The city is maxed out when it comes to parks, according to a new staff report proposing Prince George put together a plan to address funding new parks and recreation spaces and equipment.
On Wednesday night, city council will be asked to approve the creation a parks strategy to "help improve park infrastructure where it is most needed" aided by a series of public consultation opportunities.
According to the report to council, the city's parks are unevenly distributed thanks in part to development in decades past where subdivisions were put together "with no legislative requirement for developers to fund the park's construction, resulting in many undeveloped park sites whose ultimate development is subject to available funding sources."
In addition, park infrastructure is aging and falling apart and needs have changed, with things like trails and bike facilities becoming more popular.
The proposed strategy would look at ways the city could get more parkland, replace aging facilities, improve existing sites or sell them off.
Problems in dealing with city parks were highlighted in May after a Lower College Heights neighbourhood space was meddled with prematurely. According to planning and development director Ian Wells, a miscommunication sent a contractor in to North College Park along Eton Avenue where they removed trees and conducted geotechnical tests to see if the land was suitable for another use. But there hadn't been any public consultation about the park nor any approval by city council for the work.
