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Parks & Recreation Strategic Plan
Final Report
Click on the links below to download pdf files of the Strategic Plan document:
Letter of Transmittal | Contents | Executive Summary | Introduction | Plan Components
Current Context | Data Collection and Analysis | Appendix - Members
Appendix - Communications | Appendix - Media | Appendix - Data
Executive Summary
Following successful completion of the Reed Road Water Park in 2005, City Council’s Pool Subcommittee and City Council as a whole decided an update was needed to the existing 1990 comprehensive plan governing all parks, facilities and programs. Council charged the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) with this undertaking. In accepting the request, the PRAB designed a process in early 2006, and, with Council agreement, began work on it with the aggressive goal of delivering the final product by year’s end.
Several key assumptions underpinned the process and the resulting plan: that volunteers from the community would prepare the plan, resulting in the creation of the Focus on the Future Task Force comprised of three City Council members, all PRAB members and initially nine at-large community members selected by the PRAB from a pool of applicants who responded to a public call for volunteers; that the plan would be fact-based, reflecting a sound understanding of the existing department and municipal contexts; that it would be derived from as much public input as could be obtained; and that it would be action-oriented, balancing the recommendation of specific actions with the flexibility to respond to changing circumstances in future years.
Throughout 2006 the Focus on the Future Task Force undertook extensive community outreach efforts to gather input from residents. We conducted numerous public surveys and interviews with staff and stakeholders, we researched the existing municipal context by examining policies, plans and other circumstances, and we investigated the parks and recreation programs in peer communities and national standards as the basis for potential comparisons. Extensive efforts were made throughout the yearlong process to communicate each step and its findings to the public, with a draft plan unveiled in January at the 2007 “State of the City Address.” Based on these efforts, the Task Force recommends the following actions.
Recommended Actions: Critical First Steps
Plans that sit on a shelf, unused, are meaningless. So too are inflexible plans that cannot respond to shifting circumstances that render their specific recommendations unachievable or no longer desirable. We intend this plan to be a dynamic guide for positive change that sets a direction and establishes goals while also providing the means to respond effectively to future circumstances. The active support of the department staff and City Council are initially critical for the plan to be effective, followed by widespread community support gained by the rapid accomplishment of actions that result in noticeable improvements to our park experience. These successes are a prerequisite for the continuing public support and participation needed to make more difficult and significant improvements. We recommend these steps to get started:
1) Formal adoption of the plan by City Council resolution;
2) Presentation of the plan to various municipal boards, commissions and civic organizations;
3) Development of a detailed 2007–08 work plan by the Parks & Recreation Department, with consultation from the PRAB, and its presentation to Council for approval by mid year;
4) Formulation of a professionally developed master plan for Langston/Sunny 95 Park;
5) Establishment of a community task force to direct a detailed feasibility study for a Northam Park recreation hub;
6) Establishment of a Field Sports Advisory Committee comprised of representatives of the field user groups to facilitate field programming and development;
7) Establishment of a centralized field scheduling process that partners with local schools and churches that have adjacent play fields and facilities, and with field user groups; and,
8) Initiation of an annual Parks & Recreation Department report and work plan presented to City Council during the budgeting process.
Context: A Plan Based on Fact and Public Input
This plan derives from facts and findings about the nature of the existing facilities and programs offered by the Parks & Recreation Department, as well as extensive public input. Among the most important facts and findings that shape this plan are:
• Community satisfaction with the Parks & Recreation Department is high, according to public input.
• The department offers a wide variety of facilities and programs, some of which are widely recognized as models in the region and state. Examples of this include: the LifeLong Learning and Leisure Division had 4,180 individual registrations in 2006, making it one of the largest adult enrichment programs in the state; in 1979, the Recreation Division was the first in Central Ohio to offer a wide variety of therapeutic recreation opportunities; the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival is the largest one-day arts festival in the state.
• Many of its facilities and programs are heavily used, often exceeding capacity; others such as the Senior Center and Tremont Pool are aging and in need of updating and significant maintenance or improvement to meet needs.
• Many recreation users must go outside the community to access public facilities, because UA either does not have the desired facility or the facility is inadequate to meet their needs. Examples of this in 2006 include: The Upper Arlington Swim Club (largest in the state) is renting pool space at various locations throughout Central Ohio; youth basketball programs are forced to schedule gym time at locations as far away as Berliner Park; in 2006 UA residents spent over $170,000 on recreational activities in Columbus, Dublin and Worthington.
• Many facilities/programs currently operate on a “pay to play” or self-supporting basis, limiting the department’s dependence on financial support from the general municipal fund (tax dollars);
• The community has little remaining undeveloped land, and the available park land is already tightly programmed.
• Many of the facilities and programs have critical relationships with other civic institutions, including the schools, library, churches and civic groups,
boards, and commissions. This suggests the vital need to partner with them whenever possible.
• The population is unlikely to change significantly in the foreseeable future, and approximately half the population is 50-years-old or older. Demographics suggest the percentage of the population in this age group will likely increase in the future.
• Public input suggests an extensive list of recommended actions; however, no single issue was voiced by a majority of respondents.
Vision: Focus on the Future
This plan envisions the facilities and programs offered by the Parks & Recreation Department in the foreseeable future to be more diverse, of higher quality, and more responsive to community interests, with easier accessibility, all while minimizing financial demands on the municipal general fund. To realize this vision we propose the department begin a sequence of improvements to be implemented in step with the availability of funding and partners, and the level of community support. These recommendations set a direction for the department to proceed but they do not dictate an outcome, enabling coordinated and directed action to occur while remaining flexible to changes in circumstances.
The first steps recommended in this plan, and those that will be contained in the initial annual work plan prepared by department staff based upon the data contained herein and PRAB input, include improvements most often requested by residents and staff that can be achieved largely within the department’s current capital improvements annual budget, in combination with the planning and funding participation of civic partners. These changes alone will improve the public’s level of satisfaction with the department’s operation.
However, the Senior Center and the Tremont Pool require major renovation due to their age and structural shortcomings. Their improvements are among the most commonly voiced recommendations by residents and staff. This plan proposes to capitalize on this opportunity and not just put a “Band-Aid” on these recreation cornerstones but, instead, to modernize them comprehensively, linking them to form a community hub at Northam Park in conjunction with the existing tennis courts and park space, Tremont Elementary School and the Public Library. This complex project will require the cooperation of the City with the UA school and library boards, and St. Agatha Parish, and the planning and financial participation of a host of civic partners.
The design for the Northam hub project will provide for the potential addition of other facilities that further serve the needs of all segments of our population, the additions to be determined by community interest and opportunities to partner with various civic groups.
How much will all this cost? How will it be paid for? Will residents who do not use a facility or program have to pay for it with tax dollars? These important questions cannot be answered at this time for there are far too many variables. Yet we should not let such legitimate concerns stop us from moving ahead with the next step to realize the vision — a feasibility study — for the vision is just that: a goal for the future. We believe the City should begin work toward that goal with small, immediate steps, and as success builds momentum, continue on the path toward the goal, ever responsive to shifts in public interests and emerging opportunities
What do we want our community to be in the foreseeable future? What amenities would we enjoy? The vision presented here represents our answer to these questions. But it will be our collective support for that vision that determines its fate. We are a community of neighbors with diverse interests and concerns as well as shared values. We love our community and can be at times cautious to pursue change because of our legacies here and satisfaction with the overall quality of life. Our vision, therefore, focuses on enhancing the future while addressing fundamental, immediate needs. We believe the changes it foresees will strengthen our community for everyone while not unduly or unfairly burdening anyone.
Guiding Principles: Criteria to Make Tough Decisions
While we set general goals and specific objectives for the implementation of our vision, we recognize that the sequence and pace of change will respond to many factors and influences beyond our control. Therefore, we recommend that Council and department staff rely upon the following principles when considering
proposed actions:
1) Provide a Diversity of Facilities/Programs that Serve Community Interests and Promote a Healthy Lifestyle
2) Protect Scarce Open Space
3) Partner Whenever Possible
4) Act as a Good Environmental Steward
5) Act as a Prudent Custodian of Existing Facilities
6) Make Every Park Count
7) Distribute Facilities and Uses Wisely
8) Minimize Cost to Taxpayers: “Pay to Play”
9) Maintain Responsiveness with Council and the Community
10) Coordinate Efforts with Other Municipal Departments and Plans
Goals: A Roadmap for Progress
We propose a set of Goals to direct change in the foreseeable future. Goals describe the overall intent for a group of related actions; objectives, listed later in this document, provide specific means to accomplish the goal. However, these Goals and their accompanying Objectives are not inviolate and will require annual reconsideration and revision as circumstances in the community shift. In conducting this reassessment the Parks & Recreation Department and the PRAB will rely upon the Guiding Principles.
1) Improve access to and connectivity with the parks and other recreational opportunities.
2) Enhance the provision of high quality aquatics facilities and programs.
3) Improve availability and range of field-based activities.
4) Provide indoor leisure/recreation opportunities for year-round use.
5) Improve park facilities and infrastructure.
6) Enhance nature-oriented areas, environmental programs, and park aesthetics.
7) Enhance the cultural- and art-based components of park facilities and programs.
8) Improve facilities for and operation of LifeLong Learning courses and other recreation - education programs.
9) Enhance the department’s administrative and management practices.
Intended Use: Making the Plan Work
This plan presents two types of recommendations: those that set direction, give guidance, or provide administrative framework, and those that list specific actions. Our policy and procedural recommendations will remain relatively unchanged from year to year and serve to maintain focus and consistency in action over the duration of this plan. However, we make little mention of the technical requirements, costs, timing, or other critical factors affecting the implementation of the specific actions that we list. Instead, we propose that such critical considerations be made each year by the Parks & Recreation Department staff, working in conjunction with the PRAB, when it develops the annual work plan. In formulating this plan, the staff and the PRAB will look first to the Goals and Objectives, the supporting data, and our Guiding Principles, to generate a list of proposed actions. These proposed actions will then be carefully evaluated based on their feasibility. In addition, the Goals and Objectives will be updated during this annual review as warranted by changes in circumstances. We believe this flexibility instills the overall plan with a dynamic nature to adapt to unforeseen opportunities and constraints, while simultaneously providing purposeful, coordinated direction for years to come.
Updated 4/07
Parks & Recreation Department
City of Upper Arlington
3600 Tremont Road
Upper Arlington, Ohio 43221
Phone: 614-583-5300
Fax: 614-442-3208
www.ua-ohio.net
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