Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Master Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultant presents Surprise draft master plan, says parks and indoor recreation are short of benchmarks
Summary
Consultants told the Surprise Parks & Recreation Commission on April 27 that public outreach returned about 1,700 responses and that the city is below regional and national benchmarks on several recreation categories, particularly indoor field houses and certain field types; the draft will go to a council work session in May.
Consultant Jay Ace presented a draft master plan to the Surprise Parks & Recreation Commission on April 27, saying the document is a discussion draft built from three workshops, outreach at events and about 1,700 survey responses. Ace said the outreach showed strong public interest in picnic areas, playgrounds, shade, connected bikeways and expanded indoor recreation options such as field houses and multipurpose courts.
The presentation framed the master plan as guidance tied to the city’s general plan, which is updated approximately every 10 years, and compared Surprise to peer cities. Ace said benchmarking shows Surprise is below a regional average of roughly 2.3 park acres per 1,000 residents and noted specific deficits in playgrounds, sand volleyball courts and soccer fields. "We had 1,700 responses," Ace said, "and the priorities kept coming back to everyday amenities — playgrounds, picnic areas, shade and safe bikeways." He added that indoor multipurpose space (field houses) is a major gap for programming when temperatures rise.
Commissioners and staff discussed classification of facilities: staff recommended counting 0 recreation centers by the adopted standard because existing facilities do not meet the more stringent benchmark for a recreation center. Staff and commissioners also debated whether neighborhood and HOA parks should be counted; the consultant stressed the benchmarking excludes private/HOA parks to remain comparable with peer cities.
The presentation also referenced a prior large land agreement that added about 3,500 acres upstream, which affects long-term acreage inventories and opportunities for regional parks. Ace described a "greens armature" concept that would use washes such as Trilby Wash as greenway corridors for trails and connectivity, but he flagged right-of-way, environmental permitting and coordination with transportation and other departments as implementation challenges.
No formal action was taken; staff told commissioners this is a discussion draft that will go to a council work session tentatively scheduled for May 19. The consultant and staff said funding numbers and detailed implementation steps will be developed in later phases. "This is a conversation about priorities and trade-offs," Ace said. "We want the commission’s input before the draft moves to council."
