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Board hears that Oak Hill falls short on park acreage; members recommend rezoning and monetizing facilities
Summary
Members reviewed the city's open-space calculations and found Oak Hill currently below recommended acreage; the board asked staff to evaluate Powell property use, rezoning options, and potential rental fees to raise maintenance revenue.
At its organizational meeting the Oak Hill Parks and Recreation Board flagged the city's open-space calculations as a priority and asked staff to research options for adding and better managing parkland.
Board member Drew Ann Welch said the municipal code and the city's comprehensive plan use different formulas to calculate recreational open space: the code uses 8 acres per 1,000 residents while the comprehensive plan uses 6 acres per 1,000. Using the estimated 2,103 residents cited by a member, she said the comprehensive-plan formula yields about 12.61 acres and the municipal-code formula would require about 16.8 acres, while existing park acreage (excluding the National Seashore) is about 9 acres.
Ms. Welch asked the board to review facilities and consider rezoning specific parcels so they qualify as parkland. She cited the Powell property and Flamingo Road parcel as examples that could be rezoned from governmental to municipal/park use to add acreage. The board also discussed charging realistic rental fees for small park assets (for example, gazebo rentals at Chung Park) to generate revenue for maintenance and upgrades.
Members asked staff to compile facility inventories, current zoning and acreage figures, and grant options to fund park upgrades; Drew Ann Welch volunteered to research parcels and return findings to the next meeting.
