Public Services Committee certifies Cheyenne Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2025 for council approval

The City of Cheyenne Public Services Committee on March 3 voted to recommend certification of the Cheyenne Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2025 and will forward the resolution to the City Council for final action.

Jeanne Shrednak, Parks and Greenway Planner, presented the staff report and described the plan as a 10-year vision produced after substantial public outreach. Shrednak said the planning process included a project steering committee, six focus-group sessions (53 attendees), two online surveys (one with 710 responses), a community workshop and open house (41 participants), presentations to the press, and multiple stakeholder meetings; she summarized that the project reached nearly 900 people across engagement activities. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on Feb. 3, accepted public comment and adopted the master plan.

Consultant Anna Laybourne of Design Workshop and support firm Ballard King and Associates delivered a condensed presentation outlining the plan—s purpose, themes and implementation approach. The plan documents an inventory of 31 public parks, roughly 412 acres of natural lands, about 58 miles of trails, eight outdoor sports complexes and seven indoor community facilities. It outlines five themes: active year round (including exploration of indoor recreation and capacity improvements), meeting more needs (equity-focused neighborhood priorities and improved access), celebrating community culture and place, environmental stewardship (short-grass prairie, habitat, natural resources), and aligning and expanding funding sources to maintain and implement the plan—s priorities.

Shrednak and Laybourne described public feedback on the draft plan: the December—January draft-plan review drew 52 respondents, 42 written comments and a range of sentiment with about 40 of 52 respondents indicating alignment with the plan—s themes. Common requests included more emphasis on indoor recreation and aquatics, winter activities, and clearer attention to special-needs and South Cheyenne neighborhoods. The plan—s equity mapping combined multiple variables (poverty, vehicle access, housing tenure, health indicators, tree canopy, impervious surfaces, flood risk and others) into composite priority zones to pinpoint underserved neighborhoods; staff said the methodology and data sources are detailed in Appendix C.2 (appendix materials are available on the project website and on the city—s S Drive).

Committee members asked for clarification on the equity mapping methodology; staff and the consultant said data sources included CDC PLACES, American Community Survey multi-year estimates (ACS), FEMA and NLCD for canopy/impervious/flood risk, and other best-available data; staff pointed attendees to Appendix C.2 for full methodology. Committee discussion also raised questions about the parks department—s role versus private providers (Dr. Aldridge urged caution about duplicating services private businesses or workforce agencies provide) and emphasized volunteer engagement and accessibility for people with mobility or special needs. A resident, Melissa Leger, offered public comment praising the parks system and volunteers.

A committee member moved to approve the resolution certifying the Cheyenne Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2025; Dr. Aldridge moved and Councilman White seconded in committee, and the committee approved the recommendation by voice vote. Committee members reiterated that certification establishes a guiding vision for the next 10+ years and does not itself authorize funding for individual projects; each action item will come forward separately with opportunities for public input and budgeting review.