Cays Park Master Plan

Cays Park Master Plan Update

Update January 17, 2023

The City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement with Schmidt Design Group for landscape architecture and planning services. The City will promote community engagement opportunities to encourage maximum participation throughout the Master Plan process. The scope of services includes a robust public outreach campaign involving the community, including workshops with Coronado Cays Homeowners Association and pop-up events in the community. Input from previous workshops and outreach will be included in the process.

After public workshops and a community survey have been completed, the Schmidt Design Group will work collaboratively with the City to present schematic designs to the community for additional input through additional meetings and pop-up events.

Updated Oct. 6, 2022

The City Council this week voted to issue a request for proposals for consultant services for the Coronado Cays Park Master Plan project. The City is restarting this important project to have a more specific scope of work and expectations for community engagement. The master plan will present a long-range vision for the park that can be implemented over time. In September, the Council terminated an existing consultant contract for landscape design services for the project and directed staff to prepare a solicitation for an alternative consultant for the park master planning process, to include robust community engagement from residents and other stakeholders. Although the project reset may add months to a year to the master plan process, the community will be best served by having a more specific scope of work and expectations for community engagement. At its Oct. 4 meeting, the Council directed staff to amend the athletic field allocation permitting periods to three seasons per year instead of two. The Council selected this field-use programmatic change to address current requests for use of space in Cays Park prior to the approval of the master plan. Under this option, each organization will be required to sign and submit permit documents six weeks before the start of each period to allow Recreation staff to better manage seasonal needs and priorities. The Council also reaffirmed language in the request for proposals that requires the new consultant to develop three plan alternatives to provide 100%, 75% and 50% of the current open space for active use, as well as the quantity of pickleball and tennis courts to be integrated into the plan and associated court amenities. Staff will return to the Council for approval of an agreement with the recommended consultant. The City is grateful for all of the community engagement on the park plan and looks forward to future conversations to create an exceptional park.

Updated Sept. 29, 2022

At the Oct. 4, 2022 City Council Meeting, the City Council will consider the Cays Park Master Plan Consultant Services Request for Proposal as well as discuss and provide direction on possible programmatic alternatives that could be instituted in the short to mid-term to achieve the City Council-directed Master Plan options of: 1) maintaining 100% of the current active space; 2) maintaining 75% of current active space and 25% more passive space; and 3) maintaining 50% of current active space and 50% more passive space. To read the full agenda for the Oct. 4 meeting, click here.

Updated Sept. 9, 2022

At the Sept. 6, 2022 City Council Meeting, the City Council accepted staff’s recommendation to authorize the termination of the existing consultant contract with Van Dyke Landscape Architecture (VDLA).

Throughout the Master Plan process, public interest has been significant but grew substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the Master Plan process was restarted in 2021, the City found greater community engagement with a larger span of park users. Community feedback has significantly evolved since 2019, and the City has learned about new desires and priorities for Cays Park from community engagement.

Although the project reset may add months to a year to the Master Plan process, staff believes the community will be best served by restarting the Master Plan effort with a more specific scope of work and expectations for community engagement. Staff will structure a new public input process that could include new public surveys and workshops. Additionally, the Recreation and Golf Services Department will begin collecting field use data that may be used in the development of the Master Plan.

Over the next few months, staff will return to the City Council with a proposed Request for Proposals for a Cays Park Master Plan based on current understanding of the project and community expectations. Staff will also report on possible programmatic alternatives that could be implemented at the Council’s direction to better address requests for use of space in Cays Park.

Updated July 21, 2022

The City will move forward with a tennis court resurfacing project as well as other improvements at Coronado Cays Park. To better accommodate a variety of users, now and in the future, the City Council asked staff this week to make some immediate and long-term adjustments to provide pickleball players eight dedicated courts, maintain the existing basketball court, and add a tennis court with the Cays Park Master Plan process. The Council authorized staff to advertise for bid the resurfacing work for all 17-City-owned courts, including Glorietta Bay Tennis Center and the Library courts, and possibly the four high school courts if the Coronado Unified School District elects to participate financially in the contract. Specifically, the Council directed staff to do the following:

• convert Coronado Cays Tennis Court 5 to pickleball-only courts;
• maintain the existing full basketball court;
• make Tennis Court 1 into pickleball-only courts;
• add, as part of the Cays Park Master Plan project, a pickleball-only court close to Court 5 and turning Court 1 back into a tennis court; and
• authorize the resurfacing work for bid.

Updated April 22, 2022

The City Council reviewed field use data and analysis of who is using Cays Parks fields and how much this week as work on the Cays Park Master Plan continues. Council directed staff and the consultants to develop three distinct and different Cays Park Master Plan alternatives:

• one that maintains 100% of the open space area in the current park configuration;
• a second one that maintains 75% of open space and explores up to 25% of other passive uses; and
• a third one that is 50% active and 50% passive.

In December, the City Council agreed to restart the master planning effort to include development of three draft master plan alternatives and a transparent, comprehensive community outreach. The Council accepted a new schedule at its Jan. 18 meeting to complete the Coronado Cays Park Master Plan project. Originally begun in July 2019, the effort was halted from March 2020 through April 2021 due to the pandemic. The alternatives will be the subject of extensive community outreach to gather input once presented. The City will conduct two public workshops and an online survey available to all of Coronado. Based upon this feedback, a final Draft Master Plan will be developed and presented to the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association, the Parks and Recreation Commission and, finally, the City Council for approval. The City will provide regular updates on CommentCoronado.org and in the Weekly Update to notify the entire Coronado community of the process and provide information on how to stay up to date.

Updated Jan. 20, 2022

The City Council accepted a proposed schedule at its Jan. 18 meeting for the Coronado Cays Park Master Plan project, which is getting a restart. The City Council agreed in December to restart the master planning effort to include development of three draft master plan alternatives and a transparent, comprehensive community outreach.

Currently, the Master Plan consultant is reviewing Coronado's park usage history and developing best practices for the Council's consideration, likely at a City Council meeting in March. After receiving Council direction and using all of the feedback received since 2019, the consultant will develop three draft Master Plan alternatives. Those plans will be the subject of extensive community outreach to gather input.

The City will conduct two public workshops and an online survey available to all of Coronado. Based upon this feedback, a final Draft Master Plan will be developed and presented to the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association, the Parks and Recreation Commission and, finally, the City Council for approval in December.

Outreach

The restart of the project includes a robust public outreach campaign -- Restart, Review, Engage and Approve – which aligns with the Council-approved schedule to promote public awareness of the project. This will be accomplished using a combination of strategies and platforms, including press releases, social media posts, banners, news ads as well as print and video materials tied to upcoming public meetings and key project dates and deadlines.

The City will provide regular updates to the dedicated Cays Park Master Plan project page here on CommentCoronado.org and to a new dedicated section in the Weekly Update. Direct mailers to Cays community members and other regular project updates will be sent out to notify the entire Coronado community of the process and provide information on how to stay up to date.

Stay tuned for public engagement events coming soon and sign up for updates at upper right.

Background

Coronado Cays Park, the largest City-owned park and home to the most highly used joint-use sports fields, is showing signs of stress and wear due to increased use and insufficient irrigation coverage. To address these issues and due to the age of the Park, the City has embarked on a recapitalization project that will:

• re-grade the park,
• replace the sod and irrigation system,
• renovate/replace the public restrooms, and
• upgrade the playground to enhance its accessible features.

In planning for these needed improvements, the City is seeking public input for ideas and desires to enhance the Park’s design, layout and features to serve future generations of Coronado residents for the next 50 to 75 years.

Why Conduct A Master Plan?

A master plan presents a long-range vision that can be implemented over time. The associated public outreach will provide the City with a better understanding of the public’s desires, and a document that can be referred to over time to help ensure the long-range vision is implemented. Completing a master plan before the park is re-graded and the sod and irrigation system are replaced helps ensure that any park improvements could be implemented in the most efficient way possible.