7B - Park Dedication - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

the needs of residents in the community. Typically, a City would initiate a parks planning IN-1 process to study the recreation opportunities available and needed within the City, and then adjust Ordinances from there. The City can also use a simplified calculation based on estimates provided through various sources. The Staff recommends that the City,at some point in the near future,update and clarify the following process with a full parks and open space plan, so that all park needs are assessed and direction is given to the City on how funds should be spent and where properties should be acquired. Basic Park Needs Analysis: i. The standards indicate that rural communities with a good supply of recreation opportunities tend to have 12 — 15 acres of city parkland per 1,000 residents. Given the recreational character of the community,this analysis will use the standard of 15 acres of city parkland per i,000 residents. 2. The City of Pequot Lakes has 1,956 year-round residents, according to the State Demographic Center for 2005 population estimates. Based on the standard listed above, the City should have approximately 29.34 acres of city-owned parkland available to serve the needs of current year-round residents. 3. At last month's meeting, the Commission discussed the inclusion of the seasonal population in this value. Our most recent seasonal population estimate is based on the U.S. Census Bureau information, which states that 55 of the housing units in the City were for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use, resulting an addition 121 seasonal residents,by using the average household size for the City. The total population,then,to be served by the City's recreational resources is 2,077 people. 4. Within the City, there is currently roughly 29 acres of city-owned parkland available. It appears that the City is on par with meeting the acreage needs for existing year-round residents. To serve the increase in seasonal population, the City should have 31.16 acres of parkland available. The City is currently short by 1.82 acres of land. These unmet park needs should be included in the calculations for park dedication. a. There was a question on what lands make up the 29 acres of parkland listed here. The Staff used the following lands, whether they are developed as parkland or not, to calculate this value: all city-owned land except City Hall, any land within the business park,and public maintenance land.Included were the following: i. Bobber Tower(0.4 acres) ii. Field of Dreams(6.41 acres) iii. Sibley Park(7.65 acres) iv. Garten Circle(0.26 acres estimated) v. Tower Square(0.83 acres) vi. Trailside Estates Park(0.46 acres estimated) vii. Trailside Park(4.37 acres) viii. City public water access(0.24 acres) ix. Other city-owned properties(8.42 acres) b. The City could simply use the land that is actually developed (or planned to be developed in near future) as parkland. That would subtract the Field of Dreams property, Garten Circle, and the other city-owned properties, resulting in a total Of 14.25 acres of existing parkland.This would change our parkland requirements in the forthcoming steps. These changes will be shown in parenthetical bold text for comparative purposes. City of Pequot Lakes Staff Report 6-2 May r7,2007