Item 9 Memo
M E M O R A N D U M
May 14, 2021
To: Planning & Zoning Commission
From: Ken Baker, AICP – Senior Director of Planning & Development Services
Subject: CP21-0001, Ordinance No. 1242, adopting the City of Southlake Parks,
Recreation & Open Space Master Plan, an element of the Southlake
2035 Comprehensive Plan
Action
Requested: Consider recommending approval of the Southlake 2035 Parks,
Recreation & Open Space Master Plan.
Background
Information: The Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan is a component of the
Southlake 2035 Comprehensive Plan. The comprehensive plan reflects
the community’s values and serves as a blueprint for Southlake’s future.
More specifically, the comprehensive plan establishes a framework to
coordinate the city’s activities and to guide the city’s decision-making for
the next several years. As such, the comprehensive plan and its
components are updated on a regular basis.
The Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan was most recently
amended in 2018. Before that, the last comprehensive update to this plan
document took place in 2013. The City has undergone significant growth
and improvements since that time, so it is necessary to address those
changes with an update to the plan as a part of the Southlake 2035
Comprehensive Plan. While there are numerous distinct adopted
comprehensive plan elements that consider parks, recreation, and open
space in Southlake, the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan is
the primary tool that will guide decision-making when addressing changes
to the City’s parks, recreation facilities and open spaces.
Recommendations developed in the Plan will also be incorporated into
other future elements as appropriate. In addition, the plan will be utilized
in setting priorities in future Capital Improvement Program (CIP) planning
processes.
The Charter for the City of Southlake states that certain components of
the City’s comprehensive plan, such as the Parks, Recreation and Open
Space Plan, shall address a planning horizon of at least ten years into the
future, and these components are to be updated to reflect changing City
conditions and requirements every four years. As noted, the latest
amendment to the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan took
place in 2018.
A key change was made during the development of the 2035 Plan
update. Given the breadth of City parks and facilities, staff decided to
separate the Parks, Recreation & Open Space element from the
Community Facilities element. The Community Facilities Master Plan will
be a distinct comprehensive plan element moving forward. This decision
gave staff and all stakeholders greater capacity to focus on the parks,
recreation & open space piece, and will do the same for community
facilities. Part of the reason for this determination was that since the last
major update to the comprehensive plan, the City has added new facilities
to its portfolio, perhaps most importantly being The Marq Southlake and
the DPS North Training Facility.
After finishing the initial draft of parks recommendations, it was necessary
to formulate a way to prioritize the recommendations of the parks. The
committee conducted a forced ranking exercise in which each park was
“packaged” together and ranked based on the level of importance as
voted on by the committee. The recommendations that were not in the
“package” by park were excluded from this exercise due to no capital
costs being associated with the recommendations. These
recommendations could be prioritized at the staff level and placed on city
department business plans. The parks that were included in the forced-
ranking survey are shown in order of priority below:
Forced-Ranking Survey Results
Park Package Priority Rank
Southlake Sports Complex 1
Bob Jones Park (does not include the Nature Center and
Preserve) 2
Liberty Park at Sheltonwood 3
North Park 4
Koalaty Park 5
Central Park 6
Town Square Parks (Family Park, Frank Edgar Cornish IV Park,
McPherson Park, Rustin Park, Summit Park) 7
Chesapeake Park 8
Lonesome Dove Park 9
Royal & Annie Smith Park 10
Carillon Parks (Corporate Park, Enclave Park, Lake Park, the
Preserve Park, Villa Park North, Villa Park South) 11
Noble Oaks Park 12
Oak Pointe Park 13
The Cliffs Park 14
The Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan Committee conducted
a separate forced-ranking survey based on certain amenities that were
brought up throughout the plan development process. In some cases, the
amenities below are referenced within the recommendation for a specific
park, such as pickleball at Southlake Sports Complex. The four amenities
below were brought up, but not necessarily recommended to be
incorporated into a recommendation package for a specific park.
However, if funds become available, this amenity prioritization list can
help provide guidance based on the Committee’s sentiment during plan
development.
Forced-Ranking Survey Results
Amenities Priority Rank
Pickleball 1
Dog Park 2
Wheel-friendly Park (skate, bike, scooter
park) 3
Sand Volleyball 4
There are three (3) primary categories for which the recommendations
fall: Citywide policy recommendations, recommendations for prioritized
parks, and recommendations for non-prioritized parks.
There are several recommendations included within the plan. Given the
recency of the last plan amendment in 2018, there were a number of
carry-over recommendations.
At their May 10, 2021, meeting, the Committee recommended approval of
the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan.
Financial
Considerations: There is no cost associated with developing the plan element as it was
developed with input from the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master
Plan Committee, the Southlake Youth Action Commission (SYAC), the
Southlake Kids Interested in Leadership (SKIL), the Senior Advisory
Commission (SAC), and the Carroll ISD School Health Advisory Council
(SHAC). There are costs associated with implementing the various
recommendations.
Strategic Link: The comprehensive plan falls in line with several strategic initiatives;
specifically, CBO5 (Improve quality of life through progressive
implementation of Southlake’s Comprehensive Plan recommendations).
Citizen Input/
Board Review: On August 6, 2019, Southlake City Council appointed the Parks &
Recreation board to oversee the development of the Parks, Recreation &
Open Space Master Plan (Resolution No. 19-025). Altogether, the
committee held 15 public meetings between August 2019 and May 2021
to discuss, review, and develop park recommendations for different park
and open space areas in Southlake. All Committee meetings were open
to the public. Staff also met with other City boards, as well as the Carroll
ISD School Health Advisory Council (SHAC). Following is a summary of
the public meetings held regarding this plan.
Southlake 2035 Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan
Committee (Parks & Recreation Board)
September 9, 2019
October 14, 2019
November 11, 2019
December 9, 2019
January 13, 2020
February 10, 2020
June 8, 2020
September 14, 2020
October 12, 2020
November 9, 2020
December 14, 2020
February 8, 2021
March 8, 2021
April 12, 2021
May 10, 2021
Southlake Youth Action Commission (SYAC)
February 11, 2019
Southlake Kids Interested in Leadership (SKIL)
January 27, 2020
January 25, 2021
Senior Advisory Commission (SAC)
March 9, 2021
Carroll ISD School Health Advisory Council (SHAC)
January 21, 2021
SPIN: A SPIN Town Hall Forum is scheduled for May 25, 2021.
Legal Review: None.
Staff
Recommendation: Recommend approval of Ordinance No. 1242, adopting the Southlake
2035 Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan.
Alternatives: Recommend modifications to the proposed Health & Wellness Master
Plan.
Attachments: Draft Ordinance No. 1242
Draft Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan
Presentation
Staff Contacts: Ken Baker (817) 748-8067
Chris Tribble (817) 748-8021
Jerod Potts (817) 748-8195