Methodology

To conduct a standards analysis for Canby’s parks and recreation facilities, CPW reviewed Canby’s park and recreation facilities using nationally recognized guidelines published by the National Recreation and Park Association (see Chapter 3). CPW also reviewed the Oregon Outdoor Recreation Plan for state-level guidelines, and found they are very similar to the national guidelines, which advocates access to park and recreation facilities for all segments of the population and tying these park and recreation resources together via a comprehensive trail system. Recreation today is not strictly confined to park-like settings. Often, part of the recreation experience is in "the getting there." Thus, trails, paths, and bike lanes/routes become important aspects of recreation.

National Guidelines  

The size and amount of parkland compared to the existing and projected population is the basis for determining the level of service Canby will need in the future. In addition to parks and open spaces, school facilities and other non-municipal recreation opportunities should still be considered when planning a well-rounded park and recreation system. Canby’s 1997 Park Master Plan used NRPA’s 1983 guidelines to determine the adequacy of Canby’s current and future supply of park and recreation facilities. However, the 1983 guidelines were replaced by a newer set of guidelines developed in 1995 that do not advocate strict, broad-based standards like the 1983 standards.  

The 1995 NRPA guidelines make it the community’s responsibility to determine how they want to develop their parks and suggest that communities shift from the application of a blind national standard to an assessment of real time demand in the context of the local community. This view takes into consideration the popular concept of looking at parks and recreation land as an integrated system. “The systems planning approach is defined as the process of assessing the park, recreation and open space needs of a community and translating that information into a framework for meeting the physical, spatial and facility requirements to satisfy those needs.”[1] This approach is a grassroots process where residents and recreation advocates formulate minimum acreage and development criteria for park and recreation resources and apply locally identified level of service (LOS) guidelines. Together, these ensure that citizens are not underserved.  

The NRPA formulated an eight-step process in their 1995 Guidelines to identify a local level of service that would give an empirically sound assessment of the minimum amount of land necessary per 1,000 people to meet a community’s recreational needs. This eight-step process provides a methodical framework for the assessment of level of service. These steps are:[2]  

1. Determine park classifications for which the LOS will apply.
2. Determine the recreation activity menu (RAM), which is the list of all recreation facilities (i.e. tennis courts, tot lots, picnic units, etc.), which go into each park classification and for which a specific amount of space will be needed. The RAM determines the facilities space requirement of the LOS formula.
3. Determine open space size standards for each park classification for which LOS standards will apply [The number of acres devoted to open space should be identified through strategic community planning and take into account unique local resources (pg. 49)].
4. Determine the present supply of these recreation activity choices.
5. Determine total expressed demand for these recreation activity choices.
6. Determine the minimum population service requirements for these recreation activity choices.
7. Determine the individual LOS for each park classification.
8. Determine the collective LOS for the entire park and recreation system.

Canby’s current park and recreation facility inventory consists of nine parks, totaling 68.8 acres: Arneson Garden, Wait Park, 19^th Avenue Loop, Locust Street Park, Maple Street Park, Canby Community Park, ECO Park, Skate Park (Phase I of the Canby Regional Park), and 13^th Avenue Park. Canby’s recreation facility inventory also consists of the Logging Road Trail, Canby Swim Center and Canby Adult Center. The wetland trail listed in Table 8-1 is linked to Canby Community Park. Table 8-1 shows the breakdown of acreage for each park.   

Applying Canby’s current estimated population of 12,790, there are currently 5.38 acres of city-owned parkland in Canby per 1,000 residents (this figure includes both developed and undeveloped parkland). This level of service includes parkland but does not include the three-mile Logging Road Trail or the protected open space and wetland/riparian areas such as Willamette Wayside, Community Park wetland, Willow Creek, or the Fish Eddy property. There is no standard for these types of open space, but open space and trails received significant public support in the Park Master Plan update process.  

Table 8-1
City Of Canby Current Park Acreage  

                  Source: City Of Canby  Community Planning Workshop, August 2000  

The NRPA strongly advocates building good relationships between school districts and park and recreation agencies. The 1997 Community Survey found that Canby residents already heavily use many of the school district’s facilities. Canby School District facilities, however, are not included in the Parks Master Plan Inventory because they are not freely open during daylight hours to the public. School facilities are primarily for students, and have limited hours available for the general public. There may also be security issues for the school district based on an inability to exclude recreation users from facilities not identified for recreation uses. Moreover, the City desired to set standards for the City park and recreation system.  

While school facilities are not usually available to the general public during school hours, they provide significant recreation for sports teams and the public during non-school hours. Five schools from the Canby School District are located within Canby; their grounds and facilities (including non-recreation facilities) total 103.6 acres. Table 8-2, below, shows the acreage for each school. School properties alone provide 8.16 acres per 1,000 residents.

Source: Canby School District , March 1997  

Table 8-3 provides a comparison of city owned and school district owned park and recreation land per 1,000 residents. The combination of city park acreage with school properties total 172.4 acres, or 13.54 acres of parkland per 1,000 Canby residents.    

Table 8-3
Canby and School District Park and Recreation Acreage

Source: NRPA, Blue Heron Recreation District, School District  

Other Recreation Options

Several other recreational resources are located within or near the Canby area:  Molalla River State Park, Clackamas County Fairgrounds, and two golf courses. These facilities, while not owned by the City of Canby, or the Canby School District, provide valuable recreation opportunities to Canby residents, and deserve consideration in our standards analysis.  

Molalla River State Park, located just north of Canby, is a 566-acre facility at the confluence of the Molalla and Willamette Rivers. Canby-area residents of all ages use this park. It is classified as a regional park, as it serves a broader purpose than a community park. Although it is just outside Canby’s Urban Growth Boundary, and not within our study area, it meets community based recreational needs, as well as preserving unique open space.  

Clackamas County Fairgrounds provide recreation opportunities to Canby area residents. The fairgrounds encompass 50 acres in Canby. Excluding the county fair in August, the facility is used most frequently from September through June for a variety of purposes including weddings, conventions, trade shows, and tractor pulls.  

One non-municipal public golf course exists near Canby. Frontier Golf manages a ten-acre, 9-hole par 3 golf course on North Holly Street. The facility is open from the beginning of March until the end of October from 7:30 a.m. until sunset. Another golf course, operated by the Willamette Valley Country Club solely for its members, is also located within Canby.  

 The 1995 NRPA guidelines list specific recreation facilities and provide recommended sizes, dimensions and space requirements, as well as service radius information. It should be noted that these spacing requirements were utilized heavily in the 1983 NRPA standards and though they are included in the 1995 NRPA guidelines, they are meant as a menu from which communities can specifically decide which recreation facilities and amenities are needed in their communities. The NRPA does not advocate constructing specialized facilities without first obtaining market data that demonstrates a need (market demand) for that facility.  

The 1997 Community Survey results, stakeholder interviews, August 8, 2000 Community Forum outcome, and school meetings show a need for additional soccer fields and swimming opportunities. Table 8-4 lists city and school owned recreation facilities. The Canby School District provides several of the recreation facilities not adequately provided by the City of Canby , including football fields, volleyball courts, and additional tennis courts and sports fields. Conversely, the City of Canby has one 25-yard pool and one handball court, amenities the school district does not provide. As previously discussed, the school district provides significantly more recreation acreage than the City of Canby, but school property is not freely available to the public during school hours.  

Table 8-4
City of Canby Recreation Facilities

Source:  City of Canby and Canby School District

The NRPA promotes service area guidelines for different park classifications. CPW used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to compare NRPA service area guidelines with population density and recent development to illustrate which areas of the city are most underserved by current parks. Figure 8-1 shows residential areas within Canby’s urban growth boundary most underserved by its current park facilities (Wait Park, Maple Street Park, Canby Community Park, and Locust Street Park). Residents with the least access to parks live in the far Northeast, Northwest, and South areas of Canby. These are the areas of residential development (undeveloped parcels and farmland were omitted), which are over ½ mile from current parks. The Swim Center and Adult Center are not included in the analysis because they are specifically targeted recreational facilities.  

Figure 8-1 The four maps on the following pages show the City of Canby’s current parks, current zoning classifications, and new development since 1997, compared with the appropriate NRPA service area guidelines. Areas of the City that fall outside of each circle (or service area) represent residents not served by parks of that classification.  

The service area for mini-parks is roughly one-quarter mile. Figure 8-2 shows Canby’s four mini-parks in comparison with current zoning and recent development. Although the parks’ service areas encompass areas of high density, most of Canby lacks mini-parks. This includes several areas of higher density and new development, especially in the northwest, southeast and north central areas of Canby.

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Figure 8-3 illustrates how the service area of Canby’s neighborhood park, Maple Street Park, compares with zoning and new development. The service area for a neighborhood park is a quarter to a half-mile in distance. Neighborhood parks do not serve many of Canby’s neighborhoods, the core of the park system.

   The service area for community parks is between a half-mile and three miles, serving two or more neighborhoods. Since the 1997 Update, the Regional Park and Eco Park were added to the inventory. The addition of Eco Park provides Canby residents with a community park in the northeast corner of town, which was previously underserved. Figure 8-4 shows that most of Canby is served by a community park.

Lastly, Figure 8-5 shows all of Canby’s parks compared to their respective service areas. Mini or neighborhood parks do not serve new development in the southeast and areas of high density to the northwest.

Canby’s 1997 Parks Master Plan Update used the 1983 NRPA standards. These standards represent a very broad measure and in theory, are meant to work for all communities. The reality is that these standards become unrealistic for smaller communities. This update, however, uses the 1995 NRPA guidelines, which are more flexible and take into account community desires.  

Canby’s 1996 population (the population used for the 1997 Update) was 11,430 residents. The ratio of parkland to residents was 2.95 acres per 1,000 residents. Since the adoption of the 1997 Master Plan Update the following sites have been added to Canby’s park and recreation inventory (see Chapter 3, Park and Recreation Facility Inventory for more details): Logging Road Trail (approximately 3 miles in length and not included in the total park acreage), Willamette Wayside (protected open space), Fish Eddy riparian area (protected open space), Eco Park (undeveloped), 19^th Avenue Loop (undeveloped), Arneson Garden, and Willow Creek Wetland (protected open space). With the addition of these sites, Canby's existing level of service is now 5.38 acres per 1,000 residents. It should be noted that this level of service is for city-owned facilities only and does not include school facilities. In comparison, Canby’s population has grown, increasing by 1,540 residents since 1996.  Keep in mind that trails and protected open spaces are not counted in the park acreage standards.  The park acreage standard is for mini-parks, neighborhood parks, and community parks that are developed for the benefit of residential and business users in the City limits.

Although population projections vary, it is important to forecast how many acres of parkland will be needed for Canby’s future residents. Canby’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1984, is based on an Urban Growth Boundary area to serve an ultimate population of 20,000. The 1991 Park Master Plan also used this figure when determining future park need (See Chapter 2, Socioeconomic and Land Use Trends, for more details). The 2000 Update used the City's 2020 coordinated population projections.

Canby’s community standard for parkland is expressed in acres per 1,000 residents. Discussions between CPW, city staff, the Planning Commission and City Council, and the Park and Recreation Advisory Board determined that 10 acres per 1,000 residents is the new park standard as of adoption of this update. Level of service is also expressed in acres per 1,000 residents but it only tells the current acreage per 1,000 residents and changes as new parkland is added to the system. The standard of 10 acres per 1,000 residents is a policy decision that will guide the development of the overall parks and recreation system.  

Table 8-5 shows how the current inventory and level of service of Canby’s park and recreation facilities compares to a projected population of 21,000. Table 8-5 also shows how many acres are necessary to meet the community standard of 10 aces per 1,000 residents as population grows over the next 15 years.  

In order to accommodate future growth at the current level of service, additional park and recreation acquisition and development must occur. To serve a population of 21,000 at the current level of service, Canby will need 113 acres of parkland, or 44.2 acres of new parkland. The number of new acres needed is derived from applying the current LOS (5.38 acres/1,000 people) to the future population and identifying the deficit between the same level of service now and for the future population. To meet the new community standard of 10 acres per 1,000 residents in 20 years, Canby will need 210 acres of total parkland, or 141.2 acres of new parkland. This amount of acreage is derived from applying the standard (10 acres/1,000 people) to the future population of 21,000 people.  

The addition of new parks increased the level of service from 2.95 acres per 1,000 residents to 5.38 acres per 1,000 residents, an increase of 2.43 acres per 1,000.  By following the recommendations in Chapter 9 Canby will be able to achieve the new standard as the population increases to 21,000.  

  Source: NRPA, City of Canby  

The August 8, 2000 Community Forum identified park connectivity as an important goal in Canby's park and recreation facility development. The NRPA and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department also advocate linking park space via trails, pathways and bike routes/lanes. Participants in the August 8, 2000 Community Forum acknowledged that the Logging Road (three linear miles) is a significant trail for linking park space, and the city should expand upon this trail when linking park and recreational space within Canby. A multi-use trail around the perimeter of Canby (the “Emerald Necklace concept”), connecting parks, recreation areas, protected open space, and schools was identified over and over again as a desirable goal for recreation development in Canby. While no measurable standard exists for these improvements and amenities, their importance should not be overlooked.  

The NRPA standards are a valuable and nationally accepted guideline for determining adequacy of parkland, though there are a number of specific park types and facilities that standards are not explicitly provided for. Playgrounds, trails, open space and natural areas were all identified by community members in the 1997 Canby Park and Recreation Community Survey, stakeholder interviews, August 8, 2000 Community Forum, and student meetings as desired improvements to Canby’s park and recreation system.

Findings