Jennifer Heaslip| Special to Times-News
HENDERSONVILLE - An amphitheater, pool improvements, 27 new neighborhood parks and an additional 35 miles of greenway are among the many potential projects included in the city of Hendersonville’s draft 2050 Parks and Greenspace Master Plan.
The city is close to finalizing the plan, which details possible new, expanded or improved park and greenway projects over the next 25 years, and officials want more input from residents.
The Public Works Department will host a community input session Aug. 12, at the Henderson County Public Library.
Consultants with Design Workshop will share a presentation about the master plan, followed by discussion with the public. Design Workshop, a firm that assists with landscape architecture, urban design and planning, was hired by the city to help draft the plan.
In the fall of 2023, residents were invited to provide input at a series of public meetings and through a survey. Updates and information on the plan are available online at www.hvlnc.gov/cohparks.
About the plan
City Council members heard a detailed presentation of the draft master plan at their April 24 meeting. Some tweaks may have been made since the meeting in preparation for an Aug. 8 release to the public, however.
The city and its consultants considered how many people are within a 10-minute walk to a park or greenway and created a plan to fill the gaps.
The “10-minute walkshed” is a national standard that many cities are committing to, Brenna Laffey, a planner and designer with Design Workshop’s Raleigh location, said in her presentation to council.
Laffey suggested taking a “tailored approach” to planning parks and greenways in order to align the city’s efforts with population growth patterns, looking at where growth is occurring, what types of communities they are and what they need individually, instead of an across-the-board strategy.
The goal is to focus on existing parks while also providing new options where needed to fill service gaps. The master plan considers the city’s land-use map and aims to create regional parks instead of neighborhood parks in areas with lower density.
The 2050 plan recommends:
- Improvement projects at three existing parks.
- 27 new neighborhood park projects (11 within city limits and 16 in the city’s ETJ).
- Two new community park projects.
- One signature park project.
- 15 new facilities or amenities.
Looking at greenways through 2050, the recommendation is to add 35 miles of new greenway trails and connectors. From these ideas, the plan suggests a first phase of 10 years to tackle the following top priorities:
- Improvement projects at three existing parks
- Six new neighborhood parks, including five new facilities
- A signature project consisting of a downtown park and amphitheater
- A new senior recreation center
For greenways, Phase 1 would be to implement the city’s current goals and then move on to extensions.
The three existing park improvement projects would be at Toms Park, Rosa Edwards Park and Sullivan Park, which were determined to be the most in need.
Patton Pool, built in the 1970s, was not among the projects listed for Phase 1 of the April meeting, and City Manager John Connet suggested including it among the priorities.
Project costs and funding
The cost of the projects through 2050 would be:
- $2 million for improvement projects at existing parks
- $70 million for new neighborhood and community parks
- $1.5 million in new park facilities
- $10 million in a new signature downtown park and amphitheater
- $10 million in a new senior center
- $60 million for new greenways
The cost does not include land acquisition, which would amount to about $4 million a year for improvements to existing parks, new parks and new facilities alone.
Costs for the potentially 10-year first phase would be $2 million for existing parks, $12 million for new neighborhood and community parks, $600,000 for new facilities, $10 million for the signature park and amphitheater and $10 million for greenway projects.
Design Workshop created a list of potential funding opportunities and grants, including state and federal funding options. The city could also look at creating a nonprofit organization to raise funds for parks, Laffey said.
“Another recommendation would be to get somebody who, either existing staff or potentially new staff, that can really focus on going after grants, so that you can be ahead of it,” she added.
Laffey said completion of the projects by 2050 was the goal, but the flexible process could take longer.
“The idea is that, this is the number of parks if you were to commit to the level of service that we were talking about,” she said.
When it comes to deciding which parks to improve, the city will prioritize projects by considering how the improvements will improve the quality of the park and the level of service offered; fill gaps in access to parks; complete the greenway system; increase equity; support the protection, preservation or restoration of nature; and help anticipated future population growth.
“I think something key to keep in mind is, there’s not been a lot of funding allocated for parks,” Connet said during the meeting.
He recommended that council establish their priorities at existing parks and identify where money needs to be spent, adding that some council members would say the city hasn’t been allocating enough funding for parks.
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Learn more
The Public Works Department will host a community input session from 5-6:30 p.m. Aug. 12, at the Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St.
A recording of the discussion, including the presentation slides, from the council’s April 24 meeting is available on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=JFUDt6ExRPY and begins at the 10-minute mark.
