OPINION | Green acres: A master plan for Jacksonville’s park system

In a recent preliminary report to Jacksonville’s City Council, the Parks Department shared its progress to date on an updated Parks Master Plan it expects to unveil in winter 2025, which will include recommendations for maintaining and improving existing parks.

The report examines current park acreage, accessibility, amenities, and conditions; includes survey data measuring public usage, satisfaction, and future expectations; and promises to lay out steps we should take to maintain and improve existing parks.

Resiliency, equitable access to parks, and quality service constitute three guiding principles shaping the final report.

A new focus this time around, stated consultant Kristen Caborn, is how to use parks to mitigate area flooding, a welcomed development given how underwater Jacksonville is of late.

Survey says: More trails, more shade, more flood control

Key survey findings include the public’s interest in better park maintenance, expanded natural areas with additional trails, increased shade and flood control.

When asked specifically about resiliency, survey respondents overwhelming chose the need for increased shade and protecting “natural systems that buffer heat, tidal flows, and flooding” as future park priorities. Clearly, respondents understand the role parks must play in alleviating present and future climate change’s deadly realities—excessive summer heat and expanding flood waters.

What’s missing?

Sadly, the master plan’s footprint does not include historic Downtown’s Northbank Riverfront Parks, namely Metropolitan Park, Shipyards West, and the former Landing site park, apparently because the Parks Department alone does not govern these public spaces. Rather, Parks, Downtown Investment Authority and Public Works, which has oversight over some underground infrastructure, share responsibility.

Makes one wonder: will the public’s interest in shade and flood control influence our ongoing discussion about the Big Three, much in the news lately as City Council’s Finance Committee wrestled recently with their costs? Surely maintaining treed park space and a tree-lined Northbank Riverwalk is less expensive than maintaining waters’ edge restaurants and pickleball courts, which is what we are getting with current plans for the former Landing site and Shipyards West.

Common sense should tell us that these three Northbank parks are perfectly situated to provide flood control for Downtown Jacksonville. Lest we forget, Hurricane Irma did an unexpected number on Downtown Jacksonville, proving once again that Mother Nature is full of surprises.

CPAC meetings

The public will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the findings-to-date during four upcoming Citizen Planning Advisory Committee (CPAC) meetings:

• Monday, Oct 7, 5:30 pm, Downtown Main Library
• Monday, October 14, 6:30 pm, Ed Austin Regional Park
• Monday, October 14, 6:30 pm, Lane Wiley Senior Center
• Wednesday, November 13, 5:30 pm, Oceanway Community Center

Sources:

• https://www.imaginejaxparks.com/participate
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K1-Y3JCVdO8b2SZs2EQgJFntYC7yEnYS/view
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ThxOfoaU3TszZ73Bj9kTyzaROm2XOghd/view

This columns appears under a partnership with Jax LookOut .

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