Parkland Strategy Development
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City of Waterloo Parkland Strategy DRAFT Research, Analysis & Visioning Report June 2019 In association with: Monteith Brown Planning Consultants Domis Consulting Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose of this Report 1 1.2 Waterloo Parkland Highlights 2 1.3 Benefits of Parks and Open Space 2 2 EXISTING POLICIES & PRACTICES...................................................................................... 12 2.1 Background Planning Documents 12 2.2 Asset Management & Park Improvements 23 3 COMMUNITY PROFILE ..................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Overview 25 3.2 Current and Forecasted Populations 26 3.3 Nodes and Corridors 27 3.4 Demographics 29 3.5 What This Means for Parkland 31 4 PARKLAND AND OPEN SPACE .......................................................................................... 32 4.1 Trends & Emerging Needs 32 4.2 Evaluation of Existing Policies & Practices 44 4.3 Inventory & Evaluation of Supply 52 4.4 Issues, Opportunities & Constraints 62 5 PARK AMENITIES ............................................................................................................. 73 5.1 General 75 5.2 Playgrounds 77 5.3 Splash Pads 80 5.4 Dog parks 83 5.5 Outdoor Skating Rinks 86 5.6 Tennis Courts 89 5.7 Pickleball Courts 91 5.8 Basketball Courts 93 5.9 Community Hubs (Gathering & Event Spaces) 97 5.10 Community Gardens 100 5.11 Other Amenities 103 6 NATURAL AREAS .............................................................................................................112 6.1 Trends & Emerging Needs 112 6.2 Evaluation of Existing Policies and Practices 114 CITY OF WATERLOO PARKLAND STRATEGY DILLON CONSULTING | MBPC | DOMIS i 6.3 Inventory & Evaluation of Supply 116 6.4 General Assessment of the Natural Areas 117 6.5 Issues, Opportunities & Constraints 118 6.6 Needs Assessment 122 7 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE ..................................................................................124 7.1 Trends & Emerging Needs 124 7.2 Evaluation of Policies & Practices 125 7.3 Issues, Opportunities & Constraints 129 8 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & FUNDING .........................................................................134 8.1 Trends & Emerging Needs 134 8.2 Evaluation of Policies & Practices 135 8.3 Issues, Opportunities & Constraints 138 9 COMMUNITY VISION ......................................................................................................141 9.1 Summary of Consultation Activities 141 9.2 Summary of Feedback from Consultation 143 9.3 Parks Identified for Improvements 146 9.4 Vision Statement 149 9.5 Reconciliation and Engagement with First Nations 150 10 EMERGING AREAS OF FOCUS FOR PARKS .......................................................................151 11 NEXT STEPS ....................................................................................................................156 List of Figures Figure 1: Official Plan Schedule B – City Structure .....................................................................28 Figure 2: Official Plan Schedule J – Station Areas.......................................................................29 Figure 3: Long Term Athlete Development Model......................................................................43 Figure 4: Official Plan Schedule A3 – Open Space Land Uses ......................................................47 Figure 5: Location, Distribution of Different types of Parks and Open Spaces Across the City ...54 Figure 6: Planning District Boundaries ......................................................................................56 Figure 7: 800m Official Plan “Parkland” Service Areas ..............................................................72 Figure 8: Parks Identified as Locations for improvement during Consultation......................... 147 CITY OF WATERLOO PARKLAND STRATEGY DILLON CONSULTING | MBPC | DOMIS ii List of Tables Table 1: Forecasted Population Growth by Planning District, 2016-2031 ..................................27 Table 2: Existing Parkland Classification System .......................................................................47 Table 3: City-wide Inventory of Parkland & Open Space ............................................................53 Table 4: Summary of Existing Parkland by Planning District ......................................................55 Table 5: Existing City-Wide Parkland Provision Levels (2018 Population) ..................................58 Table 6: Comparative Service Delivery Summary ......................................................................59 Table 7: Summary Record of Parkland Visited ...........................................................................61 Table 8: Forecast of City-wide Parkland Needs (2031 Population) ............................................69 Table 9: Forecast of Local Parkland Needs by Planning District (2031 Population) ....................71 Table 10: Inventory of bookable parks ......................................................................................99 Table 11: Existing Natural Areas / Open Space Supply ............................................................. 116 Table 12: Summary of Consultation Activities.......................................................................... 141 Table 13: Parks that need improvement .................................................................................. 146 APPENDIX A – Demographic Profile APPENDIX B – Summary of Visitor Record CITY OF WATERLOO PARKLAND STRATEGY DILLON CONSULTING | MBPC | DOMIS iii 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose of this Report The purpose of the Research, Analysis and Visioning report is to conduct and analyze background research and utilize the information to assess the existing parkland in the City of Waterloo. Information that has been reviewed pertains to acquisition, development, community use, maintenance and funding. The inventory of Waterloo’s existing parkland will be analyzed as well as the socio-demographic profile for the city. Successes from current activities pertaining to parkland in the city will be highlighted. Utilization and participation will be reviewed and trends and benchmarking will be investigated in this report. Following the summary and analysis, the report will then identify opportunities or constraints/gaps in the existing system and help to set development priorities or areas of focus for the future phases of work. Any potential strategies discussed within this report are not to be considered recommendations at this stage. They are potential solutions and topics to assist in the development of outcomes CITY OF WATERLOO PARKLAND STRATEGY DILLON CONSULTING | MBPC | DOMIS 1 for parkland. Final recommendations for Waterloo’s Parkland will be presented in the Waterloo Parkland Strategy document. 1.2 Waterloo Parkland Highlights It is clear that Waterloo has an extensive network of parks and open spaces. There are a number of elements to note which indicate successes that the City has already achieved with their parkland. • There is City-wide recognition of the importance of parks. • At a high level parks are well used and somewhat well located. • The trail system is very well used and moves have taken place to close the gaps in the system. • More attention has been paid to parks than in previous years. • Additional active programming established in city spaces. • Active management of the urban forest and commitment to expanding the tree canopy in the city. • Completion of the 2012 Outdoor Field Sport Strategy and the 2013 Action Sports Strategy which outlines direction for their respective sports facility needs. • A number of parks have been successfully redeveloped or are in the process of redeveloping including but not limited to: o Clair Lake Park (completed construction of community fundraised neighbourhood playground and gathering space.); o Mary Allen Park expansion (completed redesign including updated elements per local input including pavilion, games tables, natural play area etc.); o Alexandra Park expansion (ongoing); o Ongoing city-wide playground replacements; o Westmount Sports Park (completed new park with natural playground and soccer fields.); and o Waterloo Park (completed new entry feature and central promenade, rest of Master Plan to be finalized and implemented.) The items listed are not an exhaustive list of what the City of Waterloo has accomplished but is a sampling to show what has been completed recently. 1.3 Benefits of Parks and Open Space Parks and open space have been key elements of cities since the 19th century. At that time, parks were being promoted as having public health benefits by planners including the founder of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. He said that great public parks are the “lungs of CITY OF WATERLOO PARKLAND STRATEGY DILLON CONSULTING | MBPC | DOMIS 2 Entrance to the newly expanded and redesigned Mary Allen Park. the city” —where residents could breathe clean air1. The sentiment caught on and led to the development of many well-known parks across North America including New York’s Central Park and others in Chicago, Buffalo and even Toronto. Density levels are rising in cities especially those with provincially designated growth targets which places increased emphasis on city parks and open spaces, which are essential city and community building elements providing