Park system will accommodate Northwest population boom

Park system will accommodate Northwest population boom

Written by Christi Snow Saturday, 07 April 2007

If the officials of the parks and recreation department had it their way, every Austinite could access a neighborhood park within a one to two-mile walk, according to PARD Assistant Director Stuart Strong. It is a goal they have mostly met, he said, but one that becomes more challenging when an area has unprecedented development.

“The northwest has grown rapidly,” Strong said. “Our task is to keep up with that growth.”

The region he has seen as most deficient is around North Lamar. In the next few years, he expects the surrounding neighborhoods will receive more concentrated attention. The rest of Northwest Austin will also get both new and improved parks as Austin PARD dips into two major funding mechanisms: the recently passed bonds and accumulated park dedication fees.

Building with bonds

Voters just approved the most recent series of bonds in November with almost $85 million dedicated to parks facilities and parkland.

Of the $10.2 million set aside for new facilities in Austin as a whole, almost all of it, $8.9 million, will go towards building a new North Austin Recreation Center.

“Northwest Austin has not traditionally been where a lot of services have gone. Disproportionately our dollars and our bond dollars have not gone west,” Austin city manager Toby Futrell said.

“I’m very pleased you’ll see the only recreation center built into the bond package is northwest. There is a 12-mile area with 62,000 people, and actually, in this part of the northwest area we have one of the lower income scales, an area that does need assistance but is neglected. We needed to balance out our dollars just a little more than we were doing.”

The city council issued, or released, a portion of the bond money to PARD this spring, some of which will go for site acquisition for the center. Although the final location is still in the negotiation process, it will probably lie somewhere west of Lamar and south of Parmer Lane. Once the land is purchased, Strong anticipates the council will then issue the money to begin the design stage of the estimated 18,000 sq. ft. building. It is likely to have a gymnasium and an assortment of classrooms, but PARD will seek community input during the early stages of planning.

The majority of the bond money will support renovations, such as playscape renovations for both Northwest Balcones and Mountain View parks. Still, although the parks department emphasizes the importance of maintaining current facilities and land, the city’s accelerated growth also requires new amenities.

Buying new park land

For this reason, the third aspect of the bond funding provides $20 million for new park land. If possible, the department prefers to predict and work ahead of population booms.

“We have more or less kept up with the growth,” Strong said. “As development has grown in some areas, we have gone and acquired land. If we can, we buy early so it can be bought at a better price.”

Voters set aside $5 million to purchase greenbelts and another $5 million for destination parks, which includes metropolitan parks similar to Walnut Creek.

However, when areas like Northwest Austin’s population builds up rather than out, large plots of land are less available for recreational purposes. That is why the remaining $10 million will finance infill parks, also known as pocket parks, which require minimal property.

“As the city becomes more dense, the pocket-park concept makes more sense,” Strong said. “These tracts are smaller, like one to one-and-a-half acres.”

Although Strong knows the basic type of parks they plan to acquire, it is less certain how many they will actually get.

“The number of parks we acquire will be dictated by how much it costs to get them,” he said. “The number will be dictated by the skill of the negotiations.”

Already they have sighted and begun attempts to buy some northwest land, although negotiations are not final.

Building with fees

Besides money from bonds, which depends on voter approval, PARD can also fund projects through park dedication ordinance fees. Since 1985, city ordinance has dictated that if a developer has a project that is both residential and subdivided into single-family plots, then they must either give a certain amount of land per unit or an equivalent fee so the city can build parks.

Non-subdivided, rent-dominated areas do not fall into this category, do not pay the fee, and as Strong would argue, do not contribute fairly to the park system. He notes residents who live in densely concentrated areas like apartments use their land and facilities the same as homeowners. Their parks receive the same amount of stress, but less attention because the money is not available.

Most Northwest Austin parks benefit from the fees with the single-family home-dominated region, but the current process also places an unfair burden on certain developers because the fee is determined by the value of the land, he said.

Under the current regulations, fees can start at less than $200 and then skyrocket to thousands of dollars. PARD’s research also cannot pinpoint any consistency for the contrast of the fees.

“[Land value] fluctuates everywhere,” Strong said. “We looked to see if we could find a pattern, but it is high and low all over town.”

PARD will recommend the council approve a flat fee of $650 per unit, or door, at the June 7 council meeting.

“We have had that ordinance since 1985 and it is simply time to go back and correct any inequities,” Stuart said. “There are some needs we’re not meeting.”

North Austin Recreation Center Plans

The North Austin Civic Association lobbied for the location of a recreation center in its neighborhoods, a project that is now in process after receiving approval in the November bond election. Almost $8.5 million will go toward an estimated 18,000 sq. ft. building.

“Our hope is that we’ll get more than a recreation center. We want a true multi-purpose community center that has something for everybody.” Anthony Williams, president of the North Austin Civic Association.

North Austin Civic Association’s Vision

• Facilities for senior activities
• Basketball courts for leagues
• Café or kitchen that supports home economic courses
• Assembly area for multi-cultural events that would represent the more than 90 ethnic heritages in the NACA neighborhoods
• Information kiosks that provide data on city services, local job opportunities and health services translated into numerous languages
• Facilities for youth programs
• Space to host public safety, code enforcement, property and zoning information meetings
• Community gardens

Although PARD is in negotiations with multiple sites, NACA would like the center near the North Village Library and linked to the Walnut Creek Greenbelt.