Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/04/2011

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City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update Chapter 10: Parks, Recreation and Open Space Neighborhood Parks: Neighborhood parks are usually centrally located within neighborhoods and are designed primarily for use by neighborhood residents within easy walking and biking distances. The Neighborhood Park should be a positive focal point of pride for the neighborhood. They are intended for both passive and active activities with facilities such as play equipment, court games, and picnicking. They are generally not intended to accommodate organized athletic activities. Neighborhood parks should be a minimum of 5 acres. These parks typically serve residents I to ' mile distance and uninterrupted by non-residential roads or other physical barriers or have connecting trails with safe street crossings. School Parks: Combining parks with school sites can be an efficient use of facilities. Care should be taken to not over use these faculties beyond what the landscape and scheduled maintenance can keep up with. Community Parks and Athletic Complexes: Community Parks serve a broader purpose than neighborhood parks. The focus is on meeting community -based recreational needs, as well as preserving unique landscapes and open spaces. A high priority for these parks should be connecting them through a trail system which then serves residents within %2 to a 3 mile distance, for those not traveling by auto. The sports components of these facilities are often heavily programmed athletic fields. In Ramsey a strategy for Community Parks has been to ensure the park has a diversity of facilities, yet congregate like sports fields together. Open Space: Land set aside for preservation of significant natural resources. Usually lacks any developed facilities. Special Use: These parks consist of recreational facilities that are orientated toward a single -use. Greenways: A greenway is a continuous corridor of natural vegetation that provides for critical habitat and the movement of wildlife and humans. They often follow natural waterways or land features. 2. Trail Types: Off Road (Urban): Paved surface for non -motorized use, and paved or non -paved surface for users, both trails removed from roadway. These facilities should be developed in corridors a minimum of 35' feet in width. On Road : Paved, striped and signed shoulder on roadway. On Road Separated: Paved trail parallel to roadways, separated by a ditch, curb or other buffer. Multi -Purpose: Paved surface and separate non -paved skiing or equestrian trail, both removed from roadways. These facilities should be developed in corridors a minimum of 75' feet in width. Table 10-2 represents standards for park facilities needed to serve a community like Ramsey with the focus of the park development occurring within existing and future urban areas. These standards provide a basis for determining if the existing park system adequately serves today's population and if it will be able to handle the expected growth to the year 2020. These standards should only be used as a guide or rule of thumb. City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Page 10-10