City of Coral Gables COMMUNITY RECREATION
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City of Coral Gables COMMUNITY RECREATION Parks and Open Space Master Plan Prepared By: Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart, Inc. Falcon & Bueno Updated by: Coral Gables Parks and Recreation City of Coral Gables COMMUNITY RECREATION Mission Statement: “To enhance the quality of life for residents and guests of all ages through recreational and instructional opportunities, facilities and events that create memorable life experiences.” CORAL GABLES PARKS AND OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN 3 INTRODUCTION Coral Gables is a vibrant, budding city. Adjacent Methodology to the City of Miami, the area is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. To begin the Master Plan, an analysis of the City The City is known internationally for its high of Coral Gables’ history, development patterns quality of life, including Mediterranean revival and recreation system was conducted to assist in architecture, tree-lined residential streets and a the identification of needs for the park and open thriving downtown shopping and office district. space system. Next, a comprehensive needs One of the City’s goals is to provide high quality analysis was conducted to examine the existing recreation and open space opportunities to recreation system and project recreation needs for residents. To this end, the City has been extremely park and open space facilities. The needs analysis active in the construction of passive and active included a visioning/needs identification process recreation facilities, including neighborhood parks, with staff, neighborhood workshops and community facilities and special use facilities, and community surveys to collect input from the acquisition of new park lands through the residents, and an analytical analysis based on Parknership Program. existing data and standards. From the data collected, a vision for the City’s future park and Glatting Jackson was commissioned in 1999 by open space system was developed. A detailed the City to develop a strategic Parks and Open action plan and funding strategies to implement Space Master Plan. The plan timeframe is 15 the vision were also developed. This report is a years (2015), and includes: summary of the activities conducted to develop Review of current recreation and open space the City of Coral Gables’ Parks and Open Space system Master Plan, and recommendations to implement Projection of future needs the plan. Recommended action plan The objective of the Master Plan is to develop a long-range, visionary, yet practical parks and open space vision that: Has broad-based public consensus Identifies open space needs in “new” areas Identifies opportunities for linkages and partnerships Provides recreation opportunities for all residents Includes a comprehensive variety of facility types Creates opportunities for recreation programs Accommodates changing demographics Respects individual neighborhood needs Develops an implementation strategy Establishes priorities for land acquisition (incl. existing $2 million program) and park development CORAL G ABLES P ARKS AND OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN 1 CORAL GABLES PARKS AND OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN 4 ANALYSIS OF EXISTING SYSTEMS Coral Gables Today – 75 Years of George Merrick’s Vision History of the City The City of Coral Gables, incorporated in , is George errick envisioned a place where a planned city with a predominantly residents passed through “the gates of an exotic Mediterranean architectural character, inspired by walled city of antiquity,” and live in a “great Spanish and Italian precedents uropean garden set with houses, a park where all the monuments, several centuries old, became the people can live to their best capacities.” Today, inspiration for both residential and commercial the City of Coral Gables closely resembles his architecture, and gateways reminiscent of ancient vision. city walls and arched gates, frame a community steeped in tradition Mr Merrick opened his subdivisions by clearly specifying their intended use, predating oning The founder of Coral Gables was George errick, principles and regulations by years erricks who came to South lorida from ubury, professionals called for a business section, a Massachusetts with his family in 1898. Merrick’s "Country Club Section where a magnificent hotel father had purchased one hundred and sity acres was planned, a series of residential sections, a of undeveloped land, located to the southwest of "Crafts" Section, where the local cottage industries the City of Miami he family operated thriving would be showcased, and an Industrial Section orange, grapefruit and avocado groves, while where service-related functions such as an ice living on the perimeter of the burgeoning mecca plant, dairy, and the street railway car barn were of iami located. cres of land were reserved for the creation of golf courses and other public George errick envisioned that his family's recreational facilities, including bridle paths, tennis groves could be transformed into a residential courts and athletic fields system of canals community whose proimity to iami would linking the City to the iami iver and Biscayne make it an attractive suburb y 21 r Merrick Bay was also planned, as well as a series of formal had assembled enough parcels to begin a new city, plazas to connect the wide boulevards that radiate named “Coral Gables,” unparalleled anywhere else throughout the city. in lorida. George Merrick’s plan has carefully guided the To create his ideal community, r Merrick development of Coral Gables into becoming a assembled an etraordinary team of designers, world-class city y honoring his original plan, the which included artist enman ink, architects City can successfully propel itself into the net George ink and Phineas Paist, and landscape years. architect rank Button Together they created a model suburb which featured broad, tree-lined avenues, fountains, monumental gateways and architecture unified by a editerranean theme. CCORALORA G GABLESABLES P ARKSP ARKS AND O POENPE SPA SCPCEE MASTER MSTER PLAN PLAN 2 5 Population and Growth Characteristics to the City, with over ,30 acres reserved for these purposes. Through a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign conducted between ctober 1923 and ince Coral Gables has little land available for new March 19, more than six hundred homes were development and the City’s policy is to seek constructed, sixty five miles of roadway of redevelopment opportunities, it is expected that crushed coral rock and later paved with asphalt population growth in the next ten years will be were built, and over eighty miles of sidewalks were similar to the growth between 199 and 199. n added to the City. In addition, fifty thousand addition, land use patterns are expected to remain trees, shrubs, and flowering plants were planted the same as they have in the past due to the and a system of lighting was installed which planned nature of the City. covered over twenty-eight miles of the City. Coral Gables experienced the phenomenon of a land Although population growth and land use are boom reflecting the disposable income and expected to remain constant, the City is expecting aspirations of the era. a change in the demographic nature of Coral Gables. ounger families with children are rom 1924 to present day, Coral Gables has moving into established single family grown to over ,00 residents and 1,500 neighborhoods, while many seniors and “empty housing units (see Table 1). The City now nesters” are moving into condominiums and small encompasses almost 8,00 acres, with half of the units with less maintenance. This movement is land dedicated for residential purposes (see evident in the increase in persons per household Existing Land Use, Page 4). owever, (see Table 1). recreation and open space are important elements Table 1: Peak Population Projections Population 2000 2005 2010 Permanent Residents 41,809 42,668 43,527 Seasonal Visitors 903 903 903 Peak Population 42,712 43,571 44,430 % Change 2.01% 1.97% 1.93% Total Housing Units 17,065 17,205 17,411 Persons Per Household 2.45 2.48 2.5 ource Coral Gables Comprehensive Plan CCORALORA G GABLESABLES P ARKSP ARKS AND O POENPE SPA SCPCEE MASTER MASTER PLAN PLAN 3 6 Eisting and se CORA G ABLES P ARKS OPE SPCE MASTER PLA 4 CORAL GABLES PARKS AND OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN 7 Parks and Open Space System Elements– Inventory The City o Coral ables has a total of seventy Community acilities, eighborhood arks and rban pen paces under public ownership In addition to facilities provided by the City, Miami-ade County, other cities and the tate o lorida maintain regional parks and recreation facilities throughout southeast lorida that are available to Coral ables residents Coral ables contains three sites that are owned or managed by Miami-Dade County and contribute to the City’s recreation and open space resources hese sites include atheson ammock ark, Chapman ield, and ardy Matheson reserve Table 2 provides a detailed inventory of the City’s community facilities, neighborhood parks and urban open spaces The total acreage and types o recreation activities available within the City’s recreation system are included Parks and Open Space System Elements– Analysis Through the review of the City’s history and development patterns, the park and open space elements that characterie the City’s recreation system were identiied Gateways rban pen paces eighborhood arks Community acilities ublic treets Canals and aterways esign Character CORA G ABLES P ARKS OPE SPCE MASTER PLA 5 CORAL GABLES PARKS AND OPEN