Commission hears Plan to Play update; parks staff outline inventory, public input and greenway openings

Cindy Harrison, co-lead of the Plan to Play update in the parks division, told the Greenways & Open Spaces Commission that the 2025 effort is an update to the 2017 countywide parks and greenways master plan and will build on, not replace, the earlier document.

"Plan to Play is an update to the 2017 plan. We're not starting over," Harrison said, describing the update as an assessment of the 2017 recommendations and a prioritization effort to reflect population and other changes since 2017.

The update, begun last year with consultant Kimley-Horn, includes a system conditions assessment, program analysis, benchmarking with peer cities, fiscal analysis, greenway and open-space policy review, and public engagement. Harrison said staff have collected about 2,500 online survey responses and 1,500 mapping inputs where respondents drew desired locations for greenways or parks. She told the commission the target completion date for the update is March 2026, with another round of public meetings planned before the final draft.

Why it matters: the update will guide land acquisition, facility investments, greenway routing and maintenance priorities for the park system as the county continues to add residents and new development. Commissioners pressed staff on how the 2017 targets compare to current status and how limited funding will affect prioritization.

Key findings and figures presented

- Deferred maintenance: Harrison said the parks maintenance department has completed a system-wide conditions assessment and identified about $215,000,000 in deferred maintenance across parks and facilities. - Park and greenway inventory changes since 2017: staff reported 510 acres of parkland added, 16 new parks and 13 new greenway segments added since 2017. - Paved multiuse trails: the county's paved trail network increased from about 102 miles in 2017 to roughly 135 miles currently. Commissioners were told the 2017 plan had set a greenway/paved trail target of roughly 53 miles by 2027 (the 2017 goal appears in background material), and staff said added miles to date total about 33 miles of paved multiuse trail since 2017, with further progress dependent on right-of-way and funding. - Public input: 2,500 survey responses and roughly 1,500 mapping submissions collected during the summer engagement cycle.

Greenway openings, projects under construction and in design

Harrison ran through recent openings and work in progress. Recent openings include short new segments at First Horizon Park, Rolling Mill Hill/Peabody Union and Brookmeade, plus repaving work tied to the Newhoff development. Staff said about 1.3 miles of greenway are currently under construction and roughly six miles are in final design or permitting across seven segments. Projects named in the presentation include sections on the Cumberland River (Pennington Bend, Ben Allen Road), 440 corridor segments, Charlotte Corridor rail-adjacent work, the Opera Mills connector, Richland Creek Greenway (Bellamy Plaza to White Bridge Road), and Whites Creek design. Several projects are being advanced through developer partnerships that include easements, trail construction and landscaping.

Harrison emphasized the role of land acquisition in creating parks and greenways and listed recent open-space additions totaling about 82 acres, including donations, TDOT acquisitions and other purchases. She also noted planned gifts or transfers of acreage — for example, 25 acres tied to one project and acquisition of state-owned sports fields near the Harpeth Park complex to move them into the city's park inventory.

Discussion highlights and next steps

Commissioners asked staff to show how the 2017 targets compare to current totals in the final document; Harrison said the final plan will include detailed benchmarking and a five-year implementation schedule with costs. Commissioners also asked whether priorities shown in public input (trail connectivity, small walk-to parks, natural-area conservation) match earlier engagement; Harrison said anecdotally greenways remain a top public priority and that small, walkable parks and natural/open-space preservation also ranked highly in preliminary outreach.

Harrison asked commissioners to expect final draft review meetings early next year and said staff will return with more detailed analysis on levels of service, prioritized acquisitions and costed recommendations.

Ending: The commission received the update for information and follow-up, and staff will return with draft recommendations and the implementation plan ahead of the March 2026 target for the final Plan to Play document.