PB15-1. - Findings and purpose.

The City Council of the City of Minneapolis and the Park and Recreation Board of the City of Minneapolis jointly find that the preservation and development of parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities, wetlands, trails, and open space areas within the city are essential to maintaining a healthy and desirable environment for residents and persons employed within the city. The value and attractiveness of residential, commercial, and industrial developments to land owners, developers, purchasers, employers, and employees is significantly enhanced by the presence of park and open space amenities.

The city council and park and recreation board find that the development of land for new residential, commercial, and industrial purposes creates a need for park and recreational land and facilities within the city that exceeds current park resources. The city council and park and recreation board find that:

(1)

The National Recreation and Parks Association's guidelines for park system planning are that neighborhood parks have a service area between one-quarter (¼ to one-half (½) mile and that the service area for community parks is between one-half (½) to three (3) miles.

(2)

The Urban Land Institute's guidelines have a one-half (½) mile service radius for neighborhood parks and a two (2) mile service radius for community parks.

(3)

One (1) of the stated goals of the park board's comprehensive park system plan is to "ensure park access for all residents by providing parks within an easy walk from their homes (no more than six (6) blocks) and achieving a ratio of .01 acres of parkland per household."

(4)

The city's current neighborhood and community parks consist of one thousand seven hundred twenty-nine (1,729) acres.

(5)

The metropolitan council has projected that by the year 2040, forty-six thousand three hundred and sixty (46,360) new households will be added to the city creating a demand for an additional four hundred sixty-four (464) acres of neighborhood and community parkland.

(6)

The metropolitan council projects net new job growth of one hundred thirty-seven thousand three hundred sixty-eight (137,368) by the year 2040, which would create an additional need for three hundred eleven (311) acres of parkland.

It is both appropriate and reasonable that new development contribute to addressing this systemic need in rough proportion to the relative burden it will place upon existing park resources. Park dedication requirements are based on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's standard of .01 acres per household for neighborhood and community parks. The average household size for the city as a whole is 2.25 persons per household. The average household size for neighborhoods in the downtown area is smaller with an average household size of 1.48 persons or sixty-six (66) percent of the city's average household size. Parkland dedication for residential development within the downtown area shall be based on sixty-six (66) percent of the land area as that required for the remainder of the city.

Further recognizing that employees of commercial and industrial land uses place demands on parks, albeit to a lower extent than residents, park land dedication for commercial and industrial development is based on one-half (½) the rate of .01 acres per household required for residential uses divided by the average 2.25 persons per household resulting in one hundred (100) square feet per employee.

The city council and park and recreation board find that the requirements of this ordinance are in accordance with the parks and open space goals and policies of the comprehensive plan and park system plan, and are proportionate, fair, and reasonable with respect to the park land and facilities need generated by new development occurring within the city. (2009-Or-030, § 1, 4-10-09; 2010-Or-081, § 1, 9-24-10; Pk. Bd. Ord. No. 2013-103, § 1, 12-18-13)