Building New Parks

On the Drawing Board

The City of Tracy is planning the expansion of Gretchen Talley Park as a community park; the completion of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Legacy Fields sports complex; the creation of an Aquatics Complex; a multi-generational recreation center; and the Tracy Nature Park. These improvements would bring an additional 220 acres of park land.

The TOD Plan also provides a template for the creation of a network of plazas, paseos, and pocket parks to serve a growing and vital downtown area (see Chapter 2).

Future Development Areas

As of this writing, some 63 acres of new park land is planned as part of specific plans and development proposals for Avenues, Ellis, Hillview, Rocking Horse, Tracy Hills, and Tracy Village. Private parks are planned at Cordes Ranch. These parks are summarized in Chapter 2.

Filling Access Gaps

New parks in future development areas will be required to provide 4 acres of new park land per 1,000 residents, allocated, located, and designed according to the policies of this Plan.

In addition to future developerprovided parks in urban infill and expansion areas, the City will pursue land acquisition and park development opportunities in areas of the City that are more than ½ mile from an existing neighborhood or community park. Future park opportunities should be sought, in particular:

> In the vicinity of Valpico Road between Tracy Boulevard and

MacArthur Drive.

> In the vicinity of MacArthur Drive between Schulte and Valpico roads.

> In the vicinity of Byron and Berg roads.

> In the vicinity of Tracy Boulevard and West 6th Street.

> In the vicinity of Tracy Boulevard and Mt. Diablo Avenue.

> In Northeast Tracy in the vicinity of Grant Line Road and East

Street.

> In other areas where residents are more than ½ mile from a neighborhood or community park, opportunities for new parks may be scarce. These areas should be priorities for enhancing mini parks or forging community use agreemnts for school play fields. Funding for future parks in these areas may come from a variety of sources including future development; existing LMDs; and the General Fund. Park access gaps and neighborhood park opportunity areas are shown on Figure 3-1.

Co-Location Opportunities

The Storm Drainage Master Plan (SDMP) identifies the location of existing and proposed detention basins in Tracy. Detention basins in residential areas, especially when larger than five acres in size, may be considered for co-location and/ or joint use. As noted in the SDMP, three detention basins are proposed for future service areas that are anticipated to have residential development. These include the following:

> A proposed 35-acre basin in the

Catellus planning area is rated as a fair candidate for joint park use because of high groundwater. > A proposed 5-acre basin in the

Rocha planning area is rated as a good opportunity for joint use because it is not far from a proposed Class I Bikeway that could potentially connect this site to Tiago Park. However, the small size will result in limited usable recreational area.

> A proposed 30-acre basin in UR 1 (Alvarez and Others) is considered to be a poor candidate for joint use because of boundary constraints and little differential grading.

In addition to these three, additional detention basins are planned for nonresidential service areas.

Facilities such as fire stations, libraries, and community centers may provide future opportunities to co-locate park land. For example, a fire station located adjacent to a park can contribute to a perception of enhanced park safety. In some communities, fire stations also provide meeting rooms for community use. Current recreation trends also support the development of parks adjacent to branch libraries and community/recreation centers. This arrangement allows a site to provide a variety of recreation and leisure-based opportunities at one location, plus support both indoor and outdoor programming. These opportunities shall be considered when identifying sites for future facility and park development.

Trail Opportunities

This Plan proposes a trail system that builds on the City’s existing linear parkways, multiuse paths, the planned bikeway system, opportunities for trails along rail, irrigation, and utility corridors, and opportunities for trails in existing or future preserved open spaces. The trail system should also be seen as a “co-location” opportunity for future parks. Off-street trails and pathways, when connected to park land, provide important recreation opportunities and also enhance park access.

The Trail Concept Plan is shown in Figure 5-3 on page 167.