#04 - Parks Master Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 | EXISTING CONDITIONS + NEEDS OVERVIEW APPROACH The recreational opportunities that Lake Elmo’s parks, trails, and open spaces provide are vital to maintaining the quality of life that community members in the city value. These public spaces are integral parts of the city’s infrastructure and are proactively managed. As part of the park and trail system planning effort, the planning team collaborated with city staff and key stakeholders to develop near-term and long-range improvements that will assist them in directing decision making and allocating resources toward a clearly defined vision for the community’s park and trail system. Community input was gathered using a comprehensive and engaging outreach process that prioritized accessibility for all park and trail users. This approach created opportunities for the public to inform and educate the planning team about the future park and trail system they’d like to see. The goal of this park system planning process is to support the vision of a healthy, sustainable, and maintainable park and trail system and to discover creative, efficient, and long-term solutions to issues affecting those systems. Lake Elmo needs a plan they can use to guide decision making - a plan they can reference when deciding to take topics and considerations to the parks commission or city council. PROCESS PRINCIPLES The planning process was guided by seven overarching principles. These principles aim to provide a plan that propels Lake Elmo’s parks and trails system into the next 10 years and beyond. The plan should reflect the community’s shared concerns, aspirations, and anticipated future growth The plan should be easy to read and use, avoid technical terms when possible, and emphasize visuals (e.g., photos, infographics, etc.) The plan should create opportunities for all stakeholders to connect to open space, greenways, trails, parks, and conservation areas, thereby building environmental stewardship and strengthening relationships to the outdoors and healthy lifestyles The plan should be thoughtful and pragmatic while challenging conventional wisdom when needing to achieve an outcome, as well as recognize and incorporate the economic benefits of a strong park and recreation system The plan should focus on implementable tools with specific, measurable outcomes while being adaptable to future change The plan should engage the community throughout the process to ensure outcomes are responsive and authentic of Lake Elmo and embraced by the community The plan should intentionally incorporate changing demographics, disparate viewpoints, needs, and accessibility with the intent of hearing and acknowledging all voices VISIONARY ACCESSIBLE CONNECTED STRATEGIC INCLUSIVE COMMUNITYORIENTED ACTIONORIENTED