Louisa County seeks input on future parks 

Louisa County is the fastest growing jurisdiction in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission with an estimated 7.5 percent growth between 2020 and 2023 according to the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. 

Demographers at Weldon Cooper project that number growing to 52,706 by 2050 and Louisa County now wants to know what current residents want out of the parks and recreation department. 

“Over the past several years, the community has expressed interest in an indoor pool, a sports complex and park restrooms,” reads a press release for a new community survey sent out today. “However, the Board of Supervisors recognizes that needs change over time and should be reassessed before tax dollars are allocated for new projects”

The survey gives respondents the opportunity to give their thoughts and rankings on the current park infrastructure and to ask what might be desired in the future. 

“Alternately, the survey also allows citizens to indicate if the park system is meeting their needs and no changes are needed,” the release continues. 

Louisa’s Capital Improvement Program for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 had $1,131,500 allocated for parks and recreation, with $1 million for “long term capital reserves” along with $94,000 for a tennis court replacement and $37,500 for replacement mowers. The five-year program shows a request for nearly $13 million in long term capital reserves for FY25. 

As for the operating budget, the amount of expenditures designated as “parks, recreation, and capital” has increased from $1,765,018 in FY23 to $2,959,244 in the budget adopted for FY2025. A projection in the budget document shows that increasing to just over $3.2 million in FY2029. 

In 2018, Albemarle County hired the firm Pros Consulting to conduct a needs assessment for that locality but parks planning has been incorporated into the update of the Comprehensive Plan update that is now underway. (draft needs assessment)

Last year, Charlottesville hired Pros Consulting to develop a new master plan for its process. The survey phase ended this spring.

“And now we’re beginning to go through just doing the analysis of the feedback we’ve gotten from you guys and going through the data,” said Hosea Mitchell of the city’s planning commission. “The objective is to get this thing approved by Council in January of next year.”  (learn more about that process)

What’s the status of parks planning in Fluvanna County, Greene County, and Nelson County? Hopefully I can have information in future editions of the newsletter. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the May 29, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.