Mission residents had their first opportunity Wednesday night to help shape the future of the city’s parks and recreation and its land use and development.
The first set of public meetings in a months-long process that will update the city’s comprehensive plan and its parks and recreation master plan drew a steady stream of residents to the Sylvester Powell Community Center where consultants for both projects had created activities to draw comments about where the city should head.
At least two more public meetings for each plan are scheduled over the coming months. Both efforts are led by steering committees made up of council members and board and commission members for Mission.
One of the exercises that drew a lot of attention Wednesday asked residents to show their preferences for certain park amenities such as trails, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts and many other possibilities. First, participants could make their preferences known by dot voting on images of the amenities. Then, they could place corresponding numbered stickers on the park or area of the city that they believe could host the new amenity.
The parks and recreation planning is asking “what are the park priorities” and how well do the current resources match the need now and in the future, according to Emily Randel, Mission’s public information officer. The parks plan also will identify funding and implementation of the new projects. The comprehensive plan guides zoning and development.
In addition to the public meetings, different stakeholder groups will be interviewed for input as the plans evolve. The next public meeting for the parks plan is June 18 and the next public meeting for the comprehensive plan is April 8.
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