Madison plan commission recommends 2025–2030 Park and Open Space Plan with bike-parking mention added

The Madison Plan Commission voted unanimously on Sept. 15 to recommend adoption of the 2025–2030 Park and Open Space Plan as a supplement to the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan, with a friendly amendment to include an explicit reference to bicycle parking in the park development tables.

Interim Park Superintendent Lisa Lashinger, who led the presentation, told the commission the plan is the parks division’s five‑year strategic guide and “we are required to have an adopted park and open space plan in order to participate in state and federal grants.” She summarized the plan’s inventory, engagement work and recommended strategies, saying the city manages about 5,700 acres across more than 295 parks and that public input emphasized maintaining safe, welcoming spaces and balancing maintenance of existing facilities with new development.

The plan’s nut graf: the document aligns park policy with the City of Madison comprehensive plan and regional efforts, prioritizes connectivity, environmental resilience and inclusive programming, and crystallizes funding and partnership strategies the parks division says are necessary to meet growing demand.

Lisa Lashinger told commissioners the plan draws on two years of public engagement, including a mailed UW‑generated random survey, targeted BIPOC outreach, youth focus groups, open houses and a final public comment period in summer 2025. She noted demographic trends highlighted in the plan, including a projected near‑50% growth in residents 65 and older by 2040, and emphasized the plan frames strategies around the city’s seven comprehensive‑plan elements (land use and transportation; neighborhoods and housing; economy and opportunity; health and safety; culture and character; green and resilient; effective government).

A member of the public, Nicholas Davies of District 15, registered in opposition, urged the commission to include explicit bicycle‑parking requirements. Davies said he was “kinda surprised to not find any mention of bike parking,” recounting an experience at Monona Park where bike racks had been removed and saying omission risks treating bike parking as an optional “nice to have” rather than a default facility.

In response, Lashinger said bike parking is treated as a park furnishing considered during site planning and typically accounted for in equipment budgets: “We do consider bike parking to be bike, to be furnishings, and the cost is significantly less than installing a parking lot for vehicles.” She also confirmed there is no citywide parking minimum for bike parking in the Parks and Recreation (PR) zoning standard and that the zoning administrator currently evaluates bike‑parking needs case by case.

Commissioners discussed options for how the plan should reflect bike‑parking standards. Commissioner Heck suggested adding language to stress bike parking without prescribing a complex minimum formula. Commissioner Solheim proposed a friendly amendment to list bicycle parking as an amenity in Table 3.2 (the park amenities table). The mover and second accepted the amendment. The commission then voted, with no objections, to recommend adoption of the plan as amended; the motion was made by Alderfield and seconded by Alder Ugare.

The plan now proceeds to the Board of Park Commissioners (the lead body), and is expected to return to the Common Council for adoption; staff said the council is likely to adopt the plan in October, subject to further review and any changes from the Park Board or council deliberations.

Ending: The Park and Open Space Plan includes recommended actions, funding analysis and an implementation schedule that parks staff said will guide capital decisions, operations and partnerships over the next five years. Staff said they will return to the Board of Park Commissioners before the document reaches the Common Council and that they will work with zoning staff if the commission or Council requests more specific standards for bicycle parking.