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Media Release September 25, 2002 Open house will reveal first draft
City and County of Broomfield Public
Information Office
One DesCombes Drive
·
Broomfield,
CO 80020 · (303) 438-6308
Media Contact:
Rosann Doran
Public Information Officer
303.438.6308
of open space, parks, rec, trails plan
What do Broomfield residents think of their open space, parks, trails and recreation facilities? Are there enough? Are facilities convenient to home, school and work? Are they well maintained?
The preliminary draft of Broomfield’s master plan for parks, open space, recreation and trails attempts to address those questions. It will be up for public review and comment at a
Community Open House Thursday, Oct. 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lakeshore Room in the Broomfield Senior Center, 280 Lamar St.
Kristan Pritz, Broomfield’s open space and trails director said that resident input and feedback are critical at this point in the planning effort. "The meeting is an open house format, so we hope residents will drop by at any time between 6:30 and 8:30," she said.
Refreshments will be provided, along with childcare for up to 20 children. Please call 303-464-5523 at least a day in advance to reserve a spot for childcare.
The public input into the plan effort began when over 1,200 residents recently completed a Needs Assessment survey. This statistically representative survey reveals that parks, trails and
recreational facilities are all heavily used, at a level that is one and a half times the national and metro area average. Close to 80 percent of the respondents reported that they hike or bike regularly, 70 percent swim, and over 40 percent of youth and adults belong to an organized athletic team or league. "We weren’t really surprised at this response," said Bob Prince, director of recreation services. "We as a staff see this high level of activity on a daily basis."
In the survey, residents give Broomfield very high marks for maintenance of its facilities. Over 50 percent of residents also are very satisfied with the availability of core active recreation amenities. Additions residents say they would like to see are fishing areas, trailheads with parking, recreation center, conservation of critical wildlife habitat areas, on-street bike lanes, off street multi-use paths that connect as a system, open space areas, athletic courts and fields, interpretive signage, multi-use fields for soccer, football, and other field sports, and larger multi-use community parks for active and passive recreation.
Over 60 percent feel that Broomfield should try to accommodate off leash dogs in designated areas, while strictly enforcing leash laws in all other public locations.
Survey respondents said the top five priorities for allocation of financial resources when it comes to open space, parks, recreation, and trails were acquisition of open space lands, construction of off street multi-recreational paths, acquisition of land for larger community parks, enhancement of critical wildlife habitat and construction of an additional outdoor swimming pool.
Scenic lands, potential trail corridors, and lands that can accommodate both open space and recreation, received the highest ratings as priority open space acquisitions.
The master planning effort began in February 2002, and has benefited from extensive community input, including the Needs Assessment survey and an initial community open house held in April. The draft plan is to be completed by the end of this calendar year.
Topics to be covered at the Oct. 3 meeting include results of the survey, new neighborhood and community parks ideas, suggestions on priority open space acquisitions, proposed strategies for completing trail links and recommendations for facilities and program improvements.
More information on the master plan project or the open house is available from Prince at 303-438-6352 or Pritz at 303-438-6335.