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    PHOTO BY DALTON SWEAT/WIMBERLEY VIEW Abby Adams (left) and Rowan Zavaleta (right) were given Certificates of Commendation from the city of Woodcreek for helping restart the process of parks planning and being Youth Advisors on the board. Woodcreek Mayor B

Woodcreek plans for future parks

The newly approved Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the city of Woodcreek includes short, medium and long-term goals from items as small as benches and drinking fountains all the way up to ideas for additional parkland and expanded trail systems.

“The Parks Master Plan has been the result of a 16-month process, lots of citizens involved and it is in response to the city’s survey,” Councilmember Ray Don Tilley, who was a council representative during the parks planning process, said. “The parks board is the most diverse board we have as far as ages and genders in the city and the plan has unanimous council approval. I think the best thing about the parks plan is just how much commitment there is across the community to it.”

The impetuous for the plan came from two young residents. Abby Adams and Rowan Zavaleta were young teenagers when they began telling the city that new facilities were needed for the youth of Woodcreek.

“Sixteen months ago the past board had gone dormant,” Tilley said. “Then, teenagers Abby Adams and Rowan Zavaleta posted a survey on Nextdoor about adding swings to Augusta Park. City Manager Brenton Lewis brought that to Mayor Bill Scheel’s attention, and he asked me to revamp the board with new volunteers. I made sure it was a diverse board to cover all of Woodcreek’s ages and interests. Abby and Rowan were even added as “youth advisors.”

Both received a Certificate of Commendation from the city for their engagement in the parks planning process.

The plan is broken down into three sections: opportunities for improvement within three years, from three to five years and from five to 10 years.

The first project suggested is additions at Triangle Park at the intersection of Woodcreek Drive and Brookhollow Drive. The plan recommends additional benches, a drinking fountain and graphic elements that represent the city of Woodcreek. Currently, the park area is being rehabilitated after suffering damage during the construction of Brookhollow Drive.

At Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, which is located at the entrance to Woodcreek along Ranch Road 12, much of the plan has already been accomplished. Local resident Jane Little reconfigured the landscaping to make it cleaner and easier to maintain.

Augusta Park is the city’s most traditional park. The plan recommends additional “nature play or a similarly suitable small playscape adjacent to the bocce ball court to provide a broader opportunity for use of the park.” A nature trail and signage is also on the agenda.

For the three to five year plan, the board identified an opportunity at Hog Creek along Brookhollow.

“The Brookhollow site on Hog Creek could provide educational opportunities for people of all ages through interpretive signage,” the plan said. “Since Hog Creek is a tributary to Cypress Creek, special attention will be given to protection of the Cypress Creek Watershed.”

The long term ideas, from the five to 10 year portion of the plan, are more ambitious, but also more difficult to achieve. Park of the plan would be to add a walking trail down Ranch Road 12. This would act as an extension of the Blue Hole Regional Park’s trail that current ends at the intersection of Ranch Road 12 and Winters Mill Parkway. Also, the board is hopeful to find locations for additional pocket parks throughout the city.

“Pocket parks are just a practical reality,” Tilley said. “The city is built out enough that the only thing available is pocket parks. There is no single large space available, but it is also a principal of community planning that pocket parks make it possible for people to walk to the park as opposed to having to provide parking. It is more convenient and more useful.”

No specific locations are identified for pocket parks as the city would have to obtain space as it becomes available. But, there are areas of the city, which are farther away from the current park facilities, where the city would hope to find available space for more pocket parks in the future.

As with any new city plan, there is always a question of where the funding will come from.

“Woodcreek now can seek a variety of grants for parks and trail development that require a master plan for consideration,” Tilley said. “Citizens now know, too, that any funds budgeted in the future will adhere to the plan. It’s important to note that the plan not only cost no money as an all-volunteer process, but it commits no money. Only Council can do that, in response to publicly presented proposals.”

To see the full Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the city of Woodcreek, visit the city’s website at www.woodcreektx.gov or stop by City Hall.

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054