Planning commission recommends Central Community Park master plan to Aurora City Council

At a July virtual meeting, the Aurora Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend the Central Community Park conceptual master plan to the Aurora City Council.

The commission’s recommendation follows a staff presentation and discussion of a park design centered on the Central Recreation Center site, including courts, playgrounds, a restored wetland, trails, picnic shelters and public art. Staff said the master plan has met the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) dedication and development criteria and will move next to a city council study session and then a final council approval hearing if scheduled.

Trent Woolley, senior landscape architect for the Parks, Recreation and Open Space department, told the commission the plan had been presented previously to the commission at a March study session and to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. “This project may look very familiar to some of the commissioners,” Woolley said. He described park features west of the recreation center including two pedestrian bridges over wetland areas, a bouldering play area, two playgrounds divided by a climbable wall, a large picnic pavilion, restroom facilities and a court complex with four pickleball courts, two tennis courts and two basketball courts.

Nicole Ankeny, manager of planning, design and construction for Parks, Recreation and Open Space, gave the commission the project budget context. “We’ve got approximately 5 to $6,000,000 budgeted for this project. At this point in time, cost estimates are indicating that the overall build out is around 10 to $12,000,000,” Ankeny said. She added that the cost estimate does not fully include Aurora Water-related items around the wetland area and that staff is evaluating phasing and grant opportunities to supplement city funds.

Staff described the project’s public outreach: three public meetings, an active project Engage page, a mailing list of just over 7,000 addresses and outreach to 42 neighborhood or homeowners association groups within a two-mile radius. Attendance figures cited by staff included about 30 in-person attendees at the first meeting and 54 attendees at a May 7, 2024 meeting where two design concepts were presented and later combined into the final concept.

Woolley described the wetland work as replacing an old irrigation pond with a wetland habitat that slows and pools water from West Tollgate Creek and a nearby tributary labeled in the presentation as No Name Creek. The design includes trails and low-water pedestrian crossings; Woolley said the low-water crossing allows low flows to pass underneath and for higher flows to pass over the trail.

Commission discussion focused on public outreach and neighborhood benefits. The commission chair and members said they were pleased with the level of public comment and the park’s potential benefit to an elementary school north of the site and the surrounding neighborhood. Commissioner comments noted the design’s similarity to nearby parks and supported moving the plan forward.

The motion to recommend approval to city council was made by Commissioner Venkat and seconded by Commissioner Bush. The roll call vote recorded Commissioners Jechek, Bush, Geyser, Riley, Venkat, Hogan and Walls voting to approve (7-0). The commission’s advisory recommendation will go to city council for further study and potential final action; staff said they are targeting a city council study session on July 28 and a final council meeting in August, subject to scheduling and steps to complete design and budgeting.

Implementation details noted by staff: earliest possible construction start would be toward the end of next year, phasing is likely depending on budget and grants, park hours would be 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. (lights on courts to shut down at the park closing hour), and staff is coordinating selection of a public artist for an on-site art piece with Art in Public Places and Roberta Bloom.

Questions and next steps from staff and commissioners focused on design details, parking and sequencing; staff said up to about 25–30 additional parking spaces could be added in a later phase if needed. The commission’s advisory approval does not itself authorize construction; it advances the master plan to the city council study session for their review and potential final action.