City of Roseville

From here, the Parks and Recreation Commission reviews and hopefully approves the master plan. They then forward the plan to the City Council who reviews the master plan with an accompanying environmental document for final adoption. All construction projects, by law, require environmental clearance. This is to ensure that the surrounding environment is protected and potential impacts are identified and lessened. The timing between Commission approval and Council review can vary depending on the type of environmental clearance required for the park design. Both the Commission and City Council meetings are public meetings. Anyone is welcome to attend and provide comments.

After construction is complete, the City requires a 30 to 90-calendar day establishment period. This is the most difficult time of the process. The grass is green, the play structure is completed and the fences are still up. The establishment period is a time when we are literally watching the grass grow. It takes time to "toughen up" the grass so that it can handle the heavy foot traffic we experience at our parks. Without this grow-in period, the maintenance of the new park would be extremely high. We start counting the establishment period days after the second mowing of the grass. This is required to ensure that we have a good healthy stand of grass before we begin the establishment period. The entire park or phase of work remains closed during this timeframe.  Because the entire project is under contract and obligations under the contract are not complete, the contractor remains responsible for the entire site. Opening certain improvements within the project is a liability issue for the contractor and therefor, must remained closed. We thank you for your patience during this time.

City-wide parks are larger sites, off of major roads and designed for a visitor stay of two or more hours. You will generally see large ball field complexes and specialized park features which will attract people to drive to the park from around the region or city. These park amenities can also be lighted facilities with restrooms. Mahany Park, Maidu Regional Park and the south side of Hughes Park are examples. Other city-wide parks include Harry Crabb Park, Stoneridge Park Site 2, 3 and 4, a park site off of Gibson and Roseville Parkway, and Fiddyment Park. The city-wide park fund provides for the development of these types of parks and everyone buying a new home in the city contributes to the development fund through new homes sales.  The health of the city-wide park fund is dependent upon the health of the economy. Because of the type of improvements included in the city-wide park plans, these parks are built in phases.

Neighborhood parks are generally less than 10 acres in size or less, are surrounded by homes and are designed for the casual park user staying one hour or less. Grass areas are multi-use and intended for either practice games or informal activities. Play areas, picnic facilities and other low-key features are considered in a neighborhood park design. Because these parks are located within a half to one mile radius to homes and the stay at the park is short, restrooms are not typically provided. Examples of neighborhood parks include Misty Wood Park, Cambria Park, Woodbridge Park, Erven Park and Summerhill Park. The neighborhood park fund provides for the development of a series of these types of parks located within a specific plan area.  Neighborhood park funds from one area cannot be used to build a park in another area.

Splash pads and dog parks are considered regional attractions and will bring traffic, noise and users from well beyond the immediate neighborhood. Parking at neighborhood parks is limited. Park features that bring more people also bring parking issues. We want to be good neighbors and in our experience, some park features conflict with resident concerns.

In addition to the concerns above, splash pads/water features require a high level of maintenance. Resources to build and properly maintain water features is limited. For these features, we strategically locate water play where we already have staff either onsite or nearby (geographically) to manage the water feature. We understand these are popular features and appreciate the value of water play.

For many, dog parks are positive features in parks. For an equal amount of people, dogs are feared, are noisy and can bring unpleasant odors. No matter what side you are on, the opinions are polarized. Dog parks are well-used and are often less aesthetically pleasing than a traditional park with nice green grass. For these reasons, the City is very strategic in locating fenced, off-leash dog parks so the impacts to residents are minimized.