City of Lockhart Recreation and Open Space m PARKS, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN 1997 2007- FOR THE CITY OF LOCKHART, TEXAS July 1997 Mayor: John M. Allred City Council: Marcia Proctor, Mayor Pro Tem- Doug Buckner Frank Estrada Cindy Johnson Joe Ramirez Ray Sanders Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Clare Brice, Chair George Hernandez, Vice Chair- Bob Cox Sam Flores Andy Govea Stella Mendez Lucinda Scheiber City Manager: Philip Cook Department of Public Works Vance Rodgers Parks Manager: Bernie Rangel City Secretary: Gwendlyn L. Barrett Planning Consultant: Community Development Management Company, Incorporated 317 South Main Street Lockhart, Texas 78644 512)398 7129- Table of Contents Page Number I. Introduction 1 II. Plan Development Process 2 III. Inventory of Areas and Facilities ..................................... ...............................3 A. Regional Parks 4 B. City Facilities ........................ 4 1. City Park ................ ............................... 4 2. Sports Complex ............................................... ......................... .6 . .... 3. Lions Park 7 4. Pecos Park 8 5. Nueces Park 9 C. State Facilities 9 D. School Facilities 10 IV. Area Facility Concepts and Standards 10 V. Needs Assessment and Identification 17 A City Facilities .............................................................. 17 1 City Park ........................................................... ......................... 17 2 Sports Complex ............................................... 19 3. Lions Park 20 4. Pecos Park 21 5. Nueces Park 22 VI. Goals and Objectives ......................... 23 A. Guiding Principals and Community Recreation Goals ............................. VII. Plan Implementation and Prioritization of Needs . .............. ........................25 ..... A. Park and Recreation Improvements ........................... ...............................26 B. Operational Park Improvements 31 C. Future Park Trends 33 Table VII 2- - Prioritization ofNeeds 34 Appendix A - Survey Instruments Appendix B - City of Lockhart 1996 Parks Survey Summary Appendix C - City of Lockhart Resolution Authorizing Application For Texas Recreation and Parks Account Program (TRPA)Resolution ( 97 16)- MAPS Inserted Between Pages Map I 1- Base Map, City of Lockhart ................................ ...............................2 3- MapIII 1- Regional Parks ...................................................... ............................... 4 5- Map III 2- Location of Public Facilities, City of Lockhart .. ...............................3 4- Map III 3- City Park, Sports Complex .................................. ...............................5 6- MapIII 4- Lions Park .............................................................. ...............................8 9- MapIII 5- Pecos Park ........................................................... ............................... 9 10- MapIII 6- Nueces Park ........................................................... ...............................10 11- Map III 7- Lockhart State Park ............................................ ............................... 11 12- Map III 8- Clear Fork/High School Facilities ....................... ...............................12 13- Map III 9- Junior High Facilities ............................................ ...............................12 13- Map III 10- Elementary School Facilities ................................ ...............................12 13- Map VII 1- Expanded City Park ............................................ ...............................24 25- Map VII 2- Proposed Conservation Corridors, City of Lockhart 19 20- Map VII 3- Proposed Hike/Running Trail ............................. ...............................27 28- MapMap VIIVII - 4- 4 ProposedProposed CityCity AthleticAthletic Fields Fields............................. ............................. ............................... ............................... 28 28- 29- 29 City of Lockhart Parks,Recreation and Open Space Master Plan 1997 2007- I.Introduction The following Parks Recreation and Open Space Master Plan was compiled with the assistance of the City of Lockhart Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. The Lockhart Independent School District, several civic organizations, and individuals contributed to the vision, thoughts and ideas that went into this plan. A series of public hearings, citywide surveys, and one on- one- personal interviews were conducted in the spring of 1997, to determine the recreational demand and future plans of the various organizations. The Master Plan was developed using this public input in tandem with established guidelines for parks, recreation and opens space standards. The priorities and recommendations developed into this plan will guide improvements to the community's present and future parks, and recreation programs over a ten year planning period. This Plan was developed to meet the standards for park and recreational improvements pursuant to requirements of the Texas Recreation and Parks Account Local Park Program and planning guidelines used by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs under the Planning Capacity Building Program. This Plan is designed to be used as a guide for park and recreational improvements over a ten year planning period. As in any plan, this Plan needs to be updated periodically and revised as appropriate to reflect changes and to take advantage of new opportunities that will present themselves from time to time. Moreover, this Plan is not meant to be final word on this very important matter but is designed to help focus and promote a continuing discussion of the problems and possibilities inherent with park and recreational development. Prior to developing this Plan, previous planning studies conducted by the City of Lockhart were reviewed. While these previous plans recognized the need for park development, changing lifestyles and expectations have made these previous plans obsolete. The most important change that has occurred with citizens is an increased level of awareness in the community that the quality of life is driven in part by the recreational facilities available. The geographic area covered by this Plan is the City of Lockhart and the extra- territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Normally, the future land use needs and future park requirements are derived from an analysis of areas inside the city limits and the city's ETJ. Cities have the option of extending the city limits into the ETJ at some future date. Under present state statutes, qualified communities can extend their city limits into the ETJ with or without the landowners consent. In this particular instance, there are areas outside the traditional one mile ETJ which were "annexed" into the City's ETJ upon the request of landowners. Those areas that were "annexed" into the extra -territorial jurisdiction beyond the traditional one mile ETJ encompasses only one area approximately eight miles north of Lockhart along U.S. Highway 183 to Highway 21. This area is shown on Map I 1.- It was determined not to use the "annexed" ETJ acreages in the future land use requirements because the acreages tend to skew the future park requirements. In the normal practice of annually reviewing this Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan, these "annexed" ETJ areas should be reviewed for the possibility of inclusion into the city limits at some future date. If there are indications that this may be an immediate possibility, this Master Plan will need to be updated to determine the impact on future parks and recreation requirements. II.Plan Development Process The intent of this planning process was to measure demand and identify deficiencies in the parks and recreational programs of the City of Lockhart. This Plan recognizes that Lockhart is a rapidly growing community with opportunities and problems which are unique to Lockhart. Typically there is a tendency to compare the parks and recreational programs offered by a neighboring community as the "yardstick" or unit of measure for the community. Simply put, no two communities are alike. To compare what a neighboring community offers for parks and recreational programs is not a valid comparison because park standards are not universal. If the traditional method of computing park needs were applied, Lockhart would be highly deficient in park land requirements. For this reason an attempt was made to measure recreation demand or the Level of Service (LOS)which is most appropriate for the citizens of Lockhart. In the following planning section, an extended effort over several months was made to ascertain what the citizens of Lockhart want through a series of public hearings, surveys, discussions with organized sports groups and one on one interviews with key individuals in the community. From these discussions the community standards and recommendations were derived. The groups and organizations who took part in this planning effort were the following: City of Lockhart Parks and Recreation Advisory Board City of Lockhart Parks Department Lockhart City Council Lockhart Independent School District Lockhart High School Campus Lockhart Youth Soccer Association Chisholm Trail Girl Scouts Council Lockhart/Luling Lockhart Little League Softball/ Regional Director, Region 9 State Parks Division for Lockhart State Parks Meals On Wheels Program 2 Lockhart Kiwanis Club Rodeo- Association Little Dribblers Basketball Program Lockhart Community Recreation Center Adult- Softball League,