
• Park Condition Assessment – This will be done in partnership with Architectural Services staff to assess the physical condition of park infrastructure to create data that will inform how to prioritize the replacement and maintenance of parks infrastructure. o Example of why this is important: There are several playgrounds that are closed because they have been discovered to have reached the end of useful life.
Some are so old that there are no longer replacement parts available to maintain them and therefore must be removed. There are also instances where basketball courts that need resurfacing have been required to be closed due to safety concerns. The lack of understanding of the condition of parks infrastructure hinders the City’s ability to budget and plan for future needs. • Park Use Study – This is a study to gather information on how existing parks and open space are being used and better understand park users’ evolving needs. Based on similar types of park use studies, the study would consist of intercept surveys, entrance counts, and observations. The Senior Park Planner would seek to partner with academic institutions to develop scope and cost of the study to prepare a funding proposal. This study is not funded and part of the effort would include identifying alternative funding sources.
• Internal Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Parks – This assessment would be conducted internally by City staff to understand the financial impacts to the park system due to the COVID-19 emergency that resulted in budget cuts that impacted operation of facilities, eliminated programs, and park maintenance. Throughout the COVID-19 emergency, public parks have taken on new meaning as places of recreation, respite, and enjoyment for the community. This internal assessment would provide opportunity to review information from across the organization on how the role of parks has changed with the pandemic, the new ways that parks are being used, and how to adjust and plan for a new reality of reduced resources.
ATTACHMENT F
February 8, 2022 Page 2 of 3
• These data collection efforts will inform decisions regarding the park system. Previously, data collection occurred in an ad-hoc manner largely in response to questions or community requests. It is often time-consuming to find data or information is unknown, meaning that decisions could be made without fully understanding long-term impacts on the park system and affected user groups. Data and analysis will also help to develop strategies for complex park amenities (e.g. sports courts, sports fields, dog parks) and formalize a process to evaluate and assess the demand for new and emerging park activities.
2. Provide Guidance for Parks Capital Improvements. New parks improvements that are driven by health and safety concerns is a priority of Community Services, Public Works, and Community Development. While the project management of CIP projects will be led by client divisions (e.g.
Community Recreation, Public Landscape), the park planner will evaluate capital projects within the overall framework of the PRMP and provide guidance to collaborating departments on the proposed park improvements. In this role, the park planner has and will continue to support project initiation, concept development, and feasibility assessment and advise during consultant selection and design phase in order to ensure alignment between improvements and long-term vision. There are some parks capital improvement projects (CIPs) in process that have identified funding (e.g. Douglas Park Playground Reconstruction, Marine Park Community Gardens) and others that are CIP requests to address immediate health and safety concerns. These are projects that already have City funding and were previously in progress but do not include new ideas or projects that would require significant commitment of staff resources and additional funding or partnerships, unless they are necessary to address immediate health and safety concerns.
3. Seek Alternative Funding Sources & Partnerships for More Significant New Parks Improvements. There are a number of projects that were in progress that will need to seek alternative funding sources. The park planner will focus on advising staff who are implementing those projects (e.g. Marine Park Park playground, which is already grant funded) and lead new community engagement efforts (e.g. 19th St lot). This work of identifying grants and partnership opportunities will build from the prioritization of projects resulting from revisiting the PRMP.
4. Support Development of Beach Master Plan/Management Plan. The beach has often been thought of as separate from the park system, but it is the City’s largest open space and vital to the City’s identity and economy. The Senior Park Planner would support the development of a beach master plan/management plan to inform the long-term sustainability of the beach with an emphasis on supporting the overall beach visitor experience in addition to setting a foundation for the 2028 Olympics. This is a collaboration of Community Development and Public Works staff and work is underway on the submittal of a grant funding proposal for a Beach Master Plan/Management Plan.
5. Support post-closure planning efforts for the Santa Monica Airport. The Santa Monica Airport could close after December 31, 2028. Planning for the evolution of the airport’s 227 acres after its closure will be an expansive interdepartmental and community-driven effort. There are significant opportunities for parks and recreation after the closure of the airport that require park planning expertise. The park planner would be a key partner for the Airport to Park conversion. Planning for the conversion of the airport will be a major effort that requires significant staffing and funding resources. Project management of this effort requires the focus
ATTACHMENT F
February 8, 2022 Page 3 of 3
of a full-time role with the ability to engage and sustain many community voices over a potentially long period of time. However, pending allocation of additional resources, the park planner in collaboration with Architectural Services could take steps to advance the following:
a. Work with Architectural Services to refine a scope of work in preparation for a RFQ to begin designing a community engagement process regarding the conversion of the airport into a park
i. Have the community engagement process be guided by preliminary research on models for conversion of the airport on the airport conversion b. Work with Economic Development to pursue partnerships and alternative funding for construction of the airport park expansion project as a first step towards future airport conversion
c. Collaborate with other departments to identify one-time and ongoing costs for a potential future park based on review and studies of other similar airport conversions This work plan represents a shift away from specific park projects in favor of a more strategic approach to park planning that relies on collecting data and assessing the park system as a whole in order to most efficiently direct limited funding and resources towards the highest priority park improvements.
Prioritization of parks capital improvements would be informed by data and a broad understanding of the tradeoffs and long-term impacts on the park system. Having a framework to prioritize capital improvements also allows the Senior Park Planner to be opportunistic in seeking alternative funding sources for these improvements.
This priority work plan was supported by the Recreation and Parks Commission at their September 23, 2021 meeting.