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Isanti
County
Recreation
/ Open Space ALbD Vision and Master Plan Update
This project is a combined effort of the Isanti County Active Living by
Design (ALbD) and the Parks and
Recreation Board of Isanti County.
The goal of the concurrent project is to produce two products
while combining the planning and public participation process.
The
overall project name is the Isanti
County Recreation / Open Space ALbD Vision and Master Plan
Update. The individual projects include the ALbD's Master Plan
Vision for Active Living within
Isanti
County
and the Parks and Recreation Board of Isanti County's update to the
Recreation/Open Space System Plan.
The
intent of the joint project is engage, educate and excite the community of
Isanti County about the vast opportunities for active living, recreation
and open space while simultaneously empower the ALbD and the Isanti County
Parks and Recreation Board to make well informed land use decisions today
that shape the way the community lives, works and plays in the County
tomorrow.
Isanti
County
ALbD: Master Plan for Active Living within
Isanti
County
The
Isanti
County
ALbD: Master Plan for Active Living within Isanti County Master Plan seeks
to promote and plan for active living within the County. Spatial
improvements that would increase active living, identified by the ALbD
Board is: the design of a bike/walk commuter trail between Isanti and
Cambridge, planning for the Cambridge/Braham segment, and development of a
county-wide collaborative approach to integrating land use, transportation
and natural resource management geared towards diverse physical activity.
Isanti
County
ALbD Background
Some
questions the Isanti County Steering Committee and CRD will investigate
when approaching the Master Plan for Active Living within
Isanti
County
are: How can active living
change the shape of
Isanti
County
? Can active living connect communities and municipalities? Inspire
different modes of transportation and recreation? Provide more physical
activity choices? Change the way land use and natural resource management
are thought of and dealt with?
Active
Living by Design recommends the following 5 strategies for comprehensive
promotion of active living:
- Preparation – fostering partnerships throughout
the region
- Promotion – communicating the message of active
living
- Programs – creating programs that heighten
demand for physical activity in the community
- Policy Influence – influence decisions that
impact policies and programs that support active living
- Physical projects – develop parks, trails,
bikeways and sidewalks to promote physical activity
Isanti
County
Parks
and Recreation Board's Open Space / Recreation Master Plan
Update
The
Isanti
County
Parks
and Recreation Board's Open Space / Recreation Master Plan Update seeks to
accommodate growth, changing demographics, and the changing needs of the
citizens of
Isanti
County
. The proposed update will build on the previous work by furthering the
purposes of the system as outlined in the current plan and by supporting
the goals of the
Isanti
County
Parks
and Recreation Commission.
Isanti
County
Background
Broadly
speaking, and much like a comprehensive plan, a master plan for a park
system is a combination of sub-plans that work together to create a vision
for the system, ground the vision in economic and demographic reality,
identify achievable long-term goals and objectives and, finally, identify
a time line and, to some extent, a mechanism for implementation of the
plan.
The
master plan (update) will:
- Focus on why the park system was established and
what resource conditions and visitor experiences should be achieved
and maintained over time (mission of the system).
- Assess the current physical state of the park
system and its facilities.
- Assess the current scale of the park system and
its facilities in serving the needs of the residents.
- Identify current and future relationships between
the county park system and the park/recreation systems of other
jurisdictions in the region (state, city, township).
- Identify future demands on the scale of the park
system based on projected population change.
- Identify future demands on the nature and type of
facilities within the park system based on projected demographic
change.
- Identify options for expansion of the park system
to meet future demands.
- Assess current costs associated with operation
and maintenance of the park system.
- Identify projected future costs of operation,
maintenance, and any proposed expansion of the park system and
potential funding mechanisms.
- Provide a prioritized implementation plan to
achieve the proposed goals of the master plan.
- Update the current recreation/open space system
plan to reflect the above.
Joint Beginnings:
Isanti
County
ALbD and
Isanti
County
Parks
and Recreation Board
The
ALBD project already underway examines recreational opportunities and
facilities from a specific point of view -
to support healthy life style through physical activity, both
recreational activity and normal daily activity – and principally
includes recreational and commuter trail systems. The scope and range of
facilities and activities examined go beyond those supported by the
Isanti
County
park system to include all regional systems. As such, a joint effort is
somewhat separate but very closely related in that
Isanti
County
facilities become a significant component of the ALBD master plan.
Therefore, it was proposed and determined that both efforts be conducted
in tandem to facilitate a cohesive vision for the Isanti County
Recreation/Open Space System and a complimentary set of plans.
Isanti
County
(along with the City’s of Isanti,
Cambridge
and Braham) through the ALBD project, have identified the following goals
for integrating physical activity into daily life:
- Develop and maintain and effective partnership to
promote physical activity
- Increase community awareness of the health and
other benefits of active living
- Increase access to and availability of diverse
opportunities for physical activity
- Enhance policy and organizational supports for
physical activity
- Improve built and natural environments to support
active living
Planning
and Public Participation Model
CRD’s
work with
Wyoming
Township
in
Chisago
County
and
Livonia
Township
in
Sherburne
County
represent an organized effort to apply the design process model to capture
the values of a rural community and empower its citizens to guide the form
and location of development in the face of growing pressures related to
the expanding Twin Cities metropolitan region. Managing change to protect
quality of life is a key issue in these fast-growing rural regions. The
three-phased project in these townships explored alternative physical
scenarios for the township that will shape the final land-use plan and
future zoning ordinances:
- Phase I of the project analyzed the natural
resources, land use pressures and community values through maps,
drawings and a community workshop, seeking consensus on development
principles and priorities.
- Phase II of the project applied the identified
community priority values into design principles that were used to
explore alternative development scenarios for the Township.
- Phase III identified a preferred scenario that
resulted in a final township land-use plan with goals and objectives
that could be translated into a Comprehensive Plan and Zoning
Ordinance.
In working with Isanti County ALbD, CRD envisions a similar
opportunity to utilize a community-based design model, as both process and
product, to provide
Isanti
County
with a Master Plan document that promotes land uses that encourage active
living and physical activity while managing development that maintains the
county’s unique character and value system. Significant efforts were
made to include students and young people, members of minority communities
and low-income persons in the community visioning process and resulting
recommendations.
 CRD Contact:
Steve Roos and Tracey Sokolski
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