The Plano City Council made several changes to its long-term plan for future park spaces, trails, and facility needs this week.
During a meeting on July 24, council members voted to overhaul its park master plan.
Kendall Howard, a consultant from Halff and Associates hired by the city, explained that the park master plan is updated every five years, according to Community Impact.
The updated plan approved by the city council included novel map elements, including those to indicate potential parks or open spaces within the city. It also incorporated details about future needs for both new and pre-existing facilities — an important upgrade from the 2018 version.
While the park master plan is “a long-term action plan,” Howard added that nothing is set in stone.
“It’s not a funding document,” Howard continued. “[It’s] just identifying the needs and vision going forward, implementation of all the actions found within the park system plan made with council approval, and funded with voter-approved costs.”
This was confirmed by Ron Smith, Plano’s director of parks and recreation.
Responding to a question posed by Council Member Julie Holmer regarding whether the city had committed to funding any projects in the downtown areas outlined in the park master plan, Smith answered that it had not, according to Community Impact.
“The map is our best effort to try to identify parcels that could be available or could be identified as potential park land,” Smith explained while adding that having more green space downtown was a staff goal.
The update means the department will meet the criteria to benefit from future funding opportunities, as indicated in a city council agenda memo.
“Maintaining national accreditation ensures the department is performing at or above nationally recognized professional standards, allows for the potential to acquire grant funding for projects, and provides a higher level of accountability to residents,” the memo read.
Plano recently ranked No.4 in WalletHub’s national ranking of the best cities to raise a family. The methodology considered 45 different metrics related to family life, including the affordability of housing and the quality of the education system.
Despite ranking well, the city lost points for family recreation, which studied the number of playgrounds, the bike score, and the parkland acreage per capita.
Elsewhere in the metroplex, several other park projects are in progress.
For instance, the City of Celina recently revealed plans to build a massive 100-acre park to the tune of $50,750,000, as The Dallas Express reported. Wilson Creek Park is intended to help meet the growing demand of the city’s over 43,000 residents for recreational spaces.
The City of Dallas is also set to open a new urban park downtown, as reported by The Dallas Express. Harwood Park is expected to open on nearly 4 acres of land this fall and will feature a splash pad, a pickleball and other sports court, a dog park, a playscape for kids, and an amphitheater.
