B5-2: Draft Parkland Dedication Resolution — original pdf

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RESOLUTION NO. WHEREAS, the City Charter, Article V stresses the importance of the provision of parks and recreational facilities; and WHEREAS, provision of adequate parks and recreation facilities plays a major role in achieving the six key City goals established in the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan: 1) Preserving Livability; 2) Expanding Transportation Choices; 3) Tackling the Ethnic Divide; 4) Protecting our Natural Resources; 5) Promoting Prosperity for All; and 6) Collaborating Regionally; and WHEREAS, parks provide recreational opportunities, create community, preserve the City’s character and natural resources, increase transportation opportunities, and keep Austin beautiful; and WHEREAS, park trails and greenbelts expand multi-modal access to transportation across the city; and WHEREAS, parkland provides relief from urban life, green space to those who do not have access to a yard, opportunities to gather and recreate, and numerous physical and mental health benefits; and WHEREAS, investing in parkland in historically underserved areas is investing in the physical and mental wellbeing of those residents; and WHEREAS, Austinites have a strong connection to nature and consider the trails, greenways and parks ‘a core part of what makes Austin special’; and WHEREAS, Austin’s parks help Austin attract high-tech industries, creative professionals, and local entrepreneurs alike; and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Page 1 of 6  23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 WHEREAS, parks are key to addressing regional challenges such as transportation, water resources, growth and development, climate change, environmental protection and economic prosperity; and WHEREAS, the St. David’s Healthy Parks Plan for Travis, Bastrop and Caldwell counties confirms that parks are essential to public health for the Central Texas region and provides recommendations for expanding park service; and WHEREAS, the Parkland Dedication Ordinance helps the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) provide critical park service to the people of Austin in accordance with goals and mandates set forth in the City Charter, Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, the PARD Long Range Plan, and various Council resolutions; and WHEREAS, the City passed its first Parkland Dedication Ordinance in 1985, updated it in 2007 and again in 2016; and WHEREAS, in 1984, the Texas Supreme Court ruled parkland dedication to be constitutionally legal and regulating laws stipulate that parkland dedication requirements imposed on a developer should be "roughly proportional" to the increased demands of the proposed development on a city's park system; and WHEREAS, parkland dedication helps PARD to comply with Resolution No. 20091119-068 to provide parks within a walking distance of all of the people of Austin, defined by a park service area of ¼ mile in the urban core and ½ mile outside the urban core along a street network; and WHEREAS, Resolution No. 20120301-051 establishes that families and children are critical to the growth, diversity, vibrancy and economic vitality of the City and directs PARD to adopt the Urban Infill Park Initiative Implementation Page 2 of 6  47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 Plan developed by the Urban Parks Stakeholder Workgroup, of which Parkland Dedication is an essential contributor; and WHEREAS, accessibility to parks, trails, and recreational opportunities is identified as a key Council Priority within the Strategic Direction 2023 and the City continues to underperform our goals; and WHEREAS, currently PARD is able to expand access to parks and increase its service area through parkland dedication requirements on residential and hotel/motel uses in the city which recognize the stress these new developments place on our parks system; and WHEREAS, currently office, industrial and commercial developments located in park deficient areas, along greenbelts or adjacent to parks are not subject to parkland dedication requirements; and WHEREAS, parkland dedication provides an opportunity to ensure that Austin stays competitive in attracting jobs nationwide by providing high-quality parks, trails, natural spaces and recreational opportunities that are critical for physical and mental well-being as well as maintaining a healthy work-life balance; and WHEREAS, there are long-term economic and health benefits of providing active and passive recreational opportunities adjacent to places of employment and retail space; and WHEREAS, in the PARD Long Range Plan, community stakeholders identified trails as a number one priority for park planning and development initiatives and highlighted the Parkland Dedication Ordinance as an essential tool to expand the parks system; and Page 3 of 6  71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 WHEREAS, some, but not all, critical gaps in Austin’s recreational and transportation trail networks can be addressed through the Parkland Dedication Ordinance on residential and hotel/motel site development permits; and WHEREAS, many new commercial projects may be located along greenbelts and planned trails where the City seeks to expand and complete Austin’s trail infrastructure; and WHEREAS, many critical connections trails and greenbelts are adjacent to or located on private land hampering the City’s ability to provide valuable bike and pedestrian opportunities across the city; and WHEREAS, currently PARD is not able to close critical gaps in park and trail infrastructure without negotiating for land on new commercial development sites from willing sellers, even in undevelopable sections of the commercial properties; and WHEREAS, expanding the parkland dedication ordinance to include office, industrial and commercial would have the dual benefit of closing critical gaps to expand park service in accordance with Council direction as well as address the legitimate impact of the commercial occupants on the adjacent park system; and WHEREAS, over the last 20 years, nearly 80% of PARD’s investment through land acquisition and parkland development has been in the Eastern Crescent; and WHEREAS, parkland dedication funds can be leveraged with bond funding to be invested in historically park deficient neighborhoods; and Page 4 of 6 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 and WHEREAS, providing a park or trail through parkland dedication ensures the preservation of that natural recreation space for generations into the future, which in turn preserves critical green infrastructure such as trees and pervious surface so that the natural environment can continue to provide clean air and water; WHEREAS, the current Parkland Dedication Ordinance recognizes the nexus of the demand placed on our parks system by new residential development 100 and hotel visitors, but does not capture the impact from new commercial 101 development, thereby placing a disproportionate burden on residential and hotel 102 development costs; and 103 WHEREAS, on February 25, 2020, the Parks and Recreation Board passed 104 Recommendation 20200225-B3, which included the provision that commercial 105 developments be subject to parkland dedication requirements; and 106 WHEREAS, the Parks and Recreation Department conducted a study 107 outlining the applicability of said provision to expand the Parkland Dedication 108 Ordinance to commercial developments, as well as a methodology by which it may 109 be adopted; and 110 WHEREAS, the methodology involves quantifying the demand for public 111 parkland based on workforce growth, and calculates requirement levels based on 112 the cost of satisfying that increased demand; NOW, THEREFORE, 113 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN: 114 City Council initiates code amendments to the Parkland Dedication 115 Ordinance in City Code Chapter 25-1 (General Requirements and Procedures) to 116 require parkland dedication for office, industrial, and commercial developments. Page 5 of 6  117 The City Council directs the City Manager to engage with stakeholders as part of 118 developing this code amendment and to place the code amendment on an 119 upcoming Council agenda that provides Council with sufficient time to adopt the 120 ordinance and place the fee into the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. 121 122 123 124 125 ADOPTED: , 2022 ATTEST: Myrna Rios City Clerk Page 6 of 6