03/06/1995 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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should be equal to the cost of the entire system divided by their proportionate share of the trail users. If the community requests land dedication to accommodate a trail corridor, this land must be factored into the entire amount of land needed to accommodate all of the parks and trails to serve the service area. There are many cases of cornununities that attempt to add trail dedication on top of maximum park land dedication. There is nothing inherently wrong with requiring dedication for both a portion of a trail and all or part of a park. The key is to recognize that land is land,and it all has to be factored in to the analysis. SAMPLE PARK DEDICATION REQUIREMENTS FROM TWIN CITIES METROPOLITAN AREA COMMUNITIES Figure 3 is a summary of the current park dedication requirements in several Twin Cities area communities. This summary clearly illustrates the differences between communities regarding the level of park service they propose to provide to their residents. It is also instructive as it reflects the emphasis that each community places on open space as part of its park system. There is a deeply rooted philosophical attitude in many of the developing communities within the region that views density as evil. This attitude is reflected in not only the park dedication requirements in these communities, but also in their lot sizes and other zoning and engineering standards. From our review of the park dedication ordinances in these communities, we did not find any that contained a summary of analysis or any other information that would address the rough proportionality test. This analysis could be appropriately contained in their adopted park plans.. However, in our review of a sample bf these plans,we did not find any such analysis. Ideally,I would argue that the park plan should contain a complete analysis of the existing and proposed park system, who uses it, and the necessary background to explain the fairness of the dedication ordinance. The purpose and intent section of the ordinance itself should refer to the plan, but also include a clear and concise summary of the justification for requiring park dedication and the basis for sharing the financial burden. Again, what we have seen to date falls far short of this standard, with most simply setting forth a basic percentage, with supporting statements of conclusions. PARK DEDICATION FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LAND The example presented above illustrates a basic approach to completing a rough proportionality test for parks to serve residential areas. Each community will have to adjust its analysis to respond to their own unique conditions set of objectives. challenges and opportunities. Nevertheless, the basic analysis is pretty straight forward - you decide what the total amount of land requirements are and you divide out the costs of providing it according to some rational formula. This task becomes more complicated when commercial and industrial land is considered. 4