Parks, Recreation, Trails & Open Space Master Plan
Shaping the Future of Recreation in Buena Vista
The Town of Buena Vista has launched a major planning effort to develop a Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space Master Plan—a long-term roadmap that will guide the Town’s recreation priorities, investments, and improvements for the next 10–20 years.
This project will help ensure our parks, trails, recreation programs, and open spaces continue to support a growing community and a high quality of life.
Project Overview
Why This Plan Is Needed
Buena Vista’s last Recreation Plan (2016) lacked in depth community engagement and no longer reflects today’s needs. Since 2020, the Town has experienced:
- Significant growth in year-round residents and visitors
- Higher participation in recreation programs
- Increased demand on trails, parks, and open spaces
- A doubling of Parks & Recreation staff to keep up
A new, community-driven Master Plan will help Buena Vista balance maintenance needs, programming demand, future facilities, and long-term sustainability.
Budget:
- The total project budget is $100,000, including a $25,000 DOLA Administrative Grant.
Project Goals:
This plan will:
- Update the Town’s 2015 Trails Master Plan and 2016 Recreation Plan
- Assess the need, feasibility, and funding approach for new facilities
- Identify and recommend potential dedicated funding source to support Parks and Recreation going into the future.
- Define updated Level of Service (LOS) standards for facilities, programs, staffing, and maintenance
- Provide guidance for sustainable tourism management in parks and recreation spaces
- Propose new trails and new connections coordinated with the Transportation Plan update
Scope of Work
- Phase 1: Kickoff & Project Management
- Phase 2: Background Review & Community Vision
- Phase 3: System Inventory & Facility Assessment
- Phase 4: Community Engagement
- Phase 5: Level of Service, Benchmarking & Needs Analysis
- Phase 6: Implementation Strategy
Draft Deliverables
- Concept plans for park and trail improvements
- Budget-level cost estimates
- Prioritized project list
- Staffing, maintenance, and programming recommendations
- Potential funding mechanisms
This strategy will guide Town decisions for years to come.
Stay Involved
Community participation will shape this plan. Upcoming meetings, surveys, workshops, and project documents will be shared here as they become available.
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Comprehensive Plan Connection
Share Comprehensive Plan Connection on Facebook Share Comprehensive Plan Connection on Twitter Share Comprehensive Plan Connection on Linkedin Email Comprehensive Plan Connection linkMaster Plan for Recreation, Parks, Trails, and Open Space:
Developing a comprehensive recreation and open space master plan fulfills the directive to update Townwide and site-specific plans, providing clear priorities for future investments. The Town currently has Master Plans for Recreation Facilities, Trails, Rodeo Grounds/Chiago Ranch, and River Park, but most of these plans are simply a list of projects with little community input into the process. The updated Master Plan would build off of all of these existing plans, but crucially also dive into future funding possibilities.This project develops a new, comprehensive master plan that brings together the Town’s past recreation, parks, and trails planning work into a single guiding document. It will establish clear priorities for park improvements, trail connectivity, open space preservation, and future facility investment, ensuring coordinated decision-making and efficient use of funding across the next decade. The Recreation Department would like to solicit a consultant to lead a master planning process for recreation, parks, trails, and open space. The consultant would conduct community outreach, community surveys, and stakeholder conversations to build a plan for the future development of recreation in Buena Vista.
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RL Big Idea 5: Recreation & Trails planning
- RL Action 5A: Update the Buena Vista Recreation and Trails Master Plans
- RL Action 5C: Regularly update site-specific recreation master plans
Building on the Past: A Roadmap for Future Recreation InvestmentThis project ties together a decade of recreation and trail planning into one actionable, modern roadmap for future investment. The new master plan will combine all of these into one unified framework with project phasing, cost estimates, and clear implementation actions.
- The 2015 Trails and 2016 Recreation Master Plans both outline key connectivity and facility goals, but they’re now due for consolidation.
- The Recreation Facilities Master Plan (2019) refined project priorities but lacked a full open space and trails integration.
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The 2020 River Park Master Plan and 2022 Parks & Trails Inventory add recent data and site-level conditions that should guide new priorities.
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RL Big Idea 5: Recreation & Trails planning