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03/08/1966 - Advisory Parks & Recreation Commission i r; PARK BOARD REPORT WAN TOWNSHIP ANNUAL MEETING i MARCH 8, 1966 1 Those of you who attended our last year's annual meeting will recall a discussion relating to the question of parks and the need for planning in this area. During the past 8 months Eagan township has had a functioning park board. In establishing a i parkboard at this point in the development of our community, I feel that the members of the town board have taken a very forward step and deserve your commendation. The members of the park board are: John Consoer Vernon Cole Mrs. Robert Marien Thomas Sterns Mrs. Stephen Westbrook I=m Richard Thorpe. Since its establishment I have acted as chairman of the Eagan Township Park Board. We represent various interests and various geographic areas of the township, so you can be sure that theAls someone much like you on this board. On the other hand, I'd like to invite all of you to discuss the-.:matter of parks with any of the park board members. We need to know what you think2 , The thought may come to your minds What is this park board supposed to be doing? This semi-rural township is inevitably going to be a big city, whether we like it or a not. Despite Eagan Township's natural beauty and rural setting, present public recreational facilities are very limited. All types of facilities - neighborhood parks, community parks, golf courses, natural areas, beaches and large county parka will be needed as the population continues to increase. Wise and efficient use of undeveloped land will be required to preserve enough open space to insure an attractive and livable community. Where will these facilities be located? How I' large will they be? What number of persons will they serve? When and how should land be acquired? These are the questions that must be answered. Before taking a step forward, you might say that we took a step backward, that 1*e9, i Park Board Report Page 2 into the past. How did the parks in Minneapolis and St. Paul come into existancet The acquisition and development of each park represents an interesting story in itself. Circumstances under which the parks came into being are varied, but they all display the foresight, imagination, and determination of the sponsors. J 3 The land for the first park in Minneapolis, Murphy Park, was donated to the city in 1 1857 by Edward Murphy. Although only 3.3 acres in extent, it was a beginning. By a 1866 a proposal was made to acquire part of Nicollet Island for a park, but it was was defeated by a public referendum. It was not until the 1880's that official park agencies were formed in both cities. j i Over the objections of the City Council, the Minneapolis Park Board was created by a.vote of the citizens in 1883. The city then embarked on a program which, in 20 years expanded the park system to more than 1,500 acres. In St. Paul the support of citizens such as Messrs. Hamm and Wheelock led to the establishment of the St. Paul Park Board in 1887. This group also embarked on a program of acquisition and development. , The true significance of this investment in parks can be put into proper perspective if we recall the setting within which these facilities were acquired and developed. During the 1880's the area experienced phenomenal growth unequaled until the 1950-60 decade. The combined population of Minneapolis and St. Paul of 88,000 in 1880 increased to almost 300,000 byl890. Enthusiasm was running high, and many expected the cities to become another Chicago. Despite this optimism it could not be over- looked that Minneapolis and St. Paul were merely booming frontier towns. The ten mile trip from St. Paul to Minneapolis took a good part of the day. The two cities were surrounded by thousands of square miles of open country with forests, fields and lakes. Although travel was painfully slow by current standards, t4e countryside,x was literally at most peoples doorsteps. Park Board Report Page 3 Acquisition of Phalen Park started in 1894 when it, too, was out in the country. i Developed around a natural lake, the southernmost lake of a chain, the present i park covers 388 acres. Work on Highland Park started in 1925, nine years after the original proposal of the Superintendent of Parks. Although relatively large in i size, 265 acres, the intent that the park be mainly local in nature is reflected in the fact that $450,000 of thedevelopment cost was assessed to surrounding benefited properties. Several related conclusions can be drawn from these historical examples of ,J successes: 1) it took farsighted and persevering people to establish these parks; 2) schemes that seemed unreasonable at the time are now very much taken for granted; 3) all of these park acquisitions did not produce a surplus of park land; 4) for the ".past 35 years, citizens have been far less diligent in meeting their park needs than were their forefathers. Looking back it is also clear that there were many missed opportunities. Most notable is the Lake Minnetonka area which at one time was a major recreation asset of the Metropolitan area. Today, the lake serves the private recreational needs of many people, but it does not provide any substantial use to the general public. Whit6 Bear Lake, another important recreation asset, also developed in much the same way. Will the people of today learn from these past experiences and take necessary action before it is too late? Next we gave some thought and discussion to the functions of parks. Webster's definition of a park is. "a piece of ground in or near a city or town kept for ornament and recreation; also an area maintained in its natural state as public property." The t word park, however, conveys different images to different people. Parks provide such a wide range of facilities that almost everyone has an interest in one or more of them. f { Park Board Report Page 4 In general, parks have two major functions recreation and open space. Individuals express themselves in a variety of outdoor recreational activities from walking and J picknicking to sailboating and swimming. These activities are facilitated by parks. Perks,function as open spaces'in the land use pattern and give variety to the contin- uous residential and commercial development of the urban landscape. By imparting character and amenity to the environment, creating buffer areas, and affording access to light and air, open space often increases property values. { To orient and educate ourselves, we studied the park related publications of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the Urban Renewal ' Administration, the Hennepin County Park Board, the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation p Resources Commission and the Minnesota Jaycees. Once we had our feet on the ground, we discussed parks with one of the County Commissioners.' Briefly he told us that the county has a park fund totaling close to ! $300,000. The general intent is to use this fund to begin the establishment of a series of large county parks. By large, they mean 200 to 500 acres. Recently the j county hired a full time planner,'Mr. Al Whitman. He, under the guidance of the 10 member County Park Committee will develop a detailed park plan for large county parks. One of the members of this County Park Committee is Art Rahn, Chairman of our Board of Supervisors. Your park board recognizes the need for the larger county parks, but does not feel that they can relieve the need for community parks. a Did you know that we have a state park in Eagan? The new Fort Snelling State Park takes in a part of our township. We have had discussions with the Fort Snelling State Park Association and will be cooperating with them in the future. The Twin Cities Metropolitan Planning Commission has done a great deal of significant research relating to parks. As examples, here As their "Guide for Investigating Potential Park Sites" and "Survey of Park Planning in Ramsey County". Through their s Park Board Report Page 5 .r `I Publications and staff we answered many of our questions. We have digested and discussed many things at our monthly meetings and evolved some i direction for our local park efforts. Our studies have lead us to the following conclusions, but because the complexion of the township is changing quite.rapidly, and because the Park Board has been in existance a relatively short while, a park planispecific in all details is not practicable. We envision that Eagan will require two types of parks. One type we will call "neighborhood parks" and the other we will call „community parks". The terms are somewhat self explainatory, but I may clarify them by pointing out that „neighborhood parks" would be 5 to 20 acres in size and would include playgrounds for our children .~a and larger playing fields for baseball and similar sports; while "community parks" would range from 20 to perhaps 60 acres and would be less intensively developed. They might include picnic areas, natural areas for hiking, swimming and boating facilities, facilities for winter sports such as skating and sliding, and eventually buildings for youth recreation activities. Our "Sub-Division Ordinance" which requires that a certain amount of land be given for park purposes when a plat is filed, has provided us with several "neighborhood parks". The park board is recommending improvements in this ordinance which will give us the maximum benefits possible, within the framework provided by state statute. However, to provide a consistent pattern of neighborhood parks, additional land must be acquired, probably through direct purchase. At this moment, there is an urgent need for the township to acquire several tracts of land which would be suitable for the larger multi-purpose "community parks". Various sites ranging from 30 to 60 acres have been considered. Negotiation for such sights is unrealistic until some funds are available. Park Board Report Page 6 How can we get these funds? How can we get the land? These methods have been used i by other communities. 1) Buying hand on Contract for Deed - Money from general funds can be used to pay for land, bought now, and paid for in installments.. 2) Long Term Bonds - This is the conventional method. We are told that this is the beat way if the community has not reached its legal limit for bonded debt. Our attorney has concluded that Began can follow this method. 3) Subdivision Assessment - Land developers can be required to give a certain percentage of their land for recreational and park use, or they may be required to pay a special fee on all new subdivided plots, the money to be used to buy park land. This is the only method Eagan has used to date. 4) Land Reservation - In some cities and counties, a 3 year option may be taken on land in the area about to be developed, and held for possible public use. During the reservation, the land is tax-exempt. 5) Private Gifts - Owners can be encouraged to give land for parks and playgrounds by allowing them to use the land as long as they like, perhaps with tax exemptions. The land title would then belong to the public upon their death or moving. 6) Property Assessment - In built-up neighborhoods, property that would benefit by new parks or playgrounds could be assessed to create them. This also has been used in new neighborhoods. 7) Site Designation - Designating future parks on official plans may prevent any development until the community can buy the land. This won't keep the price down, but it will save the land. This community can and should use all methods to obtain laud for park and recreational i use. In a preliminary report to the.Town Board we requested that a "Park Pond" be established. This fund would presently be for the purpose of acquiring rights to purchase lands (options) or paying the initial installment for the purchase of lands, I am told that $2000 was immediately put into this fund as a starter. This positive indication of support by the Town Board is important, as this fund must grow quickly if we are to have adequate parks at the lowest possible cost to the present and future taxpayers. In other words, we need to acquire land now while undeveloped land is available and Park Board Report Page 7 prices are still reasonable. We realize that there are many demands for the available revenue dollars, but this is an area where many thousands of dollars can be saved if we really get moving! How have the developed suburbs done in terms of parks when compared to St. Paul and Minneapolis? Unfortunately, the answer is "very poorly". They have no Como Park or Theodore Wirth Park. Insufficient park land was set aside in most of these communities, so their people are crowding into the city parks. Eagan has the opportunity to develop into a first rate community. Adequate parks a will make the area attractive to the right kind of business and residential development. All of us who own property here presently would benefit from this quality development, Parks will give your children a safe place to play. It has been shown that communities with adequate recreational facilities have had less Juvenile delinquency and a lower overall crime rate. To those of us on the park board, these things are important. We urge you to seriously consider this need and give us your support! Respectfully Submitted, Richard J. Thorpe, Chairman r- . I a