COUNCIL REPORT - View Royal Park Master Plan Review

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT

TO: Council DATE: February 26, 2020 FROM: Lindsay Chase, Director of Development Services MEETING DATE: March 3, 2020

View Royal Park Master Plan Review

RECOMMENDATION: THAT Council receive the report titled “View Royal Park Master Plan Review” for information.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS: I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING’S COMMENTS: I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT: To provide an early draft of the revised View Royal Park Master Plan to Council for information and review prior to seeking community feedback on the draft plan.

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION: The 2019 budget included a review of the View Royal Park Master Plan. The original plan was approved in 2010 and has provided excellent guidance for investment in the Town’s central park. Over the last 10 years the Town has made major investments in View Royal Park including things like walking trails, outdoor fitness equipment, drainage, playground equipment, community gardens, temporary washrooms and a paved bike pump track.

Council determined that it was time to revisit the plan to ensure that the park continues to meet the needs of the community now and well into the future. LADR Landscape Architects were engaged to lead this project. They were the consultant team involved in the original Master Plan for the park.

Community Engagment

The program for the review involved on site meetings with staff, a review of the works and projects completed to date and surveys of park users in the park and an online survey. The survey was posted on the Town’s website for just under 3 weeks and was advertised with signs in the park, a direct mailing to residents within 400 meters of the park and social media posts from the Town’s media platforms.

Over 300 responses were gathered from the community and the results of the survey provide rich information about what is most valued about the park and what the community would like to see in the future.

Emerging Themes

Review of the community engagement results highlight a few important themes:

The park is well loved and there is a high degree of satisfaction with the current range of amenities
A public gathering space (picnic shelter and picnic facilities), public washroom, additional parking and more trees are the most desired new features
Addressing climate change, and making the park more resilient to its effects is important
Environmental protection of features like the creek appears to be a higher priority than previously

Changes in Draft Plan

The draft plan presented this evening includes revisions to address many of these topics. It proposes increasing parking areas, installation of a shelter/gathering space, additional benches, and emphasis on improving the waterfront areas and planting more trees. It is also proposed that the dog off leash area be better defined by fencing and limited to the northern part of the open field where the walking path is located.

Next Steps

Next steps for the plan include an open house scheduled for March 19, 2020 at Town Hall and the development of an implementation schedule and order of magnitude costing for implementation. Staff recommend that the draft plan be referred to the Parks Recreation and Environment Advisory Committee for comment at their March 24th meeting.

After this next round of engagement, staff and the consulting team will review comments received, make necessary refinements to the plan and present a final draft to Council for consideration, likely in April.

RECOMMENDATION: THAT Council receive the report titled “View Royal Park Master Plan Review” for information.

SUBMITTED BY: L. Chase, Director of Development Services

REVIEWED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer

Attachment: View Royal Park Master Plan Draft—February 2020