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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14807 City of Palo Alto (ID # 14807) City Council Staff Report Meeting Date: 10/24/2022 Report Type: Consent Calendar City of Palo Alto Page 1 Title: Approve the Parks and Recreation Commission Recommendation for a New Skate Park; Authorize the Friends of Palo Alto Parks to begin Fundraising; and Direct Staff to Support Outreach From: City Manager Lead Department: Community Services Recommendation The Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) recommends that City Council: A. Approve the following findings from the Parks and Recreation Commission: 1. A new skate park is needed in our community. 2. The area adjoining the existing Greer Park Skate Bowl is a suitable location for a new skate park (Attachment A). 3. A new skate park is a high priority among the projects identified in the Parks, Trails, Natural Open Space and Recreation Master Plan. B. Authorize the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks to begin fundraising for the design and construction of a new skate park at Greer Park (Attachment A) and require that the fundraising earmark funds to conduct a parking analysis to identify peak usage times and determine if additional parking is needed prior to creating design plans. C. Direct staff to support the process with community outreach during the design phase of the project once the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks have raised the necessary funds to design a new skate park. Background The skate bowl at Greer Park was constructed in 1990 and opened to the public in January 1991. The skate facility is a three-bowl complex consisting of three interconnected concrete bowls. The bowls are four, six and eight feet deep, with an island in the center bowl. The existing skate bowl and the surrounding paved area is 6,032 sq. ft. While the existing skate bowl remains popular and beloved by many in the skateboarding community, the sport of skateboarding has grown and evolved in ways City of Palo Alto Page 2 that require new styles of skate parks. Almost 2,000 people have signed a petition asking for a new skate park with a good mix of street and transition features that would support skaters at all levels. On April 12, 2021, City Council voted to refer a proposal (City Council Colleagues' memo) for a new skate park to the PRC to evaluate the need for a skate park, identify a suitable location, and prioritize a skate park facility within the Parks, Trails, Natural Open Space and Recreation Master Plan. On April 27, 2021, the PRC formed a skate park Ad Hoc Committee. Staff, the Ad Hoc Committee, and a stakeholder group met numerous times over the last year to work on the three tasks that City Council referred to the PRC. On June 15, 2022, staff held a virtual community meeting to collect feedback on the concept of building a new skate park adjacent to the existing skate park at Greer Park. Twenty-one people participated in the meeting. There was broad support for the proposed location. There were numerous comments commending the process so far and for working closely with the skateboarding community to find the right location. The participants also encouraged staff to continue to work closely with the skateboarding community. There were several comments of appreciation for preserving the existing skate bowl. There was a question about the funding plan for the project and whether the City will contribute to the cost of the project. Staff explained that the current idea is that it would be community funded. There were comments from several skate park advocates who mentioned that skate parks don’t have a standard size, and that the proposed space for a new skate park at Greer seems more than adequate. Discussion On July 28, 2022, the Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed and discussed the feedback from the Ad Hoc Committee, the skate park stakeholders, staff, and comments from the June 15, 2022 community meeting regarding the need for a new skate park, a suitable location for a new skate park, and the prioritization of a new skate park within the Parks, Trails, Natural Open Space and Recreation Master Plan (Staff Report). The Commission was supportive of the analysis from staff and the Ad Hoc Committee and agreed with the proposed location for the new skate park. The Commission also praised the public engagement process and the helpful work that the skate park stakeholder group has done. The Commission asked staff to ensure that Greer Park field users were notified and informed about the proposed location of a new skate park. Staff reached out to all the regular Greer Park field users (AYSO, Palo Alto Soccer Club, AAYSA, PSV Union, and Stanford Soccer Club) as well as City staff who sometimes program the fields for classes City of Palo Alto Page 3 in advance of the community meeting and after the July PRC meeting. There were no questions or concerns from the field users. The Commission asked about the impacts to the trees around the existing skate park. Staff explained that impacts to trees would not be known until there is a design for the skate park; but that the park would be designed to avoid impacts to trees wherever feasible. A City arborist surveyed the trees that are within the boundary of the proposed location for the skate park and identified the following trees: • #255 Chinese Pistache 8” diameter • #256 Chinese Pistache 7” diameter • #257 Chinese Pistache 10” diameter • #258 Patmore Ash 8” diameter • #259 Chinese Pistache 4” diameter • two small volunteer (self-seeded) Privet trees There was also a question about impacts to the parking at Greer Park given that peak use times for the skate park are likely to coincide with peak use on weekdays by after school sports practice and on weekends by sport field games. Impacts related to transportation and trees would be assessed in accordance with CEQA as well as for consistency with Council policies, Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, and City regulations once a conceptual design is proposed. CEQA would be completed prior to adoption of a Park Improvement Ordinance for this project. On September 1, 2022, the PRC voted unanimously (6-0 vote, Brown absent) to recommend that City Council: A. Receive the following findings from the Parks and Recreation Commission: 1. A new skate park is needed in our community. 2. The area adjoining the existing Greer Park Skate Bowl is a suitable location for a new skate park (Attachment A). 3. A new skate park is a high priority among the projects identified in the Parks Master Plan. B. Authorize the Friends of Palo Alto Parks to begin fundraising for the design and construction of a new skate park at Greer Park (Attachment A) and require that the fundraising earmark funds to conduct a parking analysis to identify peak usage times and determine if additional parking is needed prior to creating design plans. C. Direct staff to support the process with community outreach during the design phase of the project once the Friends of Palo Alto Parks have raised the necessary funds to design a new skate park. City of Palo Alto Page 4 Staff noted that the potential impacts to parking would be evaluated further during Planning Department review as part of the Park Improvement Ordinance and Architectural Review process once a design is completed. As noted above, the commissioners recommended that fundraising earmark funds for conducting a parking study prior to evaluate the need for additional parking prior to developing project plans. The Commissioners voiced their support for the project and highlighted the important role that Sam Kaplinsky, a youth community member, has had in advocating for a new skate park. Mr. Kaplinsky has been instrumental in supporting a new skate park and participated in stakeholder meetings. If the City Council ultimately approves the recommendation in this staff report, it will help provide initial direction on this project. Staff will continue to return to the PRC and City Council to receive direction and approval for specific aspects of this project going forward. As this project progresses, City staff, the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks, and the skate park stakeholders will work cooperatively to develop a framework for how this project will move forward. Timeline October 2022 – Begin fundraising for skate park design and construction (pending City Council approval). Resource Impact The recommendations in this staff report would initiate private fundraising and public outreach for a new skate park, which would require staff time to coordinate the public outreach process. The Community Services Department currently has sufficient staff capacity to support the outreach process. It is not anticipated to require City funds to design or construct a new skate park. If the fundraising campaign is successful and a capital improvement project is created to construct a new skate park, additional staff resources will be required to manage the project. The City will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the new skate park. Once a new skate park is constructed, there will be increased operating and maintenance costs incurred by the City, which will be determined upon completion of the design of the skate park. Stakeholder Engagement • April 2021 to July 2022—numerous meetings with PRC Ad Hoc Committee, staff, and a skate park stakeholder group • June 15, 2022--community meeting • July 28, 2022--Parks and Recreation Commission meeting • September 1, 2022-- Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Environmental Review City of Palo Alto Page 5 Authorizing a third party to begin fundraising and design as well as authorizing staff to support outreach efforts to obtain input on the design does not meet the definition of a project under Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code (California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA] Guidelines Section 15378) because it would not cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Construction of the skate park would require approval of an architectural review application as well as a Park Improvement Ordinance. The proposed design would be evaluated in accordance with CEQA once a plan detailing the proposed modifications is available to adequately assess the impacts of the proposed project.