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City outlines broad outreach plan for Open Space & Recreation update, emphasizes maintenance
Summary
The planning department presented a city-led engagement strategy and a newly completed maintenance plan as part of an Open Space & Recreation Plan update that must be approved by the state before Lowell can apply for related grants.
City planning staff described an in‑house community engagement program and a recently finished open-space maintenance assessment on March 18 as the city begins updating its Open Space & Recreation Plan (OSRP) ahead of a 2026 state submission deadline.
Jess Wilson, design planner in the Department of Planning and Development, told the council the current plan expires in February 2026 and the updated document must be completed and submitted to keep Lowell eligible for state grant funding. The staff‑led outreach will include a digital “engagement station” with an online survey, a mobile engagement station that will visit at least six parks, volunteer park-assessor training and a stewardship summit for organizations that manage public space.
Wilson also highlighted findings from a recently completed maintenance plan that recommends prioritizing preventive maintenance, adjusting staffing, and shifting underused areas to lower‑maintenance landscape types. “Maintenance is the number one thing that comes up when we do community engagement around parks and public spaces,” Wilson said.
Councilors supported referring the plan to a parks subcommittee for more detailed follow-up and asked for specifics about how parks were selected for the maintenance assessments and how goals would be prioritized.
