PB18-4. - Existing regional system equity evaluation procedure.
All Regional Facilities not considered regional opportunity facilities shall be considered part of the existing regional system. These facilities shall collectively be allocated a maximum of seventy-five (75) percent of general regional parks and trails capital funds, calculated as an average across any given six-year capital improvement plan cycle, beginning with the 2023 funding year, and as defined in PB18-3. Allocations to specific parks shall be determined based on a criteria-based equity rating to be calculated as follows:
A. Community characteristics.
1. Racially concentrated areas of poverty.
a. Finding: Individuals who live in poverty are less likely to have access to private transportation which can result in less access to parks and recreation opportunities beyond the parks in the immediate vicinity. Residents who live in poverty often have less access to open space and recreation options and are more likely to experience a variety of chronic health problems, some of which are impacted by their physical environment, including access to parks and open space. Additionally, communities of color and areas of poverty often experience a lack of public and private investment relative to other areas.
b. Park staff shall use the latest data and estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau to identify areas of concentrated poverty, where forty (40) percent or more residents earn less than one hundred eighty-five (185) percent of the federal poverty threshold, and racially concentrated areas of poverty, where forty (40) percent or more residents earn less than one hundred eighty-five (185) percent of the federal poverty threshold and where fifty (50) percent or more residents are people of color. Park staff shall provide the superintendent with the raw data used to make calculations.
c. Regional facilities shall be examined to determine whether they are significantly associated with any of the areas defined in (b). Determinations shall be made by park board staff and published each year for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board of Commissioners and the general public. Regional facilities significantly associated with racially concentrated areas of poverty will score five (5) points. Regional facilities significantly associated with areas of concentrated poverty will score three (3) points.
2. Park access.
a. Finding: Ability to access regional facilities is regularly cited as a barrier to park use. However, the mode by which people access parks is not related to race or economic factors. People of color are just as likely to arrive to a park by car as by transit or foot. Regional facilities shall therefore be considered for their overall accessibility by a variety of modes.
b. Park staff shall calculate park access by three (3) access modes: walking, transit, and private vehicle. Park staff shall provide the superintendent with the raw data used to make calculations.
c. Regional facilities with more than forty thousand (40,000) individuals living within one-half (½) mile of the facility will score five (5) points for walking access. Regional facilities with at least twenty thousand (20,000) but no more than forty thousand (40,000) individuals living within one-half (½) mile of the facility will score three (3) points for walking access. Regional facilities with fewer than forty thousand (40,000) individuals living within one-half (½) mile of the facility will score zero (0) points for walking access.
d. Regional facilities with twenty (20) or more transit stops within immediate proximity will score five (5) points for transit access. Regional facilities with at least ten (10) but no more than nineteen (19) transit stops within immediate proximity will score three (3) points for transit access. Regional facilities with fewer than ten (10) transit stops within immediate proximity will score five (5) points for transit access. Immediate proximity shall mean those transit stops, by any mode of public transit, which are within a regional facility or within a public way adjacent to a regional facility.
e. Regional facilities with more than three (3) public parking spaces per acre will score five (5) points for private vehicle access. Regional facilities with at least one and one-half (½) but no more than three (3) public parking spaces per acre will score three (3) points for private vehicle access. Regional facilities with fewer than one and one-half (½) public parking spaces per acre will score 0 points for private vehicle access.
f. The three (3) mode scores described in c, d, and e shall be averaged to determine the final park access score.
3. Neighborhood safety.
a. Finding: Studies have shown both that most people feel safe in regional parks and that people of color consider park safety to be a barrier to park use. Keeping parks and trails safe is critical to community wellness. Developing and maintaining safe access to nature is important to building and sustaining strong neighborhoods and healthy populations. In those areas where crime in neighborhoods is higher or more reported, more investment should be made in parks to ensure they can be safe havens for community gathering, recreation, and respite.
b. Park staff shall use the most recent Minneapolis Police Department Uniform Crime Program reporting data, for a time period of one (1) year, to calculate the number of crimes against persons per thousand residents for each neighborhood overlapping or immediately adjacent to a regional facility, and shall calculate a total neighborhood population and total of crimes against persons for each regional facility. Park staff shall provide the superintendent with the raw data used to make calculations.
c. Regional facilities where the total calculated average is more than ten (10) crimes against persons per thousand residents will score two (2) points. Regional facilities where the total calculated average is between 4.1 and 9.99 crimes against persons per thousand residents will score one (1) point. Regional facilities where the total calculated average is less than 4.1 crimes against persons per thousand residents will score zero (0) points.
B. Park asset characteristics.
1. Historic investment.
a. Finding: Measuring previous investments in existing park and trail assets is an important way to identify parks and trails that have historically received lower levels of investment. Parks where a smaller dollar-per-acre amount has been invested over the past fifteen (15) years are much more likely to be due for significant reinvestment.
b. Park staff shall use the MPRB's record of actual investment in regional facilities over the preceding fifteen (15) years. Park staff shall provide the Superintendent with the raw data used to make calculations.
c. Regional facilities in which ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) or less per facility acre has been invested over the past fifteen (15) years will score three (3) points. Regional facilities in which at least ten thousand one dollars ($10,001.00) but no more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) per facility acre has been invested over the past fifteen (15) years will score two (2) points. Regional facilities in which at least fifty thousand one dollars ($50,001.00) but no more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) per facility acre has been invested over the past fifteen (15) years will score one (1) point. Regional facilities in more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) per facility acre has been invested over the past fifteen (15) years will score zero (0) points.
2. Intensity of use.
a. Finding: How often a park is visited has much to do with the likely quality of its facilities. More visitors translates to more wear and tear and a greater need for investment. Intensity of use is a general stand-in for overall facility quality and can suggest which facilities may be declining in quality.
b. Park staff shall use the most current park visitor counts provided by the metropolitan council to determine total park use for each park.
c. Regional facilities that see more than twenty thousand (20,000) visits per facility acre will score two (2) points. Regional facilities that see at least five thousand (5,000) but no more than twenty thousand (20,000) visits per facility acre will score one (1) point. Regional facilities that see fewer than five thousand (5,000) visits per facility acre will score zero (0) points.
3. Asset condition: ADA considerations.
a. Finding: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures that public facilities are accessible to all users, regardless of ability. Passed in 1990, it is both a measure of a park's ability to serve all users, and also a general gauge of the age of facilities. Parks that are less compliant with ADA requirements likely have older assets that have not been updated in some time. There is, however, no accepted standard for trails under ADA, therefore regional trails were not comprehensively evaluated in the MPRB's ADA Transition Plan.
b. Park staff shall use the MPRB's ADA Transition Plan to determine the total cost of achieving ADA compliance for each regional park.
c. All regional trails will receive one (1) point, in recognition of the fact that there is no compliance measure for trails but that there are likely still compliance issues within these facilities.
d. Regional Parks with more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) of recommended investment under the ADA Transition Plan will score two (2) points. Regional parks with at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) but no more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) of recommended investment under the ADA Transition Plan wills score one (1) point. Regional parks with less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of recommended investment under the ADA Transition Plan wills score zero (0) points.
4. Asset condition: Natural resources.
a. Finding: Natural resources and nature-based recreation is the primary purpose of the regional park and trail system. In a highly urbanized area, natural areas are important for human mental and physical health and for the overall health of the environment. High quality natural areas are difficult to restore and it is therefore important to preserve existing natural resource areas first, and then work to enhance or restore degraded or nonexistent ones next. It would be worse to lose the highest quality existing resources than to never restore new ones.
b. Park staff shall prepare analyses of each regional facility's natural resources based on available data, focusing in particular on water quality, general ecosystem quality, and remnant native plant communities. Park staff shall provide the superintendent with the raw data used to make calculations.
c. Park staff shall develop a series of measures for individual natural resource categories, to be determined based on available data.
d. Regional facilities with the highest quality natural resources under a certain category will score two (2) points. Regional facilities with moderate quality natural resources under a certain category shall score one (1) point. Regional facilities with low quality natural resources under a certain category shall score zero (0) points.
e. All natural resource categories shall be averaged to determine the final natural resource score.
f. Regional facilities that lack water resources shall have all categories except any water-based category averaged to determine the final natural resource score.
5. Asset condition: Trail quality.
a. Finding: Trails are the most heavily used asset in the regional system, according to user surveys. Overall trail condition will have impact on peoples' choice of and satisfaction with regional facilities.
b. Staff shall prepare an analysis of trail condition, averaged for each regional facility.
c. Regional facilities with an average trail quality that is low will score two (2) points. Regional facilities with an average trail quality that is moderate will score one (1) point. Regional facilities with an average trail quality that is high will score zero (0) points.
The superintendent shall direct park staff to produce an ordered ranking of regional facilities in the existing system by combining each park's Community Characteristic and Park Asset Characteristic scores annually. Such ordered ranking shall be included in the superintendent's recommended budget to the MPRB Board of Commissioners and used to update the MPRB's six-year capital improvement plan. (Pk. Bd. Ord. No. 2017-101, § 1, 8-16-17)
