Ordinance 3281-12 - Laserfiche WebLink

III. Parks and Recreation Element— Policies, Goals and Strategies The following section contains the policies, goals, and strategies for the Parks and Recreation Element of the Everett Growth Management Comprehensive Plan. The statements of "policies, goals, and strategies" are intended to guide the public and those who make decisions about our future. Policies are plans or courses of actions designed to determine decisions. Goals are broad statements of the community's desires and are supported by Parks and Recreation policies. The strategies are specific actions that are designed to help achieve goals. Growth Targets. The Growth Management Act requires that counties plan for growth using the State Office of Financial Management's (OFM) population forecasts for each county. Each County works with the cities within the county to accommodate the growth target it establishes from the low to high population range provided by OFM. Snohomish County's Countywide Planning Policies provide direction on how to allocate OFM's countywide forecast to cities, urban growth areas (UGAs) and the rural areas of the County using the cooperative planning process of Snohomish County Tomorrow. (Snohomish County Tomorrow is a growth management advisory group consisting of city and county elected officials supported by County staff.) The updated comprehensive plans of all jurisdictions in the County must collectively be capable of accommodating the OFM forecasted population. In January 2002, OFM released new 2025 population forecasts for counties that included a low, high, and intermediate population. Snohomish County Tomorrow developed draft low and high population and employment forecasts, which were distributed throughout the County using the Puget Sound Regional Council's forecast analysis zones (FAZs). Based on those, the City of Everett Planning Commission and City Council selected draft targets that are at the low end of the 2025 forecast range for population, and the high end of the 2025 forecast range for employment. Depending on the specific growth alternative plan selected by the community, more definitive strategies will be developed to implement the chosen plan through the annual review process. A. Policy#1 Meet the mandates of the community for quality maintained parks, accessible trails, inviting recreational facilities and amenities, and energizing recreation programs that position the Parks and Recreation Department as one of the best managed park and recreation agencies in the State of Washington. Goal 9.1 Achieve the park and recreation facility standards in the Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan while improving existing parks and recreation facilities that will extend their useful asset life and provide a quality image of Everett's neighborhoods and the community as a whole. 10