Future Park and Recreation Facilities

By Carole A. Barth

What are the park and recreation needs for the next 10 years? How will those needs be met? The 2012 Park Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan Update will estimate future needs and explain the strategy for meeting those needs. (For example, the draft PROS includes the following strategy for soccer fields: “Maximize field use and minimize wear with the installation of synthetic turf“).

The PROS plan is an important step in the facility-development process. Suppose the plan estimates we will need five hang-gliding mountains by 2022 (based on the number of county residents theoretically within the age range for hang-gliding and the maximum number of people who can hang-glide per mountain per day). Suppose the plan also notes that the eastern part of the county is flatter than the western part of the county and, therefore, the need is greater in the eastern county. So the plan recommends building five mountains over the next 10 years, giving priority to potential sites in the eastern county.

Down the road, suppose Parks submits a CIP (Capital Improvements Program) budget to the County Executive and Council which contains a $50,000 project for planning a hang-gliding mountain. The justification for that project would be, “This project helps meet the critical need for hang-gliding mountains documented in the 2012 PROS Plan.“

While this example is fictitious, it shows how the PROS plan estimates are cited as indisputable needs n the CIP process. Thus it’s important to look very closely at what’s included in the plan and how the estimates are derived.

It’s also important to develop consensus on what we really need and what we can afford. Do we need state-of-the-art facilities for every conceivable sport and hobby? Is it more important to have convenient, nearby facilities or is it more important to have regulation-sized facilities? Should we be building new facilities when many existing facilities cannot be adequately maintained? Let the county officials know what you think:

        PROS Plan Project Coordinator: MCP-PROSPlan2012@Montgomeryparks.org;

        MoCo Parks Dept. Director Mary Bradford: 301.495.2500,
        Mary.Bradford@mncppcmc.org;

        MoCo Recreation Dept. Director Gabriel Albornoz: 240.777.6800,
        Gabriel.Albornoz@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Here is the schedule for the plan’s development:

January 2012 — Open House Public Meetings
March 2012 — Draft Plan Discussed by Planning Board and submitted to State
Spring 2012 — Public Hearing
June 2012 — Work Sessions
June/July 2012 — Plan Approval by Planning Board
July 2012 — Final Local Plan Submission

Read more on the PROS plan at: www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/ParkPlanning/ Projects/pros_2012/pros_2012.shtm. ■