OKLAHOMA CITY PARKS MASTER PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE STAKEHOLDERS Oklahoma City Community Foundation Oklahoma City Community Foundation Brian Dougherty, Program Manager, Margaret Annis Boys Trust / Dr. Steve Agee, Trustee / OCCF Parks Study Consultant Parks and Public Space Initiative Nancy Anthony, President Leslie Hudson, Trustee, Chair, Margaret Annis Boys Trust Committee Sam Bowman, Past City Councilman Kenneth Conklin, Committee Member, Margaret Annis Boys Trust Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department Elizabeth Eickman, Director, Kirkpatrick Family Fund Wendel Whisenhunt, Director Vicki Howard, Committee Member, Margaret Annis Boys Trust Terry Ash, Landscape Architect / Park Planner Jane Jayroe Gamble, Trustee Oklahoma City Planning Department Rodd Moesel, Committee Member, Margaret Annis Boys Trust Russell Claus, Director Cathy Nestlen, Director of Communications Aubrey Hammontree, Urban Planner Bond Payne, Trustee Larkin Warner, Parks Study Consultant Carolyn Zachritz, Margaret Annis Boys Trust CONSULTANTS City of Oklahoma City Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT) Louise Alexander, Parks Commission Andrew Dobshinsky, Project Manager Dennis Clowers, Assistant City Manager David Rouse, Principal in Charge Randy Entz, Transportation Planner, Planning Department Brian Traylor, Planner and Urban Designer Wes Gray, Business Manager, Parks and Recreation Department PROS Consulting, LLC Skip Kelly, Past City Councilman Leon Younger, President Debi Martin, City Council Chief of Staff William Younger, Consultant Larry Ogle, Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation Department Allen Paine, Chair, Parks Commission The Trust for Public Land Pat Ryan, City Council, Ward 8 Peter Harnik, Director, Center for City Park Excellence Brent Wall, Park Planner, Parks and Recreation Department Abby Martin, Center for City Park Excellence Pete White, City Council, Ward 4 Leisure Vision / ETC Institute Oklahoma City Public Schools Elaine Tatham, President Lynne Hardin, President, Oklahoma City School Board Ron Vine, Vice President Karl Springer, Former Superintendent Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma Georgie Rasco, Executive Director Cover photo by Carl Shortt OKLAHOMA CITY PARKS MASTER PLAN August 2013 Prepared for the City of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation by WRT 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ___________________________________________________5 2. LAYING A FOUNDATION __________________________________________________ 9 Background and History ___________________________________________________________________ 11 Planning Process _________________________________________________________________________ 11 Mission _________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Goals ___________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Key Findings from Previous Efforts ___________________________________________________________ 12 Relation to Ongoing Efforts _________________________________________________________________ 14 Benchmarking ___________________________________________________________________________ 15 Stakeholder Themes ______________________________________________________________________ 17 2013 Community Survey ___________________________________________________________________ 17 3. SETTING STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ________________________________________23 4. PARK CLASSIFICATIONS _________________________________________________27 Local Parks ______________________________________________________________________________ 28 Regional Parks ___________________________________________________________________________ 31 Other Parks ______________________________________________________________________________ 33 Summary of Amenities _____________________________________________________________________36 Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design _______________________________________________ 37 5. LEVEL OF SERVICE STANDARDS __________________________________________39 Level of Service Tiers ______________________________________________________________________ 40 Level of Service Standards _________________________________________________________________ 43 2 Oklahoma City Parks Master Plan Table of Contents 3 6. ANALYSIS AND APPLIED STANDARDS ______________________________________47 Local Park and Sidewalk Access _____________________________________________________________ 48 Regional Park Access ______________________________________________________________________ 50 Areas Served by More than One Local Park ____________________________________________________ 52 Transit Access to Parks ____________________________________________________________________ 53 Demographics ___________________________________________________________________________ 54 Off-Street Trail Access _____________________________________________________________________ 56 Connectivity _____________________________________________________________________________ 58 Considerations for Evaluating if a Park Meets Community Needs __________________________________ 60 7. ACTION PLAN _________________________________________________________63 8. FUNDING OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES _____________________________________75 Oklahoma City by the Numbers ______________________________________________________________ 76 Funding Sources __________________________________________________________________________ 76 Financial Sustainability ____________________________________________________________________ 85 Funding Scenarios ________________________________________________________________________ 88 9. MAINTENANCE GUIDELINES _____________________________________________93 10. PARTNERSHIPS _______________________________________________________ 97 Overview of Partner Organizations ___________________________________________________________ 98 Partnership Recommendations for Oklahoma City Parks _________________________________________ 99 Partnership Agreements __________________________________________________________________ 103 Discovering nature. 11. APPENDICES _________________________________________________________105 A family pauses on a bridge at Martin Park Nature Center to look at the $SSHQGL[$3DUN&ODVVLÀFDWLRQ/LVW _________________________________________________________ 107 water below. Appendix B: Financial Overview ____________________________________________________________ 111 Appendix C: Action Tables _________________________________________________________________ 113 Appendix D: NRPA Maintenance Standards ___________________________________________________123 5 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Oklahoma City is on an impressive track towards national urban prominence with a vibrant economy, an admired massive infrastructure program, a growing presence in the worlds of professional sports and Olympic and amateur rowing, and an increasing arts and cultural scene. Its gleaming new Devon Energy Center and sparkling redesigned Myriad Botanical Gardens park and conservatory make for a riveting downtown focal point. Plans for a vibrant Central Park and downtown neighborhood bode well for a more walkable urban future in Oklahoma City. The city’s success has attracted growth downtown and at the fringes. The City of Oklahoma City government (the City) is looking for ways to continue providing services and facilities—from transportation to public safety to parks—in established neighborhoods as well as brand new neighborhoods. What Oklahoma City needs is a new parks plan—a clear and compelling vision for its park system over the coming decades—to mirror other advances that the city has accomplished. 6 Oklahoma City Parks Master Plan Executive Summary 7 This Parks Master Plan—funded by the City of Oklahoma City and The 2005 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan also did the Oklahoma City Community Foundation—is a plan for parks within a thorough, standards-based analysis of park service areas and the City of Oklahoma City. It builds on other studies and supports SDUN QHHGV 7KLV SODQ GRHV QRW UHYLVLW WKH VWDQGDUGV LGHQWLÀHGLQ ongoing efforts, including Oklahoma City’s comprehensive plan, WKH SUHYLRXV SODQ EXW LQVWHDG IRFXVHV RQ ÀOOLQJ DQDO\VLV JDSV planokc. particularly related to park and trail access. 6LJQLÀFDQW LQSXW IURP UHVLGHQWV WKURXJK D FRPPXQLW\ VXUYH\ DQG Oklahoma City’s park system has not grown uniformly as the city has PHHWLQJVZLWKVWDNHKROGHUVFRQÀUPHGWKHLPSRUWDQFHRI2NODKRPD grown. As a result, different areas of the city have different levels of City’s park system to quality of life in and economic well-being of the access to parks. In some parts of the city, residents may be within a city and highlighted opportunities to improve the park system. 5 minute walk of a park while in other parts of the city, residents may not be able to feasibly walk to a park at all. Six strategic directions were synthesized from citizen and stakeholder input and provide high-level guidance for the City and The level of service tiers in this plan—central city, urban area, urban its partners in establishing new policies and programs, developing growth area, and rural area—balance the existing assets of the park new partnerships, and allocating resources to maintain, improve, system with the locations of existing and projected population. The DQGOHYHUDJHWKHSDUNV\VWHPIRUJUHDWHUFRPPXQLW\EHQHÀW VWDQGDUGVIRUHDFKWLHUUHÁHFWWKHORFDWLRQRIH[LVWLQJSDUNVDQGWKH budgetary constraints of developing new parks to increase service. 1. Maintain and improve physical assets of existing parks. Applying the