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Indy Parks Reveals Survey Results
(posted Nov 29)
Pike Township was the final stop for the two year series of public meetings
to gather input for the Indy Parks Comprehensive Master Plan. The master
plan will serve as a guide for the development of the county's 11,400 acres
of park land.
The city still plans to acquire more park land through donations and gifts
because the department lacks funds to purchase property. Andre Denman,
Indy Parks Planner, said using abandoned and vacant homes is one method
being discussed for park expansion. Often these homes receive demolition
orders from the city.
The November 24 meeting revealed that Pike Township, due to its rapid growth
in the last few years, is one of the townships that lacks adequate community
parks.
Denman explained updating the parks comprehensive plan is mandatory to
receive federal and state grants.
Denman and Karina Straub of Indy Greenways made a presentation based on
survey results from park patrons, internet responses, and data gathered
by Survey America. This year's survey had almost 2500 responses, four times
as the last survey in 2004. Respondent's ages ranged from 16 to 82. Their
comments evaluated park programs, facilities, maintenance, security, parking,
cultural activities and accessibility. Sixty-five percent of the respondents
use the parks for stress reduction.
When resident Jeff Miller asked if non-users were included in the survey,
Straub said that resources were too tight to do an accurate cross section
of everyone. Susan Blair, president of the Pike Township Residents Association,
said she submitted the survey to their members, but did not know how many
members had a chance to respond due to the one week response time.
Denman said Indy Parks is still seeking public comment, the October 3 deadline was only to finalize the data for public presentations
and not the final plan to be submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural
Resources in January. The plan should go to the Metropolitan Development
Commission in the April.
Straub said Indy Greenways is voluntarily updating the 2002 comprehensive
plan to maintain and expand its current 59 trail miles. She said the surveys
results were very "telling" that the public would like to see
better connectivity and more trails, especially in the southwest side of
the county. Survey results indicated there is a demand for more restrooms
and drinking fountains on the trails.
In addition, the public would like to see trails serve as an alternative
mode for transportation. She said the DPW is assisting in closing the gap,
identifying other corridors to carry out the Mayor's vision of more trails.
Straub explained that trail maintenance is expensive, just to replace 150
feet of trail at Fall Creek cost $23,000 to remove tree roots. It costs
about $800,000 to $1 million to develop one mile of trail.
Denman said the parks department is looking at cost cutting measures. Tennis
courts are waning in popularity, so the parks department is looking at
eliminating courts as well as the lights in those areas. He said Ellenberger
Park has 30 light poles that need to be assessed because IPL charges the
same amount whether or not the lights are on. He said the change to daylight
savings time has reduced the need for park lighting.
Jeff Ward of Indy Parks said the department is looking at reducing the
amount of grass to be cut by returning areas to native grasses and plants,
and creating wetlands. He said it is a "hard sell" to convince
residents that live across the street from parks about the return of native
plants. All they see is grass not being mowed.
Denman said it costs about $8400 to maintain one acre of turf in a park
over a 20 year period, while prairie grasses and open woods cost less than
$2000 per acre for the same time frame.
One resident complained about the Eagle Creek park fee. She said it is
unfair to charge vehicles, walkers and cyclists the same $5.00 fee to enter
the park. She said the fee discourages people from walking or riding to
the park and harms the environment by increasing vehicle emissions.
| What users like |
| 89% find park locations convenient |
| 95% find parks to be safe |
| 75% rated maintenance good or excellent |
| 70% use parks daily or weekly |
| What users want to see added |
| More parking |
| Family, aquatic and nature centers in areas lacking these facilities |
| Dog parks |
| More senior and adult and programs |
| Why people use greenways |
| 90% find access to greenways convenient |
| 87% to enjoy nature |
| 86% for health and fitness |
| 83% walk, 43% bicycle, 39% run |
| Problems and needs |
| 56% want more drinking fountains |
| 48% want more restrooms |
| 46% speeding cyclists / failing to yield to pedestrians |
35% problems with pets on long or no leashes,
owners not picking up after their pets |
| Adopted standards for parks |
| type |
current |
proposed |
Regional park
acres / 1000 population |
6.75 |
10 |
Community park
acres / 1000 population |
1.1 |
6 |
Neighborhood park
acres / 1000 population |
1.2 |
1.3 |
Trail
miles / 1000 population |
.08 |
.15 |
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