§ 22-41. Site selection/characteristics of park.

(a)

In selecting a site for a park, the city shall avoid an accumulation of unrelated parcels of land or an accumulation of land unsuitable for park purposes.

(b)

Parks shall be selected on the basis of obtaining natural, park-like settings where available and shall consist of diverse topography and open space suitable for the development of recreational facilities.

(c)

Neighborhood park size should be a minimum of five (5) acres and obtained as one (1) complete parcel. If a development parcel cannot provide the minimum five (5) acre parcel or a smaller parcel which can potentially be contiguous to existing or future park parcels, then a fee in lieu of park land or a combination of fee and park land dedication shall be required in accordance with section 22-37.

(d)

Park sites shall be located, whenever possible, adjacent to and contiguous with school sites and other public or nonprofit agency sites in order to make maximum use of common facilities and grounds.

(e)

Careful consideration shall be given to the need for development of parks around natural drainage and wooded areas, which provide potential recreational uses. Criteria for floodplain areas (based upon 100-year storm) usage is as follows:

(1)

Floodplain and natural drainage areas shall generally not exceed seventy-five (75) percent of the total park site.

(2)

At least fifty (50) percent of required dedicated park land shall have slopes in range of two (2) to five (5) percent, well drained, and suitable for active use development.

(3)

Floodplain acreage may be dedicated at a ratio of three to one (3:1) in acres in lieu of nonfloodplain property. Any consideration of additional floodplain acreage shall be as agreed upon between the parks and recreation department and the developer/owner.

(f)

Proposed park land boundaries shall provide street frontage for readily accessible entry into the park area by the public and water, sanitary sewer and electric improvements shall be readily available to the park from an adjacent street right-of-way or public utility easement. If the developer/owner requests delay in the construction of said improvements because of phasing of subdivision development, the developer/owner shall escrow sufficient funds in behalf of the city, the form and provisions of such escrow agreement shall be approved by the city attorney and the city engineer, to cover the cost of such construction as determined by the city engineer.

(g)

Prior to dedication of land, the developer/owner shall make full disclosure of the presence of any hazardous substances and/or underground storage tanks (U.S.T.'s) of which the developer/owner has knowledge. The city, at its discretion, may proceed to conduct such initial environmental tests and surveys on the land, as it may deem appropriate, and the developer/owner shall grant to the city and its agents and employees such reasonable access to the land as is necessary to conduct such surveys and tests.

(h)

If the results of such surveys and tests indicate a reasonable possibility of environmental contamination or the presence of U.S.T.s, the city may require further survey and tests to be performed at the developer/owner's expense as the city may deem necessary prior to its acceptance of the dedication, or in the alternative, the developer/owner may be required to identify alternative property or pay the fees in lieu of such park land dedication.

(i)

The park site shall be free of trash and debris and if the dedicated park land's natural condition is disturbed during construction of subdivision improvements then developer/owner shall be responsible for returning the dedicated land to its natural condition prior to or at the time of final plat filing and the public improvements to be constructed per the applicable subdivision plat will not be accepted by the city until such time that the above conditions have been met.

(Ord. No. 98-039, § I, 2-17-98)