To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Jeff Brauer, Director or Parks and Recreation
Title
Department Updates: Neighborhood Park Site Selection Recommendation
Body
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Executive Summary
On October 17, 2017, Parks and Recreation Staff will present an agenda item to Town Council for discussion to seek direction to select the next neighborhood park project. The Town anticipates developing five to eight acres of parkland within an allotted $2 million budget. Park and recreation impact fee funds are already allocated for this project in the 2018 budget.
Evaluation criteria were applied to five sites located throughout Castle Rock. Evaluation criteria was assessed within a half-mile service area of each site and included: existing public and private recreation amenities, access to open space and trails, anticipated development cost, recreation programming potential, population density and the operational budget impact.
Staff analysis of the criteria established a development preference as follows:
1. Meadows Filing 18 Lot 2
2. Castlewood Ranch Tract L
3. Cobblestone Ranch Tract L
4. Crystal Valley South / Park School Site
5. Terrain Lot 2
An online survey was posted to the Town of Castle Rock website and total of 547 responses were received. Survey submissions indicated a preference for the Meadows Filing 18 park site, garnering almost 60 percent of support, followed by Cobblestone Ranch at 17.4 percent. It is important to note that the criteria were weighted toward the total number of residents and amenities within a half-mile service radius. If the service radius was to be extended to a mile or greater, the results may change. Several residents of the Cobblestone Ranch neighborhood commented on this weighting and pointed out that they are the only neighborhood that does not have access to a Town park within their development.
The Parks and Recreation Commission and staff is recommending that the Meadows Filing 18 site be considered for development in 2018. This park has the largest surrounding population and directly serves the Meadows Filing 18 and large portions of the Red Hawk Ridge neighborhood. The property is the smallest of the five, which may make it the best fit for the budget available, especially considering the adjacent existence of parking and infrastructure at Aspen View Academy Charter School.