Chaska shows community feedback, narrows choices for Southwest Park; staff aims to balance sports, nature and play

Chaska presents Southwest Park plan update Chaska City staff presented a summary of phase‑2 community engagement on the proposed Southwest Chaska Park to the City Council on Aug. 18, reporting roughly 3,500 unique website visitors, more than 4,500 total visits and about 1,100 completed surveys. The presentation, given by Marshall (city staff member), summarized three conceptual themes — sport, nature and play — developed from earlier outreach and tested with residents. Marshall said the concepts were intentionally “aspirational in the planning process” and meant to show how different elements could fit on the site. Staff described broad agreement across the three concepts but noted different audiences favored different features. "Nature play area scored the highest, followed by splash pad, open grass and lawn area, rectangular soccer fields," Marshall told the council during his summary of the ranked items from the survey. Open comments also repeatedly asked about inclusive playground elements, year‑round usability and parking and access around large gatherings. What residents said and why it matters The…