November 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 37

development of a project charter,
project plan and a readiness audit.
Careful and thoughtful planning is
critical to identifying opportunities to generate greater resiliency
and sustainability benefits for the
community, as well as building the
credibility and support needed to
implement key recommendations.
The eventual success or failure of
many plans can be traced to the
amount of time spent initiating
and planning the process. Once a
PRSMP process begins, it is very
difficult to change its scope, budget
and deliverables midstream.
A key component of the initiation phase is the identification of
the desired, alternative " dimensions " of parks and recreation
planning to be addressed during
the process, as listed in Figure 2.
Identification of these dimensions
during the initiation phase has direct implications for the makeup
of the project team, the scope of
work, the areas of focus and the
eventual success of the project.

Decision-Making
Framework
Another feature of the new PRSMP
approach is a more thoughtful and
nuanced " decision-making framework " to replace absolute standards
and classifications, providing parks
and recreation agencies with the
freedom and flexibility to respond
to community issues and needs.
Such a framework may include:
the agency's mission and vision;
agency and community values;
guiding principles; residents' needs
and priorities; community context;
desired experiences; and servicedelivery models. Collectively, these
components encourage thoughtful,
context-based solutions rather than
pre-conceived standards.

Figure 2: Alternative Dimensions of Parks
and Recreation System Planning
* Accreditation by the Commission for
Accreditation of Parks and Recreation
Agencies (CAPRA)
* Before- and after-school care
* Bicycle and pedestrian access
* Branding
* Capital improvement program
* Commercial recreation
* Compliance with Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA)
* Comprehensive plan goals
* Construction delivery methods
* Cost recovery
* Crime prevention through environmental
design (CPTED)
* Design standards and details
* Economic development
* Educational opportunities
* Environment
* Esports
* Flood control
* Funding
* Gentriﬁcation
* Green infrastructure
* Health and wellness
* Homelessness
* Impact fees
* Income inequality
* Land development codes
* Land use

Feedback and Consensus
Building
The new approach provides numerous opportunities throughout the
planning process to pause, present
and discuss interim findings; determine if additional lines of inquiry
are needed; and build consensus
with key stakeholders and decisionmakers regarding the direction of
the process. Typical formats (online or in-person) often include
staff review meetings, stakeholder focus group meetings, advisory
committee presentations, and oneon-one briefings and workshops
with elected officials. Such feed-

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Level-of-service standards
Marketing
Mental health
Needs and priorities
Neighborhood stabilization
Operations and maintenance
Opioid abuse
Organizational mission and role
Organizational structure
Park classiﬁcations
Partnerships
Permitting
Political priorities
Programs - recreation, social, educational
Quality of life
Redevelopment
Resource protection
Safety
Sea-level rise
Service delivery models
Social equity
Staﬃng
Stormwater treatment
Technology
Tourism
Transportation
Wildlife habitat
Youth development
Source: Barth Associates, LLC

back loops are critical for eventual
approval, adoption and implementation of the master plan.

Evaluation of Existing
Conditions
While the traditional approach
to evaluating existing conditions
focuses solely on parks and recreation facilities, the new approach
also emphasizes the evaluation of
the specific dimensions identified
in the initiation phase. Each topic requires an in-depth analysis
of existing conditions and issues,
and their implications of the parks
and recreation system. For exam-

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Parks & Recreation

35
November 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2020 - Parks & Recreation
