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Page 4
<br />Planning and Zoning Commission
<br />October 24, 1979
<br />close the parks should be to the people who used them. This varied by park
<br />classification. In Lino Lakes it was not as easy to apply this standard,
<br />because of the amount of undevelopable land and open space, and lack of in-
<br />tensive development. Mr. Short recommended these standards be applied only
<br />to the Urban Service Districts, urban expansion and rural residential areas,
<br />and that no park facilities be provided for the. rural areas as designated on
<br />the land use plan. For, all parks collectively, he recommended a standard of
<br />8-10 acres per thousand population; most communities ran 12-15 acres per
<br />thousand, but this included one more category of parks called open space,
<br />which in Lino Lakes was unneccessary, as the County park fulfilled this need.
<br />Also, those passive uses that normally were included in neighborhood, parks
<br />or community ballfiel.ds would not be that important for the city to provide
<br />in view of the County:park and the undevelopable land within the city. Mr.
<br />Locke indicated that since the County open space was concentrated in the..
<br />center of the community, the city may want to provide areas similar to West
<br />Oaks in other areas. The table of recommended standards, which would be
<br />included inthe park plan, could be revised to show this. Mr. Short in-
<br />dicated he based the standards on a population of 10-12,000, and since
<br />passive, uses were not included in the,8-10 acres, West Oaks (46 acres),
<br />would not be considered in the total; also, Country Lakes (26 acres)
<br />would be a special use park and also should not be included in the total
<br />parks acreage. Mr. Locke indicated these guidelines were meant to be
<br />general; in most communities, following the service area standards (distance
<br />from the house) and appropriate minimum sizes, tended to have more overall
<br />acreage per thousand people, as it was harder to meet the problem of keeping
<br />the parks accessible. This would be especially true for Lino Lakes, where
<br />there was no intensive multifamily development; because of this lower -density,
<br />the tendency would be to have more park per thousand people. If one type of
<br />park had more than the recommended acreage, thiswould increase the overall
<br />amount but would not answer the need of any other type of park. Also, Lino
<br />Lakes was a growing area, and until it reached the point of saturation, the
<br />city would be: ahead of itself on parks, as it was easier to get park land
<br />before it was needed. Mr. Zelinka noted the city did not have the normal'.
<br />distribution of schools and school playgrounds, which was an additional con-
<br />sideration.
<br />Community Playfields were intended for more organized athletic activities
<br />such as league softball, football and soccer, fora more active, mobile age
<br />group. These facilities were larger and farther from home, within biking or
<br />driving distance,, and were providedfor an older age group who could travel
<br />the increased distance.; roadway barriers were no longer a consideration. In
<br />more intense urban areas ther were often combination community playfields and
<br />junior or senior high complexes, all within about 30 acres or so. The re-
<br />commended size of this type park was 10-40 acres. The park would provide a
<br />warming house with equipment storage apace, bathroom, and sometimes a con-
<br />cession area. Sometimes spectator facilities such as bleachers were provided.
<br />Parking space was important, and the park should have good access, located on
<br />a collector street or minor arterial so it could handle the traffic without
<br />intruding on local streets, and also so it was easily found. Lighting would
<br />be neccessary for adult evening games, and hockey in the winter. It was im-
<br />portantfor a park of this kind to have maximum developable land, as other-
<br />wise it would be impractical to develop.
<br />The Community -Wide City Park would be large enough to accomodate the community
<br />for Fourth of July celebration or Memorial Day with suitable facilities such
<br />as a shelter and parking. The recommended minimum size was 50-100 acres, or
<br />whatever was appropriate; or 4 acres per thousand population. City Hall Park
<br />
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