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City staff outlines parks recovery options, seeks council guidance after public outreach
Summary
Infrastructure Recovery Board staff reported phase-two public engagement and three design concept approaches for parks recovery (flood resilience, activation, ecology); council asked staff to highlight what worked historically and to return with unified concepts this summer.
The Infrastructure Recovery Board has completed phase-two engagement for parks recovery projects and asked designers to prepare unified concepts that incorporate public priorities, city staff said March 24.
Parks and Recreation Director D'Tarrio McGirt, staff lead for the Infrastructure Recovery Board, said the board prioritized top themes from public feedback: flood resiliency and risk mitigation, natural systems and ecology, programming and activation, connectivity and fiscal planning. For the Azalea/Zillicoah project the consultants developed two contrasting concepts ("restore, protect and connect" vs. "reposition with mitigation"); for the French Broad corridor they developed three concepts emphasizing ecology, activation and community canvas (arts and gathering).
Staff said design teams used IRB and public input to develop concept options and that consultants will synthesize feedback into single unified concepts to return to council by late summer. Council members urged staff to emphasize elements that have proven resilient historically (for example, local stewardship and native-planting efforts), to include interpretive signage and to ensure demographic gaps in participation are addressed in outreach summaries.
McGirt said the IRB meets next on May 5 for broader infrastructure updates and that staff will present unified park concepts at a July meeting.
