Framework for the Future 2030

Issues

While many of the Parks and Recreation issues identified in this update of the Framework are a continuation of issues from previous Frameworks, it is worth noting that significant progress has been made in addressing many of these concerns since the advent of the original Framework for the Future.  Nevertheless, additional strides still need to be taken to meet the growing demand for high quality, safe and accessible parks and recreation facilities and programs throughout the City.

Adequate Parkland

Newport News Waterworks owns approximately 8,000 acres of land in the north end of the City, two-thirds of which is physically located in York County.  Historically, most of this property has been open for limited recreation (e.g. hiking, biking, and horseback riding). However, only 3,000 acres are formally designated for recreation use in Newport News Park. The other 5,000 acres have been historically managed under a multiple use concept with approximately 500 acres set aside for water treatment plant operations, 4,000 acres intensively managed through Waterworks forest rotation program (including 1,000 acres identified for application of residuals from water treatment plants) and 375 acres dedicated as the Grafton Ponds conservation easement (originally set aside to mitigate loss of wetlands brought about by construction of the adjacent Woodside High School).  The remaining property includes the two terminal reservoirs of Newport News Waterworks, Lee Hall (450 acres) and Harwood's Mill (265 acres), as well as close to 200 acres that were purchased for wetland mitigation by the adjacent airport.  The estimated 1,900 acres of Newport News Park within the City limits is equivalent to 10.2 acres of park land per 1,000 people, which is slightly above the National and State standard of 10 acres per 1,000 people. However, this regional park acreage masks the current 524 acre deficiency of neighborhood and community parks throughout the City. (See Table 6-1.)

Not including Newport News Park, the total local park acreage in the City is 1,336 acres. Based on the 2005 population estimate of 186,000, the local park deficiency in Newport News is 524 acres. Maintaining the current park acreage, and calculating for a projected 2030 population of 215,000, this deficit will rise to 814 acres.  To totally eliminate the local park deficit by the year 2030, a much more aggressive park development program is needed. (See Table 6-1 and 6-2.)

 

 

 

 

 

Maintenance of Parks and Recreation Facilities

The condition of existing parks and recreation assets is another item of concern. A comprehensive inventory of the City's parks and recreation facilities identifies a variety of facility concerns and problems including a lack of landscaping and other site amenities, as well as aging, outdated, and deteriorating structures. While the Citywide playground initiative successfully replaced most of the City’s outdated playgrounds over the past seven years, the need to ensure that playgrounds continue to receive proper inspection and maintenance is of paramount importance. While the City has seen a 300% increase in park use and visitation since the mid-1970’s, park maintenance staffing levels have continued to remain at 1970 levels. While some of the additional work from increased park use has been offset by the use of more efficient equipment, the expanded use of (City Farm) inmate labor and the development of a comprehensive park volunteer program, the deterioration of park facilities continue to increase beyond the City's ability to provide proper and timely maintenance. Furthermore, the attention given to new facilities and programs—such as City Center fountains/plaza, Stoney Run Park, Riverview Farm Park and Lee’s Mill Park—serves to dilute the effectiveness of existing staff and will continue to compromise the attention given to, and the quality of, the City's park and recreation assets. While, as noted earlier, assistance is provided through (City Farm) Adult Corrections road and construction crews, the limitations on the quality of workmanship associated with inmate labor forces, coupled with the fluctuations in the City’s inmate population, makes it difficult to ensure proper park maintenance, especially on a regular and timely basis.

The lack of adequate maintenance and upkeep is also apparent with athletic facilities and ball fields.  Public tennis court resurfacing, which is recommended every five years, is now commonly performed at 10 to 15 year increments in the City.  Dredging of boat channels, recommended every 7 years, is often performed only when the channel becomes impassable (at around 12 year intervals).  The Huntington Park Tennis Center, one of the largest and most utilized tennis facilities on the East Coast, has long outgrown its aging 30+ year old support building, which serves as a combination office/concession/storage/restroom/locker room facility.  The City’s public golf course presents another example:  the two eighteen-hole courses at this facility were constructed in the late 1960s with the last significant renovation taking place in 1985—although USGA and National Golf Foundation statistics recommend refurbishment and renovation of golfing infrastructures over significantly shorter time frames. 

With these things in mind, it is important that funding for the upkeep and maintenance of facilities, including adequate maintenance staffing, keeps pace with funding for additional parks, recreation facilities and programs.

Adequate Recreation Facilities

Newport News continues to struggle with a deficit in the number of recreational fields, courts, and gymnasiums necessary to meet user demand.  While great strides have been made in reducing this deficit, particularly with the addition of athletic facilities at Stoney Run Park and Mary Passage Middle School, demand still out paces facility availability.  Beyond the need for additional facilities, many of the existing School and City gymnasiums are also inadequate in size to comfortably serve year-around athletic programs.  Commonly, youth basketball games are played with spectators sitting in chairs along the gymnasium wall with their feet crossing into the play area. These size constraints result in overcrowded conditions as well as limited use for recreation programs. Given that many gymnasiums are utilized for the City’s Summer Playground and School Age Programs, the limited space often necessitates restricting the number of participants to keep within State (Department of Social Services) licensing guidelines.

As a barometer of need, it is interesting to note that many of the City’s “flagship” recreation facilities—the Brittingham-Midtown Community Center and the Stoney Run Athletic Complex to name two—are already being scheduled and booked up to a year in advance. The planned community center at Stoney Run Park, scheduled to open in 2010, will help offset some of the need, but additional gymnasiums and athletic facilities will still be needed to address user demand.

Visitor Protection Staffing

While the number of City parks has doubled since 1975, and the number of park visitors has increased by over 300% during that same period of time, the number of  professional park rangers assigned to oversee, manage and patrol the City’s parks has increased only slightly.  Vandalism in City parks has seen a 200% increase in the last ten years alone, and is most noticed in those parks where Visitor Protection staff has been reduced or redirected to accommodate needs in the higher use parks.  It is not uncommon, in fact, to have a ratio of one ranger per 10,000 park users on busier summer days.  Given that park rangers are also responsible for performing a variety of non-enforcement park management duties, the increase in park use has stretched staff to the point where visitor and resource protection, and the proper management of park assets, is becoming increasingly difficult.  It is worth noting that two park rangers were added in the City’s FY2007 Operating Budget (the first two new ranger staff since 1975), and have positively impacted this issue.  Nevertheless, additional ranger staff is needed to help protect the integrity of park resources and the safety of park visitors, as well as ensure the proper management and operation of the City’s parks.

Access to Parks and Recreation Facilities

Neighborhood accessibility to local parks, play fields and courts is another area of concern. A survey of Newport News citizens first conducted in November and December of 1989 and repeated in September and October of 1997 asked respondents to assess the specific projects of interest to the City, the projects the citizens saw as needed and whether tax money should be used for the project. Neighborhood playgrounds and playing fields were highly rated needs in both surveys. While great strides have been made over the past five years in upgrading City playgrounds in particular, additional work on playing fields and athletic courts is still needed.  In addition, all new public facilities and major renovation projects should include provisions for improving accessibility to facilities, including easy access for persons with disabilities and the aging population.

The "Recreation and Parks in the Northern Sector - Needs and Proposals" report, completed in 1979, stated, "Growth has out distanced the recreational facilities and services provided in the area." Since the 1979 study, 18 new ball fields and 11 new soccer fields have been built at local school sites. According to the National Recreation and Parks Association standards, additional facilities are needed now to meet the needs of the present population, even without considering future population growth. A similar analysis, conducted by Planning District, reveals fairly consistent deficiencies in the number of public tennis courts, ball fields and basketball courts throughout the City.

Waterfront Access

The City has over 49 miles of shoreline on the James River, Warwick River and Hampton Roads. Most of the shoreline is in private ownership and has already been developed for private use.  The accessible shoreline of existing City-owned waterfront parks equals 1.3 miles, or 2.6% of the City's shoreline.  Since the 1980’s, providing an adequate supply (in number, as well as capacity) of public boat ramps has been an ongoing problem, with the City’s three existing boat ramps remaining unchanged in capacity since the early 1970’s. 

Table 6-6, “Fishing Areas and Waterfront Parks”, identifies locations of pier and bank fishing and waterfront parks in the City. Table 6-7, “The Public Beaches of Newport News”, describes beach attendance and facilities. Table 6-8, Marinas describes the facilities located at the various marinas.

Two great strides made toward addressing the issue of waterfront access were made with the opening of Victory Landing Park, in 2004 and the completion of the I-664 Wavescreen fishing pier at the end of Jefferson Avenue in 2008. Victory Laning Park, located at the west end of 23^rd Street in downtown Newport News, boasts over 1,000 feet of publicly accessible frontage along the James River.  An additional upgrade to waterfront access occurred with the replacement of the City’s wooden fishing piers (Hilton, King-Lincoln, Anderson, Denbigh), following their destruction by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.  Implementation of the adopted master plan for Riverview Farm Park will open up close to a mile of additional waterfront for public use. Christopher Newport Park, King-Lincoln and Anderson Parks, Deep Creek Pier and the Denbigh Boat Ramp are waterfront sites that could increase public access to their respective waterfronts through refurbishment and redesign.

 

Given the intense use of these limited waterfront sites, particularly during the summer months, the City should actively pursue acquisition of additional waterfront sites to address the growing demand. The development of new public waterfront access at the closed Menchville Marina, in Planning District III, is one site that has been recommended and will need to be evaluated for its public waterfront access potential.  Other sites should be identified through further study.

Natural and Cultural Resource Conservation

Newport News has accomplished a great deal in land conservation and environmental protection through the preservation of 8,000 acres of watershed property in the northern end of the City.  Yet, cultural properties and environmental resources often require additional consideration for long-term management.

Trying to ensure that increased visitation does not create irrevocable damage to the surrounding environment has become a major issue in existing park areas. Permanent alteration of sensitive habitats through overuse--or misuse--of parkland can quickly overwhelm or threaten the wide diversity of unique natural resources found in several park areas. Nationally recognized resources, such as the Grafton Ephemeral Pond Complex in Newport News Park, are especially in need of comprehensive management plans. In response to these potential negative impacts, park rangers and other staff should expand their efforts to identify sensitive or threatened resources and ecological areas, as well as develop and implement management plans that balance the need for access and outdoor recreation with the long term preservation of these unique assets.

 

Beyond parks, additional sites currently exist that have environmental or cultural resources that merit protection. Preservation can be accomplished through measures such as cluster development, conservation easements and appropriate site development plans. The creation of the Newport News Green Foundation, and its efforts to acquire and protect properties that “soften” and preserve some of the natural character remaining along major City intersections and thoroughfares is one step that should continue to be encouraged and supported.

Greenways and Trails

Although miles of stream corridors, rail and utility line rights-of-way weave through the City, there are few recreational trails outside of Newport News Park, Riverview Farm Park and the Noland Trail in the Mariners' Museum property.  Potential destination points for regional trails include parks and employment centers in Newport News, Hampton, York County, Colonial National Historic Park, Jamestown and Williamsburg. 

The City has several bikeway projects under design and development that are funded by the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) grants. These projects are being designed along sections the Warwick Boulevard, J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, Canon Boulevard, Oyster Point Business Park, Oakland Industrial Park and the Patrick Henry CommerCenter.

The City's Bikeways Plan, included in the Transportation Chapter, proposes a comprehensive trail network connecting to routes in adjacent jurisdictions. New highways are being designed with bicycle trails as part of the project. Further analysis of available rights-of-way and topographic conditions is needed before trail construction can be initiated.

The potential for 24-hour, lighted walking/jogging/ skating recreational trails should be explored to allow recreational opportunities during winter or when daylight use of trails is not practical. In addition to the potential for new trails, improvements to existing park trails--especially those receiving heaviest use--should be undertaken to expand ADA accessibility, "soften" user impact, and ensure compliance with new Building Code and trail construction guidelines.