By Karolyn Gephart
Pearland Councilmember Adrian Hernandez was selected Mayor Pro-Tem at the regular Council meeting January 11, 2021. The meeting was held both in-person as well as online.
Council formally accepted and adopted the 2020 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan at their meeting.
According to Council agenda information, the 2019 staff enlisted Halff Associates to update the City of Pearland’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.
By definition, the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan is a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) compliant plan which analyzes the City’s system of parks, trails and recreational programming offerings to determine how well the system is currently meeting the needs of its users –the citizens of Pearland –and what improvements may be required to accommodate a growing constituency 10-20 year.
As a general best practice and a requirement for certain grant awards, Parks and Recreation agencies are required to adopt an updated TPWD compliant Master Plan to serve 5-year cycles.
At the Joint Special Meeting on December 14, the Parks and Recreation Interim Director delivered a summary review of the Parks, Recreation, Trails and Open Space Master Plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council for comment.
The Master Plan contains a summary of goals, strategies and objectives from multiple focus groups of residents, staff members from multiple departments, as well as Parks, Recreation and Beautification Board.
The purpose of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan is to identify data sets including demographics, industry trends, levels of service, deficiencies, and to provide data driven by surveys and other empirical methods.
According to information from Parks officials, the data sets provide points of reference to steer the growth and direction of the City of Pearland Parks and Recreation Department as the department continues to address the dynamic and changing needs of a growing community.
