DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Xavier D. Urrutia, Director
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-Wide
SUBJECT:
Briefing on the proposed public engagement process for the SA Parks System Plan
SUMMARY:
A briefing on the proposed public engagement process for the SA Parks System Plan.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On March 30, 2017, City Council approved a professional services agreement with Bender Wells Clark Design for the SA Parks System Plan (System Plan). The development of the System Plan will continue to provide a foundation to guide San Antonio’s parks system and the future planning decisions impacting service delivery to the citizens of San Antonio concerning capital improvement needs, operations and recreation programs. Unique to the System Plan will be an assessment of the Parks and Recreation Department’s Urban Forestry Program. This assessment will result in a plan that will provide goals and objectives, policies and best practices which will serve as a guideline for the Urban Forestry Program. The System Plan will also demonstrate consistency and implementation of the City’s SA Tomorrow Plan: Comprehensive, Sustainability and Multimodal Transportation Plans. Particular attention will be given to the Comprehensive Plan’s goals, policies, implementation strategy and place types as they pertain to issues affecting parks and recreation services. The SA Tomorrow framework has created an opportunity for park planning, development and programming to be central in defining places and enhancing recreational development in San Antonio. The System Plan’s approach will build on SA Tomorrow’s planning efforts to further define how to shape multi-functional public open spaces that provide great user experiences.
The park system planning effort will be a multi-disciplinary, multi-objective and grounded in community and staff participation. To build momentum and a constituency for implementation; a targeted stakeholder and community involvement plan is envisioned. The public engagement plan will ensure input from the community at large, user groups and key stakeholders through a variety of outreach methods. The focus will be to maximize the use of technology and include event based activities to gather community input.
The public input process will use a combination of methods and opportunities for both English and Spanish speaking audiences. Central to the public input process will be a series of community workshops intended to engage the public and solicit input from every sector of the city. Additional community meetings will occur towards the latter end of the planning process to review progress and present the final draft. In an effort to promote the community workshops, the Parks Department will sponsor five interactive events-based strategic system planning activities at various parks. These events will allow for promotion of the upcoming planning process while providing an initial opportunity for the community to give feedback.
In addition to the community workshops, the public input effort will employ: Stakeholder interviews, Community intercepts, Focus groups, and Online Surveys (English/Spanish).
Materials will communicate the development of the System Plan through design branding:
• Establishment of a project-specific webpage hosted on the City’s website
• Cross-link to other parks and recreation sites and relevant social media accounts
• Opportunities for the public to view frequently asked questions and give comments
The engagement plan will be tracked and adjusted as the process continues to ensure sufficient public engagement opportunities. Some of those methods will include:
• Existing social networks will be utilized to bring more people into the process
• Locally based engagement at churches, schools, service-clubs, and social groups
• Target related organizations as conduits for updates and engagement
• Deploy user-friendly online tools
ISSUE:
This briefing will outline the proposed public engagement process. The project team will develop a detailed plan for public engagement designed to maximize participation.
ALTERNATIVES:
This briefing is for informational purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This briefing is for informational purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This briefing is for informational purposes only.