REPORT TO PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Review and Recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to the City Council for Adoption
Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In September 2023, City Council authorized an agreement with Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT) to prepare a comprehensive Citywide Parks & Recreation Master Plan (Plan). The Plan is intended to guide the acquisition, development, operations, maintenance, and funding decisions of the City's parks, recreation facilities, open space, and programming over the next 15-20 years. The final draft of the Plan (Attachment 1) and the accompanying presentation (Attachment 2) are now complete and are presented to the Parks & Recreation Commission for review and recommendation to the City Council for adoption.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara operates and maintains a comprehensive parks and recreation system that includes approximately 308 acres of parkland, five community centers, nine reservable park buildings, nine swimming pools, and number of sports fields, joint-use facilities, natural areas, as well as three regional trail corridors. Many of the City's parks and facilities were developed decades ago. Several major facilities are more than 50 years old, and aging infrastructure has resulted in increasing repair, modernization, and lifecycle replacement needs.
To address these issues, in September 2013, the City Council adopted a goal to enhance community sports and recreational assets. However, the City did not have a comprehensive understanding of the system-wide parks and recreation needs and deficiencies.
In April 2017, the City hired Kitchell CEM to perform a Facility Condition Assessment Report (Kitchell Report) across 47 parks and 65 buildings. The report identified significant immediate and long-term capital repair needs with a 20-year life-cycle forecast. Following the report, operational safety repairs and replacements were performed, and capital improvement projects were su...
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