Citywide Parks and Recreation Master Plan

From 2022 to 2023, the City of San Rafael conducted an extensive infrastructure assessment and community engagement process to develop a Citywide Parks and Recreation Master Plan . Adopted by City Council in April 2023, the Master Plan provides a roadmap for the City to prioritize projects and funding allocation, strategically develop parks and recreational programs, and create a vision for the future. The City is invested in providing a thriving system for all ages, abilities, and activities.

Master Plan Process

Below, you will find additional information about the Master Plan process, including draft documents and summaries of community outreach, surveys, and meetings.

TIMELINE

• June 2021: The City issued a Request for Proposals for a qualified consultant to lead the CPRMP process.
• July 2021: City Council approved the formation of a 15-member Parks & Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee to provide ongoing feedback on the planning process and which was made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds to represent a broad cross-section of the community.
• November 2021: City Council approved an agreement with RHAA Landscape Architects (RHAA) to launch a Citywide Parks & Recreation Master Planning process that would analyze the use of existing parks and facilities, assess their condition, gather community input, provide recommendations for improvement, and suggest funding/implementation strategies.
• Early 2022: RHAA conducted a thorough assessment of the City’s existing parks, recreation facilities, and previous planning efforts in citywide recreation, which included a park inventory and assessment, a facility inventory and assessment, a CASp report, and document review.
• Spring of 2022: RHAA and City staff launched an extensive community engagement campaign to gather input on the recreation amenities, activities, and programs that are most important to the community. Outreach efforts included a statistically valid survey, a community questionnaire, interviews with stakeholder groups, and a series of community meetings held at different times and locations throughout the City, as well as online. Through the system assessment and community engagement process, the City gathered significant amounts of data on the existing park and recreation system and the needs of the community as compared to the current provision of park and recreation amenities and incorporated this information throughout the plan.
• Spring, Fall and Winter 2022: The Parks & Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee and Park and Recreation Commission received regular updates on the Master Plan process and findings in a series of publicly noticed meetings.
• January 2023: The Parks & Recreation Master Plan draft goals, objectives, and recommendations was presented to the Park & Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee and the Park & Recreation Commission. This was the final series of meetings on the Master Plan for the Steering Committee and the Park & Recreation Commission. The presentation slides from those meetings can be viewed by clicking on the icon below.
• February 2023 : Staff and consultants presented the Citywide Parks & Recreation Master Plan  planning process, system assessments, community engagement, prioritization criteria, and draft recommendations to City Council. The staff report can be viewed by clicking on the icon below, and a recording of that presentation can be found here.
• April 17, 2023: The San Rafael City Council adopted the City’s first Citywide Parks & Recreation Master Plan.

Park Inventory and Document Review

As part of the process to develop the final Master Plan, consultants developed a draft park inventory and assessment, and reviewed the City’s previous planning efforts relevant to parks and recreation. These resources largely pertain to the assessment of the City's existing recreation system, and past planning documents that may inform the development of the new Park and Recreation Master Plan. You can review the draft documents by clicking the links below.

Community Outreach

Surveys and Questionnaires

To assess community needs and interests in San Rafael’s recreation services, a statistically valid survey was conducted from March 7-10, 2022, and an online questionnaire was initiated on March 30, 2022. The Statistically Valid survey, conducted by Godbe Research, collected 575 responses from City residents reflecting the City’s demographic profile. The Parks and Recreation Questionnaire, conducted by RHAA through Survey Monkey, collected 1,131 responses between March 30^th and May 31^st, 2022.  Thank you very much to all of those who provided feedback on what recreation amenities and programs are important to our community!

A summary of responses to the survey and the questionnaire can be viewed by clicking the link below:

Community Workshops

City staff and consultants hosted a series of community workshops between March and May 2022 to collect feedback and input from community members about the Master Plan. More than 100 community members participated in the meetings, which introduced the planning process, shared information about the community questionnaire, and captured feedback and input from community participants.  The first round of meetings were held at San Rafael Community Center (March 30, 2022), the Terra Linda Community Center (April 28, 2022), online via Zoom (May 5, 2022), and at the Albert J. Boro Community Center (May 11, 2022). During the first round of meetings, we introduced the planning process, shared information about the community questionnaire, and sought community input on what they value in our parks and recreation system.

At the second-round community meeting on September 8, 2022, we presented the results of the community outreach and the inventory analysis, as well as presented and received feedback on draft criteria for prioritizing recommendations in the master plan.

Meetings & Presentations

The City's Master Plan Consultants have shared several updates on the progress of the plan at Park and Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee Meetings and Park and Recreation Commission meetings.

Presentation slides from those meetings can be found here: