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Commissioners weigh amenity-based park standards, Horseshoe Lake upgrades and group campsites
Summary
Staff proposed adding an amenity-based level-of-service for county parks to supplement acreage standards; commissioners asked for public input, and parks director and commissioners discussed group campsites, glamping and maintenance costs at Horseshoe Lake.
Marion County staff proposed an amenity-based level-of-service (LOS) for county parks to supplement the existing acreage-based standard, prompting commissioners to weigh whether to set targets for amenities such as playgrounds, basketball courts, regional-park features, group campsites and swimming pools.
Blair Knighting, staff member, presented a table that isolates Marion County’s unincorporated population and the county-controlled park acreage; she said the county currently meets the 2 acres-per-1,000 people acreage LOS and asked whether commissioners wanted to “focus on quality” by adding an amenity-based LOS. "I think it gives you a goal because you're exceeding that acreage based LOS," she said, describing the proposed amenity list as a “goal” that staff could narrow.
Jim (identified in the meeting as Parks and Recreation Director) answered questions about specific amenities. He confirmed the county has one 400-meter running track at Brick City Adventure Park (a typo in the initial inventory had shown zero) and said group camping in county parks currently is not provided as a designated primitive group-campsite facility. He described two parks — Horseshoe Lake and Cohaju Park — that have been used informally for organized group camping in exchange for service projects but said the county has “0 designated areas like that within our county park system, period.”
Commissioners discussed possible retrofits for Horseshoe Lake, including adding cabins, glamping or dedicated group-campsite infrastructure. One commissioner suggested relocating day-use areas and expanding cabin and glamping offerings to support reunions and larger groups. Jim and commissioners noted that glamping requires additional maintenance and a host to manage bedding and cleaning, and that any expansion raises operational budget needs.
On pools, commissioners questioned whether county-built pools should be a LOS item given private pools, springs, and pools provided by PUDs and private developments. Several commissioners favored first inventorying and improving existing facilities before committing to new capital projects. Commissioners asked staff to take the amenity LOS proposal to community workshops for citizen input and to return with public feedback and cost estimates.
No formal policy change was adopted at the workshop. Staff said the proposed amenity list could be refined and brought back to the Board, and commissioners agreed to gather public input at upcoming community workshops before deciding on amenity-based standards.
