09-06-2018 Parks & Rec Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Spooner Park Improvements; City of Little Canada Spooner Park is located at 350 Eli Road, just to the east of Centerville Road in the City of Little Canada, MN. The park is situated on approximately 22 acres that is a combination of open and wooded areas with rolling topography. The park has numerous existing features that residents are able to enjoy including upper and lower shelter areas, baseball field, tennis/pickle ball courts, a sand volleyball court, play areas, and trails. There are currently three parking lots serving the park consisting of the upper lot (near the upper shelter), field lot (between Gilbertson Field and the school), and lower lot (south of the tennis courts). There have been numerous individual park improvements discussed at staff level to enhance the residents’ experience at the park and it was determined that a more encompassing review of the individual improvements was needed. This report serves to identify the various improvements and provide information to guide a discussion and recommendation for moving forward. The improvements reviewed include: · Providing additional parking for the upper shelter · Playground facility improvement · ADA accessibility · Relocation of the volleyball court Parking The upper shelter area of the park is currently served with a 31 stall parking lot that has two driveway access points off of Eli Road. The City does not have specific requirements for the number of parking stalls that should be provided for the park shelter and usage of other amenities in the park. However, on-street parking is occurring during some rental events at the shelter indicating a need for additional parking in this area. The maximum occupancy of the park shelter is 125 people. Assuming 3 passengers per vehicle the required number of stalls to adequately serve the shelter during peak use is 42 spaces. If the required number of stalls is modified to 2.5 passengers per vehicle it results in 50 spaces being required. This indicates a shortage of parking spaces to serve the shelter of between 11 and 19 spaces. There are three options for adding additional parking at the site. The first is to expand the existing parking lot. The existing parking lot is non- conforming to current City standards. The non- conformity of the lot is noted in the stall and drive aisle dimensions, the lack of perimeter curb, and the lack of circulation (i.e. you cannot internally circumnavigate the entire lot).