Pleasanton Parks and Recreation Master Plan

MEMORANDUM Date: December 13, 2013 To: Mayor and City Council, Parks and Recreation Commission and Pleasanton Residents From: Nelson Fialho, City Manager Subject: Parks and Recreation Master Plan The City has a long tradition of engaging its residents, commissions and the City Council to assure that its parks, recreational facilities, open spaces and programs meet the community’s interests and expectations. The City also realizes the importance and value that residents place on having a broad range of high quality recreational options. This later point has most recently been reinforced with the completion of a 2013 Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates community survey which indicates that half of all residents visit city recreational facilities at least once weekly and that 75% of Pleasanton residents view the providing of recreational programs as extremely and/or very important. In recognition of the importance of recreational facilities and services, the City has recently directed considerable funding to new and/or expanded recreational facilities including the Alviso Adobe Community Park, Firehouse Arts Center, Dolores Bengtson Aquatic Center and the just completed Stoneridge Creek Neighborhood Park. Currently, the City is focused on developing the $16 million Phase II of the Bernal Community Park that will add three lighted all-weather multi-purpose sports fields and the 38-acre Oak Woodland open space area to the Bernal Property. While bringing these projects to fruition involves a detailed design and construction process, the process of identifying recreational needs, community interest and priorities requires an equally focused effort. The foundation for the planning of recreational parks and facilities is found in City land planning documents, such and the City’s General Plan, Specific Plans and planned unit developments (PUD). However, on occasion the City has conducted broad based long range planning processes focused specifically on recreational facilities and services. Most recently, in July 2012, the City Council entered into an agreement with RJM Design Group, Inc. to prepare a Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the purpose of providing a realistic and visionary guide for the creative, orderly development and management of parks, recreation facilities and program for the City, now and into the futures within the context of the General Plan. The result of that effort is the attached Parks and Recreation Master Plan (Master Plan) which is being presented to the City Council for its review and adoption.