Please
note: A list of questions was submitted to the
Manager of Park Planning to clear up some questions we have about the
relationship between this proposal and projects listed in the 30-Year
Parks Capital Plan. Click
here to see the City's responses to our questions (requires Adobe
PDF
reader).
The 30-Year Plan
The Revised Parks Capital Projects Plan 1995-2031,
adopted by the City
Council November 19, 2002, is an impressive document consisting of
about 250 pages in 3 chapters and 9 appendices with 8 foldout 11x17
maps. It contains planned parks, recreation and community facilities
which will be needed to fulfill the city's adopted standards for
parks based on anticipated population growth to 135,000 in 2031.
Written in 1995 and revised in 2002, the plan represents a commendable
proactive effort to provide parks and recreational facilities to meet
the needs of Fairfield's growing population and to coordinate those
plans with growth and funding. Copies can be purchased from the
Community Services Commission at City Hall, and one copy is
available for in-library inspection at the reference desk in the
Fairfield Civic Center Library branch of the Solano
County Library.
In 1995 a need for additional funding for city parks was recognized.
Regulations were adopted requiring developers to donate 3 acres of land
for each 1000 residents of new subdivisions (the Quimby Act). At the
same time the city adopted standards which require 3.5 acres of parks
for each 1000 residents, laying the groundwork to ensure an enriching
community environment in Fairfield in the decades ahead, with plentiful
and accessible recreational opportunities for residents. <
top>
The Proposal
All the major elements of the Allan Witt Park Development proposal are
in
the
30-year plan. The Sports Complex, more
softball fields, the Teen Center, and the renovation of the Allan Witt
Pool Complex which has been shut down since early 2003 are all part of
the 30-year parks plan (see
table
below). Note that cost
estimates were done in 2001 and must be inflated by the Finance
Department's construction cost indices for each
subsequent year (3.3% for 2003, and 1.9% for 2004). The
proposed Sports Complex also includes some things that were never
imagined in the 30-year plan, such as a roller hockey rink. The
proposed Aquatics Center scraps the existing outdoor pool complex at
Allan Witt Park, plus the planned $3.5 million renovation project in
the
30-year plan (for which $3.8M funding was approved for the project to
begin in 2003). User fees for the new facilities are nowhere close to
being estimated, but it is clear that fees will need to be charged.
The proposed development will add acres to the park totals. While Allan
Witt Park loses an estimated 10 to 13 acres (according to the October
26, 2004 site plan), the Sports Complex and ball fields
proposed for the city-owned property at the southwest corner of
Chadbourne Rd and Cordelia Rd next to the Wastewater Treatment Facility
is expected to add between 37 and 40 acres. The City points out that
this as a
net increase of 25 to 30 acres of "parks". It should be noted, however,
that
although these fields will be considered "Community Park" acreage,
access will be restricted to ball clubs and only for team play and
practice. In other words, residents won't be permitted to stroll or fly
kites on the fields, or even organize informal softball games. <
top>
Failing to Meet the Standards
As of 2001, the city
appeared to be significantly deficient in meeting
its standards, with only 233 acres (67%) of the required 350 acres of
neighborhood and community parks for a population of 100,000 (Appendix
D). Based on the City's adopted standards of 2 acres of community park
per 1000
residents, and 1.5 acres of neighborhood parks per 1000 residents, a
total of 472 acres
¹
will be required by
2031. Adding restricted baseball
fields a mile away and removing 10 to 13 acres from Allan Witt Park
will only
further
deprive those under-served neighborhoods. Increasing the local
population by building residential units in
the park while at the same time reducing its acreage compounds
the inadequacy of an already substandard park-to-population ratio for
Allan
Witt Park.
In addition, the standards for
neighborhood parks (approx 7
acres, within 1/2 mile of housing anywhere in the city) and community
parks (approx 50 acres, within 2.0 miles of housing) adopted by the
city will require 240 more acres of parks by 2031 (note that the city
only plans to provide the 3.5 acres per 1000 that the standard requires
to NEW residents based on growth above 1995 population of 87,772;
current residents remain at 2/3 of the standard). Even by this
definition, the City has fallen behind its adopted standard with only
17 acres
² of the
required 51 acres of new
parks for the added 14,800
residents as of 2002/03 - only 1/3 of its commitment. <
top>
Closing the Gap
Golf courses do not count as community or neighborhood parks.
Fenced-off baseball fields, swimming pools, golf course and similar
single-use facilities are called Public Special Use Facilities. For
reasons that are not clear, soccer, softball and baseball fields are
included in the neighborhood and community park acreage
totals as are swimming pools. The estimated
additional 37 to 40 acres of
baseball fields next to the sewage treatment plant would bring
Fairfield closer to its
committed standards for park space in a technical sense, but the loss
of 10 to 13 acres in Allan Witt Park means less usable space available
to park visitors. The increased number of
residents that more housing in and near Allan Witt Park will bring,
combined
with the reduction of Allan Witt Park acreage will mean less park for
more local visitors. The type and number of
housing units are still uncertain, but the October 26, 2004 site plan
has 700 residential
units which will likely house between 1000 and 2000 residents. <
top>
Funding
Parks, Recreation and Community facilities are
supposed to be financed by the Bedroom Tax (from new residential
construction), AB1600 developer impact fees, Quimby Act fees, fees paid
in lieu of deeding land to the City in new subdivisions, and
possibly bond measures, grants - not by selling off existing park
assets. In other words, by fees on housing units and subdivisions, not
by sales of park assets.
The City's
10-Year
Financial Plan (2003-2005) shows solid growth of
over $31M from development-driven taxes and fees, including o$7.6
million in the 2004/05 fiscal year alone. It is funds for operations
and maintenance (O&M) that are limited or unavailable.
The City Manager states on page A-15 of the
budget
transmittal
letter that funding for capital projects was assured, but the City
cannot afford to
operate and maintain any new parks:
The
City’s development-driven revenues and affordable housing funds will
grow significantly over the forecast period, although they are
restricted in use and cannot legally be used to pay for operating
costs; they cannot be used to fix the General Fund’s budget issues.
Ironically, this will enable the City to pay for the construction of
major new street, park and facility improvements, and expanded
workforce housing initiatives, even as the General Fund is undergoing
budget cutbacks.
The 10-Year
Financial Plan shows Parks and Recreation Capital
Projects funds projected to grow by more than $31 million,
including $7.6 million in the 2004/05 fiscal year alone. The City
Manager goes on to state:
Staff will continue to
evaluate the
on-going operations and maintenance implications of new capital
projects, to ensure that adequate resources will be available for any
increased O&M costs in future years. It doesn’t make sense
to build projects that cannot be maintained.
The claim that the
City
will not have adequate funds for new parks projects unless we sell
off part of Allan Witt Park is unsupported by the budget. The fact is
that the City Manager has said that it is financially unwise to build
more parks projects which further burden already-strained maintenance
funds.
The relocation of
revenue-generating baseball fields to Cordelia Road will require
finding additional maintenance funds for Allan Witt Park to replace the
lost revenue. Clearly the fee structure for the proposed swim center,
sports complex, baseball fields and teen center will need to be set
high enough to cover operations and upkeep and make these facilities
self-supporting, and also to support maintenance of the remaining part
of Allan Witt Park. Sub-contracting administration of the new
facilities to private corporations will likely add cost for the
sub-contractor's profit margin. Residents will not use the new
facilities if the fees are too high, and we could end up losing part of
Allan Witt Park and increasing the City's financial difficulties at the
same time. <top>
The table below shows
some of the projects
described in the 30-Year
Parks Capital Plan, along with FY2001/02 estimates of capital required
for each. The projects or parts of projects being considered for the
proposal are not certain as of November 2004. The best guess is that a
major complex with elements of the Sports Center and Softball Fields
projects (Chadbourne/Cordelia), plus a new swim facility at Allan Witt
Park, and possibly the Teen Center on North Texas could be included -
about $15 million worth of projects.
| Projects in the
30-Year Plan |
Cost ($millions)
|
- Sports Center, pg 57
- Softball Fields, pg 26
- Soccer Facility, pg 59
|
6.3
4.1
3.4 |
Total
Sports
|
13.8
|
- Allan Witt Pool, pg23
- Indoor Pool, pg 52
- Aquatics Center, pg 54
|
3.5
7.5
22.9 |
Total
Aquatics
|
33.9
|
- Teen Center, pg 37
- Boys and Girls Club, pg 63
|
4.8
1.6 |
Total
Youth
|
6.4
|
| Total
|
54.1 |
<top>
The Tradeoff
So what does Fairfield get in exchange for handing over part of Allan
Witt Park to developers?
Currently there is no budget for a Sports Complex or Teen Center in the
10-Year Financial Plan. The city owns the land for both proposed
facilities, but has not allocated funding for construction of either
before 2010/11.
When the budget was presented, however, these projects were not
mentioned. There was no suggestion that prioritization of parks capital
projects was not correct, and there was no lament of inadequate funding
for vital projects. The idea of building homes in Allan Witt Park has
apparently changed the priorities.
We have been told is that selling off part of Allan Witt Park and
allowing residences to be built in the park will permit two major
recreation projects to be accelerated, while at least one major project
is being delayed (renovation of the Allan Witt Pool Complex has been
delayed over a year, and Fairfield will remain without the use of that
facility for at
least another two years). Proceeds from the sale of park land will
allow
construction of the Cordelia Road / Chadbourne Road sports fields and
Sports Complex and possibly the North Texas Street Teen Center to begin
before 2010/11 - probably 3 to 5 years earlier than without selling
park land.
Would these two facilities be built without selling Allan Witt Park
land? Yes, but not before 2010/11.
So the question is whether we are willing to trade park land for
building the new Sports Complex or Teen Center a couple of years
sooner. <
top>
¹ The City has indicated that
the population-acreage standards for CP and NP only apply to new
residents over the 1996 population. The standard requires that 3.5
acres of new parks be added for each 1000 residents above 87,772. <back>
² The
City has indicated that since 1995, two 6-acre neighborhood parks were
built - Rolling Hills Park (1996) and Vintage Green Valley (1999), and
the 5 acre Phase 1 of Cordelia Community Park opened in 2002 <back>