CC WORKSESSION PACKET 01292019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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INTRODUCTION SERVICE AREA VISION PARK PLANS IMPLEMENTATIONPLANNING PROCESS EAST OF THE RIVER PARK MASTER PLAN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE The high amount of community engagement events, the Youth Design Team, the Data Jam, Design Week, and the Plan Van were all done in an effort to ensure that the planning process was open and equitable, and to perform work in the spirit of a racial equity lens. Community engagement unfolded in three main phases, in concert with the gradual evolution of park plans over 19 months (for a detailed list of engagement events, see Appendix A). While there is always room for improvement, and we always learn how to improve our work with every planning process, we can confidently say that the extensive engagement associated with the East of the River Park Master Plan garnered input and dialog from a broad cross-section of the community. The planning team worked hard to reach the broader community in the effort and was supported by local media in getting the word out through evening news coverage and almost monthly articles in local and neighborhood papers. The ERPMP is the result of input that spans ranges of age, gender, economic status, race and ethnicity, and historic involvement with park planning. Most important, the planning process and park designs changed over the course of the project in response to the community’s voice. The ERPMP process unfolded slowly and deliberately over more than a year and a half, repeatedly asking the community to weigh in at each stage: at the initial visioning, on the community engagement data themselves, on early hand-sketched designs, at the stage of design refinement, and even on this very document, which will doubtlessly change between this draft and the final adopted version. Though a park planning process cannot solve the deeply entrenched institutional bias that exists throughout government systems, it can recognize that such bias does exist. It can do its part to make decisions that set the stage for eliminating that bias in areas where MPRB has jurisdiction. MPRB recognizes the importance of the commitment to the ERPMP process many community members have made— especially at a time of heightened tension and dialog around race—and the agency is indebted for that service. The ERPMP is a significant step forward in ensuring that racial and other bias is eliminated. It envisions a neighborhood park system that meets the needs of the changing community. It aligns park plans with community needs and invests in areas where those needs are greatest. It does not assume the parks will be remade just as they are now. It remakes the parks in the image of the new present and future Minneapolis. Image 13 | Toole Design Group presents at Community Advisory Committee meeting on design for accessibility. Source: MPRB 24