Urban Orchard opening and master‑plan survey highlight parks outreach as updates stall

Parks staff reported progress on multiple park projects and asked residents to participate in the department’s master‑plan survey while a formal update to the master plan is on hold for budget reasons.

Parks staff said the department will host an Urban Orchard grand‑opening event on Saturday at 10 a.m.; staff warned parking will be limited and said a shuttle will be available from the nearby UWS site. The department noted that bike access to the Urban Orchard does not use the riverbed gate.

Staff reported that three new parks will open this year and that Circle Park (a larger park project of several acres) remained under construction with an August opening expected. The department said it is continuing smaller capital repairs and CDBG‑funded work, and that recent streets and surfacing projects on Industrial, Hildreth and Pinehurst have been completed.

Because a full master‑plan update was deferred for budget reasons, staff emphasized the importance of the current parks survey as the primary mechanism for collecting resident input. The commission heard that a couple of hundred survey responses have been collected to date and that the survey is being promoted via signs, a Parks and Rec booth at events (with a QR code) and periodic program outreach. Resident volunteers and commissioners offered to assist with survey promotion at upcoming events including the Urban Orchard opening and a scheduled fun run.

Commissioners voted to receive and file the master‑plan update and encouraged staff to increase outreach at events and via email to existing program participants to boost responses.