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Council reviews parks master-plan survey showing strong trail use; favors upgrades over new acreage
Summary
Consultants told the council 362 residents responded to a parks survey showing trails and playground upgrades as top priorities; council members largely preferred investing in existing parks and trail connections rather than buying significant new park acreage in the near term.
Lisa Benson, the consultant working on Alpine’s parks master plan, told the council the project received "362 responses to the survey," and that trail use, playground equipment and connections topped residents’ improvement priorities.
Benson said the city’s existing inventory totals 77.1 park acres — about 7.3 park acres per 1,000 residents — and that, under one planning scenario, Alpine would need roughly 1.5 additional acres by 2035 and about 5 more acres by 2050 to maintain that level-of-service benchmark. She cautioned the survey was open and not a statistically random sample but noted strong alignment between written responses and an in-person open house.
Council members asked whether open space and mountain trails should be measured differently from developed parks. The consultant replied the plan will map both park acreage and trail/openspace use and will include park-by-park recommendations in the master-plan phase. The Chair said the city can remain "head and shoulders above most communities in the area" on park acres while still prioritizing upgrades.
Several council members said their near-term preference is to improve existing parks rather than pursue large new acquisitions: "The bang for the buck is to improve our parks, especially areas that have been identified as having needs like Creekside Park playground," one council member said. Several council members also urged the plan team to supply cost-per-resident estimates and an implementation phasing that links priorities to impact-fee or grant funding.
The consultant said next steps include refining the amenities level-of-service, producing park-specific recommendations and moving into a draft master plan for council review.
