Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Planning for our future parks, recreation needs and protecting city park land was a central focus of Penticton City Council during its June 19 open meeting. Assisted by considerable public engagement over many months, Council approved five important documents that will help set the direction of parks in Penticton for years to come. They include:

Parks and Recreation Master Plan: Guides staff and Council in making parks and recreation decisions over the coming years. The policies developed within the Master Plan will be included in the new Official Community Plan.

Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee: Assists with the implementation of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and plays an important role in the review of uses in City parks. Aligns with the process and procedure proposed with the Park Land Use and Protection Policy.

Park Land Protection and Use Policy: Provides guidance and direction for the use and protection of public parkland by establishing a clear definition of a public park, licence or lease.

Park Dedication Bylaw: Ensures an appropriate level of public engagement occurs with regard to any future lease or disposition of parks lands.

Proposed Park Zoning Bylaw Amendments: Council directed to staff to finalize and return a zoning bylaw amendment that, moving forward, ensures community engagement and committee involvement is sought in the use and development of city parks.

“The process to create the Master Plan and the related Park dedication bylaw, and Park protection policy took a long time, but they are now very powerful and robust policies to help define park uses and the public process involved when contemplating future uses”, said Picticton Mayor, Andrew Jakubeit. “I would like to thank the steering committee and community for their passion, patience and perseverance to help address the importance of Parks and Recreation in our community.”

“Council and the community’s support for these parks and recreation initiatives helps provide long-term direction for these important community assets” said Director of Planning and Development Services, Anthony Haddad. “Parks and recreation provide for the continued health and sustainability of our city and we look forward to working with the community throughout the implementation of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan.”

To learn more able the master plan, please read the following document via the City’s website.

http://www.penticton.ca/assets/City~Hall/Master~Plans/2018-05-23%20PRMP%20-%20FINAL%20PROPOSED%20DOCUMENT.pdf

After over 5,000 contacts with the community and a year of work by committee members, the City of Penticton is pleased to share Draft #2 of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The 150 pages of the plan contain over 150 recommendations for Penticton’s parks, beaches, trails, outdoor recreation amenities, indoor recreation facilities and recreation programs and services. This is the City’s first Parks and Recreation Master Plan since 1993 and will provide much needed direction in areas that are the source of great pride in the community.

Copies of the Executive Summary, the Plan, a Summary of Revisions and all supporting Maps and Figures are provided in the Document Library. A feedback form is provided for you to share your thoughts on the revisions and the plan as a whole. Feedback will be accepted online until May 15.

All of the maps that support the draft one of the Parks & Recreation Master Plan are now available for you to view.

The first draft of the plan is now available for you to review. An executive summary and the full document have been published in the Documents section. Once you review the materials, go to Leave your comments to share your feedback. Plan on attending the Open House to discuss the draft in person.

The survey to gather your thoughts for the Parks and Rec Master Plan is now closed and the results have been provided to our consultant. Watch for a draft of the plan to be shared in early November. Please return to this website to find out more on how to provide input for consideration for the second draft.

The Parks & Recreation Master Plan consultation kicked off with an Open House on May 25 and the launch of the shapeyourcitypenticton.ca online community engagement website.

Several months of community consultation has taken place including:

• Telephone Survey (400 respondents, randomly selected, statistically valid sample)

• 16 Focus Group workshops (over 320 people invited to attend or fill out an online survey)

• 6 stakeholder interview sessions

• Online Survey (181 respondents)

• Community Open House (over 140 attendees)

• Pop-Up Booths at Community Centre, Library/Museum, City Hall and at various community events and Saturday market

You can view the results of these consultation sessions in Documents.