Consultant outlines draft parks and recreation master plan; public comment to follow

Jane Dixon, a consultant with McKenna, told the Huntington Woods Planning Commission that the city engaged McKenna in May to update its parks and recreation master plan and that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources requires municipalities to update those plans every five years in order to remain eligible for state grant funding. "If you do not have an up to date plan, you cannot qualify to apply for any grant funding through the state," Dixon said.

Dixon said the update emphasizes capital improvements rather than the prior plan’s maintenance focus and ties recommendations to national recreation benchmarks provided by the National Recreation and Park Association. "We really wanted to create a plan that was comprehensive and also something the community had input on," she said, noting the consultant team performed park tours, hosted a comment map and survey, staffed a design board at a summer concert and held in-person events…