Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 10/09/2014

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Furthermore, special recreation features must: • Contribute to the inventory of available and needed recreation opportunities • Contain distinctive developments and /or unique natural landscapes not commonly found in the parks, park reserves, and trails • Require special programming or management As of 2014, there are eight special recreation features open to the public: Como Zoo Kingswood Silverwood Como Conservatory The Landing Square Lake Gale Woods Farm Noerenberg Gardens Planning Policy: Promote master planning and help provide integrated resource planning across jurisdictions. Planning - Strategy 1: Regional park implementing agencies are required to prepare a master plan for each Regional Parks System facility it owns and /or operates. Minn. Stat. 473.313 requires a master plan to be developed by each regional park implementing agency in consultation with all affected municipalities. While the statute requires only one master plan per regional park implementing agency, the Council requires individual master plans for each regional park, park reserve, trail and special recreation feature. Master plans prepared by the regional park implementing agencies are critical in defining the specifics of acquisition, development and operation of regional facilities. The plans include the regional park implementing agency's estimates of use and costs. The master plan process allows residents to participate in the development of the plan and other units of government to know what is planned for a park and how it affects them. Collectively, these master plans form the regional park implementing agencies' part of the regional system plan. For a regional park implementing agency to receive a grant for acquisition or development through the Regional Parks Capital Improvement Program, the proposed project must be consistent with a Council- approved master plan. Master plans will be reviewed by the Council for consistency with this and other Council policy plans. Inconsistent plans will be returned with comments to the regional park implementing agency, which must be revised, resubmitted, and approved by the Council to be eligible for Council funding. Minn. Stat. 473 313 provides for the state mandate on master plans; however, it does not provide guidance on timeliness of revisions. A plan is revised when the regional park implementing agency submits a master plan amendment to the Council to change its original proposal for acquisition and /or development, or when it has developed significant additional detail. The Council may approve or reject the master plan amendment for cause and return the plan to the regional park implementing agency for revisions to address the Council's concerns.