2020-25 Comprehensive Master Plan(Link
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SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT 2020-2025 COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN Adopted January 21, 2020 Board of Commissioners STAFF Mike Reid, President John Ohrlund, Executive Director Khemarey Khoeun, Vice President William Schmidt, Superintendent of Business Services Susan Aberman, Commissioner Michelle Tuft, Superintendent of Recreation and Facilities Michael Alter, Commissioner Corrie Guynn, Superintendent of Parks Minal Desai, Commissioner Jon Marquardt, Assistant Superintendent of Recreation Planning Team Hitchcock Design Group, Landscape Architecture & Planning Table of Contents 4 Introduction 11 Chapter 1: Analyze: Inventory & Analysis 51 Chapter 2: Connect: Community Engagement & Needs Assessment 87 Chapter 3: Envision & Prioritize: Alternative Strategies & Preferred Strategies 99 Chapter 4: Implement: Action Plan 111 Chapter 5: Appendix 4 SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN INTRODUCTION Introduction The Skokie Park District developed this plan, based on the previous plan’s accomplishments, updated community input, and current context, to guide park, facility, and program development decisions for the next five years. This section provides an overview of the Park District profile and the structure of the plan. Purpose Upon completion of the Analyze and Connect phases, The purpose of this Comprehensive Plan is to: the planning team met to develop preliminary strategies. • Assess existing parks, facilities, and programs. Input from the Board of Commissioners and staff • Determine community opinion about services prioritized and incorporated these strategies into an and facilities. action plan. • Identify park, facility, and program needs. • Define strategic and measurable goals and How to Use the Plan objectives. This Comprehensive Plan document will be used by • Provide an action plan to implement strategies the Skokie Park District as a guide to implement action over the next five years. items over the next five years. The Action Plan should be thought of as a “working list” that will need to be Planning Process evaluated and updated annually. The comprehensive planning process covers four key phases: Analyze, Connect, Envision / Prioritize, and Implement. This Master Plan compiles the results, defines the Park District’s objectives, and outlines the implementation plan. The planning process began in the Summer of 2019 with an update to the inventory and analysis of the Skokie Park District’s park and open space assets, indoor facilities, and community context. Staff, stakeholders, the Board of Commissioners, and the community shared their opinions about the District’s parks, facilities, programs, and needs during the Connect phase. INTRODUCTION SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN 5 STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT Chapter One Analyze: Inventory and Analysis Chapter One provides a detailed inventory of parkland, open space, District facilities, schools, trails, and relevant adjacent land uses. Park assets are classified and quantified by standards, size, location, and amenities. Chapter Two Connect: Community Engagement and Needs Assessment Chapter Two includes national, state, and local parks and recreation trends. It also includes summaries of the community meeting, online engagement platform, stakeholder workshops, staff workshops, and Board of Park Commissioners workshop. Chapter Three Envision & Prioritize: Alternative and Preferred Strategies Chapter Three outlines the needs that arose during the Analyze and Connect phases. It provides the background of those needs, synthesizing the results from the previous phases into justification and background for future action items, and the strategies to achieve them. Chapter Four Implement: Action Plan Chapter Four outlines the highest priority strategies into a five-year action plan. The action plan designates when strategies will occur and how to accomplish them. Chapter Five Appendix Chapter Five contains local zoning maps and detailed survey results. 6 SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN INTRODUCTION District Profile The Skokie Park District service area covers approximately 10.07 square miles and serves a population of over 63,900 people. Located in northern Cook County, the Park District maintains more than 247.8 acres of open space, recreation, and special use properties. Geographic Profile Related Plans The Park District properties include two outdoor aquatic During the planning process the previous Skokie Park facilities, one golf course, one tennis center, and open District Comprehensive Master Plan was referenced. spaces located throughout the District. Additionally, the Park District owns 15 special use facilities, including Weber History Leisure Center, Skatium, Devonshire Cultural Center, and Originally know as the Niles Center Park District, the Skokie Oakton Community Center. Park District was organized on February 3rd, 1928 under the Submerged Lands Statute of 1895. This statute authorized The Park District is located within Cook County and overlaps the creation of a municipal corporation separate and apart other governing bodies’ jurisdictions. These jurisdictions from “city” government. A year after officially organizing include the Village of Skokie, the Village of Lincolnwood, as a Park District, the District acquired the land for Oakton the Village of Niles, the Village of Morton Grove, and the Park / Emily Oaks. Originally, the Village of Skokie was City of Evanston. It also includes Forest Preserve District of responsible for recreation programming, but transferred Cook County property, and portions of School Districts 65, that responsibility to the Park District in 1951, the same 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 73 ½, 202, and 219. year the District started levying its own tax. Organizational Structure Five years later, the District added seventeen new parks to The five-member volunteer Board of Commissioners is its inventory and then added another ten parks in 1964. the legal governing authority of the Park District. District Between those acquisitions, the Devonshire Community residents elect Commissioners at large to serve staggered Center and Oakton Community Center and pool were six-year terms. Some of the governing body’s responsibilities constructed, adding additional indoor recreation include setting policy, making major investment decisions, and program space to the growing community. hiring and overseeing the Executive Director, passing ordinances, adopting the budget, and determining tax Throughout the 1970s the District continued rates. The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing constructing major indoor and outdoor facilities, adding the day-to-day operations, hiring qualified and professional the Skatium Ice Arena, Weber Park Golf Course, and the employees, and carrying out the policies and ordinances Skokie Park Tennis Center to its array of offerings. The of the District. 1980s led to the development of the original Tot Learning Center (1981) at Laramie Park, which eventually WILMETTE AVE CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN RAILROAD INTRODUCTION EDENS EXPRESSWAY SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN 7 N CRAWFORD AVE GLENVIEW RD GREEN BAY RD C h ic a RIDGE RD g ¤£41 o R iv e George F r Lawler Park Nixon Westmoreland Aerial Map Woods ! Country Club OLD ORCHARD RD Harms Memorial Park ! Shabonee Park Flatwoods ! Cemetery Weissburg Park SKOKIE BLVD Harris Woods SIMPSON ST GOLF RD ELGIN RD Chick Evans Golf Course Weber Park Golf Course EMERSON ST Emerson Park ! Terminal Park ! GROSS POINT RD ! ! Central Park BECKWITH RD Sequoya Park ! Henry O. Gleiss Park ! CHURCH ST ! Gross Point Park ! Timber Ridge Park Gross Point & ! CENTRAL AVE North Shore Terminal ! ! Devonshire Park Sculpture Park Carol Park DEMPSTER ST DEMPSTER ST ! 58 ! UV Seneca ! Park ! Lockwood Park Playtime Park Evanston Golf Club Lee Wright Park SKOKIE BLVD Pawnee Park ! ! LINCOLN AVE I- 94 CRAWFORD AVE Shawnee Park ! ¨¦§ ! N MCCORMICKN BLVD ! Kawaga Garden Navajo Park MAIN ST ! Skokie Tennis Center ! ! McNally Park ¤£41 ! Winnebago Park Main / Hamlin ! ! Tennis Complex Veterans Park ! Channelside/ ! Menominee Park Pooch Park Lorel Park Skokie Heritage ! Dammerich ! Museum OAKTON ST Oakton & Lorel Tecumseh Park OAKTON ST ! Rowing ! Skokie Center Oakton Lauth Park LEHIGH AVE Sports ! Park ! Park Emily Oaks Nature Center ! SKOKIE SWIFT CTA YELLOW LINE George Street ! Mulford Park ! Property ! ! Hamlin Park Peccia Park Maintenance ! W HOWARD ST Lyon Park HOWARD ST CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD Chippewa Park ! ! Tot Learning EDENS EXPRESSWAY Center LINCOLN AVE Laramie ! Park W TOUHY AVE TOUHY AVE North ShoreChannel W TOUHY AVE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD N LEHIGH AVE ! Pohatan Park ! Schack Park CRAWFORD AVE UV50 NORTH SHORE CHANNEL UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD ¤£14 ¤£41 W DEVON AVE W DEVON AVE icago Riv Ch er Aerial Map Legend 1 INCH = 2,900 FEET ± FEET District Boundary Skokie Park District Parks 0750 1,500 3,000 GIS Sources: Cook County GIS, Village of Skokie, HDG Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community 8 SKOKIE PARK DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN INTRODUCTION moved to its own site in 1997, and the Emily Oaks Awards & Recognition Nature Center and Skokie Water Playground (1988). The The Skokie Park District and its facilities have been the Village moved the Meyer log cabin to a site behind the recipients of multiple awards throughout the course of historic engine house, with the Skokie Park District its existence. In the past, the District’s lifeguard staff has taking over management