To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Jeff Brauer, Director of Parks and Recreation
Title
Discussion/Direction: Neighborhood Park Site Selection Recommendation
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this agenda item is to request Town Council direction regarding the development of the next neighborhood park in Castle Rock.
The Town of Castle Rock has $2 million available in the 2018 budget to construct the next neighborhood park. Currently, five sites located throughout Town are viable for development. To determine the next park site, staff created criteria to assist in prioritizing the selection. Criteria include nearby existing public and private recreation amenities, nearby existing access to open space and trails, anticipated development cost, recreation programming potential, the current population density and projected growth rate and the operational budget impact. A visual of this assessment can be viewed in the matrix and graphics in Attachment A, along with a map.
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
In addition, 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. In addition, several residents for Castlewood Ranch have indicated the desire for a less developed condition for the park site in their neighborhood and have requested the Castlewood Ranch property be funded for a less costly natural area development.
Park staff is recommending that the Meadows Filing 18 site be considered for development in 2018. This park has the largest surrounding population and includes the Meadows Filing 18 neighborhood, as well as large portions of the Red Hawk 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.
Background
The Parks, Recreation, Trails and Open Space Master Plan establishes service levels for neighborhood parks. These service levels require that 8-acres of parkland per 1,000 residents is set aside for new park development and that residents can access their neighborhood park within a half-mile service radius. Metro-districts and schools also provide localized pocket parks to residents.
New neighborhood park development is funded through impact fees generated by community growth. State statute mandates that this funding is spent on new park development, as opposed to park renovation, repair or updates. Park impact fees are collected at the time of building permit and are used to finance both parks and indoor recreation facility development. Recently constructed parks and facilities using this fund include: Matney Park in Sapphire Point (2007), Rhyolite Park in Crystal Valley Ranch (2007), Bison Park in the Meadows (2008), Wrangler Park in Terrain (2012), Philip S. Miller Park (2014-2016) and the Miller Activity Complex (MAC) and Festival Park Downtown (2017).
To select the next park site, staff constructed a prioritization matrix that can be viewed in Attachment A. Each site was ranked by the established criteria. The criteria were then weighted accordingly:
• Current population density and anticipated growth rate within a half-mile radius - 30%
• Public amenities that exist within half-mile service radius - 25%
• Private parks that exist within half-mile service radius - 15%
• Access to open space and trails within half-mile service radius - 10%
• Recreational programming potential - 10%
• Anticipated cost of development - 5%
• Operating budget impact - 5%
Based on the above weighting and criteria, the Meadows Filing 18 Lot 2 was selected as the recommendation for the next neighborhood park. Meadows Filing 18 Lot 2 has the most populated service area and presents a cost-effective option with existing infrastructure.
Public Outreach
Staff presented background information for site selection to the Parks and Recreation Commission on Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Commission members also toured each of the potential sites at the August 16, 2017 Commission meeting.
Informational public meetings to discuss the selection process and decision making criteria were held Monday, August 21, 2017 and Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at the Millhouse at Philip S. Miller Park. Approximately a dozen residents attended each meeting. The Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously made a recommendation to Town Council to select the Meadows Filing 18 site at their September 20, 2017 meeting.
In addition, an online survey was posted to the Town of Castle Rock website and total of 547 submissions were received. The following information provides a summary of the survey results. Detailed responses can be found in Attachment B.
Please describe your household.
Adult couple (37 responses, 6.8%)
Family with children under 12 (441 responses, 80.6%)
Family with teenagers (59 responses, 10.8%)
Retirees (8 responses, 1.5%)
Single (2 responses, 0.4%)
Which park do you use most?
543 of 547 Answered (99.3%)
Bison Park (109 responses, 19.9%)
Butterfield Crossing Park (33 responses, 6.0%)
Castle North Park (4 responses, 0.7%)
Centennial Park (2 responses, 0.4%)
Founders Park (29 responses, 5.3%)
Gemstone Park (6 responses, 1.1%)
Matney Park (34 responses, 6.2%)
Metzler Ranch Park (10 responses, 1.8%)
Mitchell Gulch Park (6 responses, 1.1%)
Other (61 responses, 11.2%)
Paintbrush Park (28 responses, 5.1%)
Philip S. Miller Park (164 responses, 30.0%)
Plum Creek Park (3 responses, 0.5%)
Rhyolite Regional Park (25 responses, 4.6%)
Wrangler Park (29 responses, 5.3%)
Of the below list of possible future park sites, what would be your first priority?
543 of 547 Answered (99.3%)
Castlewood Ranch Tract L (71 responses, 13.0%)
Cobblestone Ranch Tract L (95 responses, 17.4%)
Crystal Valley South/Park School (19 responses, 3.5%)
Meadows F18 Lot 2 (321 responses, 58.7%)
Terrain Lot 2 (37 responses, 6.8%)
Staff Recommendation
Staff is recommending the 5.5 acre park site located in the Meadows Filing 18 adjacent to Aspen View Charter be considered for development in 2018.
Attachments
Attachment A Capital Prioritization Matrix and Background Information
Attachment B Park Site Selection Survey Responses