Every five years, following the Guidelines for the Development of Community Park, Recreation, Open Space, and Greenway Plans established by the State of Michigan, the Parks and Recreation Department updates its Master Plan. The plan serves as a strategic guide for parks and recreation staff and the basis for determining what programs and services to offer and how they should be prioritized. The plan is required by the State of Michigan to ensure the department's eligibility for certain state and federal grant funds. For the purpose of the 2019-2023 update, the department sought to build off its existing plan and an emphasis on physically active lifestyles. The department also sought to ensure that the plan was tied to broader community goals and objectives such as those identified during the recent county-wide community health needs assessment.
The Resolution calls for the approval and adoption of the Master Plan. Formal approval of the plan by the governing body is required as specified in the State of Michigan's Guidelines for the Development of Community Park, Recreation, Open Space, and Greenway Plans.
The draft is a culmination of an extensive, citizen-driven process which included a statistically-valid needs assessment survey of resident opinions and preferences regarding recreation. The draft plan includes numerous action steps to be taken by parks and recreation staff over the next five years in an effort to align programs and services with citizen preferences. The plan also reflects the department's mission to improve individual health and wellbeing while contributing to overall community quality of life.
All of the data collected throughout the planning process, which included NPC meetings, a needs assessment survey, community reaction meetings, and input from staff and an advisory committee, led to the development of three over-arching strategic directives:
- Emphasize the physical recreation environment
- Leverage assets through partnerships
- Develop structures that support self-directed recreation
Each of these directives reflect a common thread woven throughout the various information gathering sessions held during the public input process. Emphasizing the physical recreation environment means investing in the park system by improving physical facilities, maintenance, and safety to facilitate the use of natural environments in support of physically active lifestyles. Leverage assets through partnerships means extending the department's reach by impacting more people through cooperative and collaborative arrangements with a diverse set of recreation providers. Developing structures that support self-directed recreation means emphasizing non-structured over structured programming for certain constituents to encourage greater participation.
All of the goals, objectives, and action steps in the plan are a reflection of these directives.
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