York County committee asks staff to scope long-term parks and trails master plan

The York County Environmental and Healthy Environmental Protection Committee voted Sept. 18 to ask staff to prepare a scope for a long-term parks and recreation master plan and to return with options for consultant engagement.

Committee members front-loaded discussion on projects already under way at existing parks and recommended focusing next on completing design work so projects will be “shovel ready.” Catherine, Parks and Recreation director, told the committee, “one of the biggest things that we can do to set ourselves up for success is having shovel ready projects.” She listed priority capital items including remaining Greenway Trail mileage, a visitor center/maintenance facility, loop roads and parking at Catawba Bend, and design and construction phases for mountain bike and equestrian trails.

The motion asks staff to draft a long-term parks and recreation master-plan scope for committee consideration and possible consultant procurement. Assistant County Manager Tom Couch told the committee staff intends the planning work to dovetail with the county’s next comprehensive-plan update and a proposed 10-year capital improvement plan (CIP) for parks. “I would look at this first or initial 10-year CIP as kind of a placeholder for now,” Couch said, describing the CIP as a tool that will be refined as related planning efforts conclude.

Committee members discussed sequencing and funding. Staff noted past and current projects at Allison Creek Park, Catawba Bend (phase 1 under construction, with entrance road, gatehouse, restrooms, trails and a cross-country course already completed), Field Day Park (18 county-owned acres; a feasibility study funded in the current budget), Wood End (parking, trails and minimal access work underway) and Worth Mountain (equine trail and parking work funded by a prior $750,000 special-project award). Catherine said recent rain delayed some capital work and reiterated that full buildouts will depend on available funding; she gave a rough historical figure of roughly $7.5 million spent to date at Catawba Bend and noted a Greenway estimate of about $2,000,000 per mile.

Staff urged that well-developed, fully designed projects improve competitiveness for grants and earmarks. Catherine recommended prioritizing design work so staff can request a specific dollar amount for federal or state funding and “score higher” for grant evaluations. The committee discussed trade-offs between pursuing a standalone parks and recreation master plan versus embedding a parks element in the countywide comprehensive-plan update; several members said a dedicated parks plan would be more robust but that overlapping timing and shared data could reduce consultant costs.

Committee members asked staff to return with a draft scope that clarifies the intended level of stakeholder engagement, timing and cost estimates. Staff noted existing materials from an earlier Phase 1 plan, survey results, and Clemson-affiliated planning work that could be leveraged in a Phase 2 scope. The committee also discussed funding buckets and partnership options — including a county-level foundation to accept private donations and corporate sponsorships for parks and trails work.

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve minutes from the March 27, 2025 committee meeting — outcome: approved; mover/second: not specified; vote details not specified in the transcript. - Motion to ask staff to develop and present a scope for a long-term parks and recreation master plan (Phase 2) for committee consideration — outcome: approved; mover/second: not specified; vote details not specified in the transcript. - Motion to ask staff to return with information about a county-level foundation vs. a parks-specific foundation and educate the committee on an earlier foundation plan — outcome: approved; mover/second: not specified; vote details not specified in the transcript.

Ending The committee directed staff to prepare more detailed scoping materials, including estimated consultant costs and recommended stakeholder engagement levels, for a future meeting and noted staff will coordinate the master-plan scope with the upcoming comprehensive-plan rewrite and the proposed 10-year parks CIP.