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Rolling Hills park moves toward construction manager procurement as neighbors press for smaller playground and less parking
Summary
Parks staff said construction procurement for Rolling Hills Park is ready; neighbors said the proposed playground and parking exceed the passive-park expectations in the Florida Communities Trust grant and urged reductions. Staff said they will reduce central paved parking and can shrink playground and restroom footprints.
Rick Durr, director of Parks & Recreation, told the commission that design and permitting for Phase 1 of the Rolling Hills park (the former Rolling Hills Golf Course) are advanced and that the county is ready to advertise a construction-manager-at-risk contract to stage construction across park, trail and roadway work. Durr emphasized the project's long public-engagement history and said the package is intended to knit trails, stormwater improvements and roadway work together.
Durr said that when the historic clubhouse parking area is brought up to current development standards it yields roughly 37 paved spaces; adding perimeter and auxiliary lots increases overall available parking toward roughly 90 "ish" when including stabilized or overflow parking. "Just in 1 area alone, we picked out 68 cars being parked in that existing lot," Durr said, adding that code-required upgrades and landscaping reduce the striping count.
Neighbors who live adjacent to the former golf course urged a smaller, more discreet playground, limited parking and preservation of the park’s passive character as described in the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) grant. "This playground should blend seamlessly into our residential neighborhoods," said Kit Bradshaw, a long-time resident and steering-committee member, who cited the FCT plan language saying the site was intended for low-impact passive recreation with a parking area to accommodate up to 40 cars.
Durr said staff have already tightened the playground footprint and moved it to the former clubhouse core to reduce visibility from private yards; he also proposed using stabilized (paver) parking to minimize impervious surface. He said restrooms would be lockable and the county would patrol the site, and that staff will continue community outreach while preparing the CMAR procurement and a guaranteed maximum price for the board to review.
Commissioners asked staff to return with refined parking counts, restroom sizing and an updated public information package before final construction authorization.
