TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT - View Royal Park Plan Final Draft

TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT

TO: Council DATE: November 12, 2020 FROM: Lindsay Chase, Director of Development Services MEETING DATE: November 17, 2020

View Royal Park Plan Final Draft

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council adopt the View Royal Park Master Plan dated November 17, 2020.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To present to Council a final draft of the update to the View Royal Park Master Plan for adoption.

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION:

In 2010 Council took the proactive step of developing a Master Plan for View Royal Park to guide investment in the park over the longer term. In 2019 Council recognized that with the addition of the bike pump track it was time to revisit the 2010 plan and make plans for the next ten to twenty years. LADR Landscape Architects were engaged to assist with the update. They were also the consultants who produced the 2010 plan.

View Royal Park is identified as one of three Community Parks in the Parks Master Plan. From the Master Plan, a Community Park is ‘generally large parks providing passive and active recreation options, with a range of amenities of interest to the entire community. These spaces may also contain significant environmental features’. View Royal Park has all of this and more: playground, fitness equipment, a watercourse, walking and cycle paths, off leash dog area, bike pump track, and community gardens.

The update to the 2010 plan began with observation of park users, and surveying park users. A survey was also posted on the Towns website and social media channels. Results from the November/December survey indicate a high degree of satisfaction with the park. They also indicated some areas of conflict/concern with respect to the dog off leash area and an expressed desire for additional parking so that park users coming from other View Royal neighborhoods and further afield could easily access park amenities.

In addition to the survey staff and the consultant also reviewed the 2019 Community Survey and the draft Council Strategic Plan. From these documents we identified that a climate lens was not adequately implemented in the 2010 plan and we sought ways to use this information to inform the 2020 draft plan.

A draft plan was presented to Committee of the Whole in February 2020 and Council expressed concern about the proposed parking areas and directed that additional engagement work be undertaken. Before we could get back out to the community, COVID-19 emerged and most activities of the Town were paused. During that time period the draft plan was posted to the Towns website and emails from residents were received.

On July 9th staff and the consultant went to the park and held a pop-up engagement event from 3-7pm. It was a perfect sunny summer day and more than 100 people came by and chatted with staff and the consultants. People could choose to provide feedback during the event or they could email staff with comments after the event. On July 21st Council received the comments from the public engagement event, directed additional changes be made to the draft and referred the draft to Advisory Committees.

Advisory Committees reviewed the draft plan that included the changes directed by Council in October. Their recommendations were received by Council on November 3rd.

FINAL DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS

After careful consideration of community and advisory committee input, and Council direction, the final draft plan is attached for consideration. The final draft of the View Royal Park Master Plan includes:

• a defined dog off-leash area in the north field with a proposed double pathway and fence. This would result in all other areas of the park being clearly defined as on-leash areas and would remove dogs from being able access the creek unless on leach with an owner.
• overall emphasis of the plan shifts to focus on climate action and environmental restoration.
• small amount of expansion of the community gardens is included towards the parking lot. No further expansion of community gardens towards the playground is contemplated.
• continued support for a community gathering space within the park
• permanent washroom facilities
• The proposal to expand parking areas into the park has been eliminated.

As with the previous version of the plan, implementation of the plan will be considered during budget deliberations in each year. The implementation schedule in the plan includes order of magnitude costs in 2020 dollars, as well as recommended phasing. The proposal final draft is attached to this report.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council adopt the View Royal Park Master Plan dated November 17, 2020.

SUBMITTED BY: L. Chase, Director of Development Services

REVIEWED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer

Attachement Final Version View Royal Park Master Plan, November 17, 2020