Five Mile Creek Urban Greenbelt - Plan Brief

Page 1

February 28, 2019


FIVE MILE CREEK

The Trust for Public Land, TBG Partners, and City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department have worked with Southern Dallas residents to create a community-oriented vision plan for a network of parks and trails called the Five Mile Creek Urban Greenbelt.

Visioning Project Overview

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This greenbelt will protect some of the last untouched heritage landscapes in Dallas, provide public access to new trails and green space, improve the environmental health of the Trinity River, create connections between Southern Dallas neighborhoods,


URBAN GREENBELT

and provide outdoor education opportunities. By planning and designing for both neighborhood and community parks and conserving valuable environmental assets, the Five Mile Creek Urban Greenbelt addresses key outdoor and recreation needs of Southern Dallas.

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FIV WA

DALLAS

OVER 20,118

397

PARKS

158 MILES OF TRAILS

acres of current public park land

560,000

Residents live without a park or trail within a 10-minute walk

161,134

60%

PARK ACCESS

Dallas Parks / Healthy Communities

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Children are impacted by not having a close-to-home park

With a growing population and booming economy, there is a renewed spirit of optimism in Dallas that is driving us to address some of our city’s most persistent challenges: mobility, the urban heat island, stormwater and water quality, public health, and equity. Through Smart Growth for Dallas—a partnership between The Trust for Public Land, the City of Dallas, Texas Trees Foundation, and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP— places where parks and greensapces that can have big impact on these issues were identified.


VE MILE CREEK WATERSHED 70 SQ.

MILE AREA

Approximately 5 miles from Downtown Dallas

186,297 RESIDENTS 56,942 of whom are children

DOWNTOWN DALLAS

51%

FIVE MILE CREEK WATERSHED

Low Income

61% African American 33% Hispanic 20% White

Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community

Smart Growth for Dallas is a data-driven initiative to improve the environment, social, and economic resilience of Dallas. By utilizing this public mapping platform called the “Decision Support Tool,” users can make data-driven decisions that are strategic and meet community needs. The platform can highlight areas where multiple objectives can be accomplished at the same time, such as reducing urban heat and flash flood risk. Five Mile Creek Watershed was identified as an opportunity area for a system of parks, trails, and greenspaces in Southern Dallas.

By using this Smart Growth for Dallas framework, several key objectives emerged for the Five Mile Creek watershed. The results show a persistent need to both improve and protect the stream corridors, address urban heat, and provide better connectivity and pedestrian safety through expanding the trail system. Importantly, the analysis indicates that the majority of communities in the corridor face disproportionately high economic and health challenges - issues that can be addressed through environmental interventions- all while by providing parks and trails for over 186,000 people in the watershed.

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NEW PARK AREAS 6 / FI V E MILE C R EEK U R B A N GR E E N B E LT

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F I V E M I L E C R E E K UR B A N GREEN BELT / 7


URBAN GREENBE

The Five Mile Creek Watershed in Dallas is home to some of the most beautiful topography and ecology in the city. It presents a major opportunity for expanding the city’s park and trail network.

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While there are many parks and trails in the watershed, their connectivity is limited and many residents voiced their desire for better parks and trails.


ELT VISION A Vibrant, Green Corridor

The goal of this document is to compile and expand upon the current park and trail plans for Five Mile Creek, maintaining the spirit of the prior plans. Southern Dallas is ready for economic growth and expansion, and now is the time for thoughtful preservation of natural open spaces for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations in the southern sector.

URBAN GREENBELT VISION

Trust for Public Land’s community engagement process is driven by the belief that expertise on place is local and including stakeholders in the design of their greenspaces leads to greater success. Robust engagement with local communities is essential to creating successful community spaces.

•• CORRIDOR OVERVIEW & HISTORY •• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY •• CONTEXT •• GREENBELT THEMES AND ELEMENTS •• DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES •• PARK VISION SITE STUDY AREAS •• TRAIL VISION SEGMENTS AND LOCATIONS •• FUTURE STUDY AREAS

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT •• 3 TOWN HALL MEETINGS •• 18 STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS •• 2 COMMUNITY SURVEYS

F I V E M I L E C R E E K UR B A N GREEN BELT / 9


FIVE MILE CREEK 14

VISION

T imeline

TPL City of Dallas Park and Recreation Director and staff assigned to the project. TBG Partners joins the project as a key partner.

The Trust for Public Land initia public survey and outreach. Stakeholder meetings and planning work continued.

JUNE 2018

AUGUST 2018

JULY 2018 Stakeholders are contacted and interviews are initiated with political leadership and city staff.

PROJECT KICKOFF After studying the corridor, Trust for Public Land embarked on a master plan process to gauge potential, community visioning for the corridor, and feasibility of park land acquisition, planning, and design.

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Technical planning work began.


COMMUNIT Y ENGAGEMENT

2.0

TIMELINE Community town halls are completed.

Planning work was completed in December 2018 and submitted for review in January 2019 with anticipated park board adoption in February 2018.

Stakeholder meetings and planning work continued.

OCTOBER 2018

ated

COMPLETION

NOVEMBER 2018 Project stakeholder meetings are completed.

SEPTEMBER 2018

Final planning with and recommendations are completed.

TPL initiated open-house style community meetings. Project partners attended National Night Out at Glendale Park. Stakeholder meetings and planning work continued.

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ELEMENTS

FIVE URBA

URBAN REFUGE Parks and trails in the Five Mile Creek corridor should increase access to greenspace while providing reprieve from daily urban life.

RESTORATION / REMEDIATION Trails and parks within the watershed should not only provide access to these features, but where necessary, restore and remediate their natural ecology.

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E MILE CREEK AN GREENBELT RESEARCH + INSITUTIONS Greenbelt parks and trails can serve as an outdoor learning lab, providing opportunities for students to experience and study ecology, water quality, and other environmental issues.

RECREATION + HEALTH The Five Mile Creek Vision Plan aims to increase park and trail use for a healthier, more active community. By creating more close-to-home parks, the greenbelt increases the opportunity for free, public recreation within a 10-mintue walk of all.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

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L RESILIENCY CORRIDOR GREENING Throughout the Five Mile Creek watershed— on both greenspaces and in the built environement— are opportunities to deploy green infrastructure to address environmental challenges.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE The use of green infrastructure in parks and trails, as well as in new developments in the corridor, should be considered holistically and at a variety of scales to suit community context.

G.I. PERFORMANCE METRICS •• STORMWATER MANAGEMENT •• WATER CONSERVATION AND QUALITY •• HABITAT CREATION AND RESTORATION •• TEMPERATURE AND URBAN HEAT ISLAND •• ENERGY USE AND EMISSIONS •• CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND AVOIDANCE •• AIR QUALITY •• WASTE REDUCTION •• SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS F I V E M I L E C R E E K UR B A N G REEN BELT / 1 5


GREENBELT COM CORRIDOR GREENING Organizations working in the Five Mile Creek Corridor should work in concert with residents to address their concerns and design for their needs.

ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY To combat “green gentrification” and improvements designed solely for future development, organizations and the City of Dallas should work directly with communities to determine current residents’ needs and desires. Through outreach, education, visioning, and collaboration, neighborhoods can ensure positive - and desired - green infrastructure improvements for their communities.

DESIGNING FOR SAFETY Safety and crime prevention are of paramount importance. Design considereations should be included to make people feel safe in greenspaces and discourage illicit uses, ensuring their positive usage. Tactics include focusing on increased activity and circulation, clear signage with wayfinding and lighting, regular property maintenance. and cleaning, and partnering with DPD and Park Rangers to ensure regular patrols of greenbelt.

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MMUNITY

DESIGN

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PHASE 1 PARK & TRAIL DEVELOPMENT A health-and-wellness greenbelt that will enhance health, public safety, education, culture, and the environment in Dallas’ South Oak Cliff community.

ALICE BRANCH CREEK Working with community partners in South Oak Cliff, the need for health and wellness amenities emerged. The community now proposes creating a health and wellness greenbelt that follows the length of the creek, connecting to a new hike-bike trail, Parkland’s Bluitt-Flowers Health Clinic, South Oak Cliff High School, several residential neighborhoods, and to Glendale Park.

HEALTH-AND-WELLNESS GREENBELT Over the course of 2019 and 2020—in partnership with neighborhood residents, The Trust for Public Land will lead a process to develop Alice Branch Anchor Park, across the street from South Oak Cliff High School. We will also develop a health-and-wellness greenbelt from Cedar Crest Trail, through the park site, to the southern boundary of the high school campus. Once complete, the approximately greenbelt will benefit the nearly 7,000 people who live within a 10-minute walk of the trail. 1 8 / FIV E MIL E C R EEK U R B A N GR E E N B E LT


IMPLEMENTATION

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PHASE 1

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IMPLEMENTATION LAND ACQUISITION The Five Mile Creek Watershed is home to some of the most beautiful natural landscapes remaining in Dallas, coupled with large parcels of land that present an opportunity for preservation and recreation.

NEW PARK SITE AREAS Potential park site areas were selected based on their acreage, ecological features, environmental service potential, and community park need. Prioritized in the plan, each area would require the acquisition of these potential sites.

Phase 1 Prairie Restoratoin Community Park Amenities Soft Surface Trails Athletic Fields & Facilities Riparian Restoration

SIMPSON STUART PARK One of the most important conservation sites in the greenbelt, this park site offers a unique opportunity to co-locate urban wilderness preservation, prairie restoration, recreation and athletic amenities. Located near the intersection of Simpson Stuart and Bonnie View Road, and Highland Hills Library, he park would serve over 3,567 people with in a 10-minute walk.

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FIVE MILE CREEK PLAN What’s Next? As the project moves further, keep us with us on Facebook. We’ll update project milestones, meetings, activities, and more. Email molly.plummer@tpl.org with any questions or feedback.

FOLLOW

FIND US ON ONLINE

ATTEND PUBLIC SUPPORT MEETINGS FACEBOOK.COM/5MileCreekGreenbelt/

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Next Steps

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