Did you know the property tax that funds Lafayette’s 35 parks, 10 recreation centers, pools and three golf courses is paid only by city of Lafayette property owners and hasn’t been increased since it was established in 1961, and that some of these facilities are outside the city limits? Something’s got to give, no?
As part of PlanLafayette, LCG’s Parks & Recreation Department wants to know what the public values in its park system while it develops and refines the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan. It’s using an online survey to find out.
“Planning for future parks and recreation needs is hindered by the lack of a Parks and Recreation Master Plan, identifying park development priorities and tools to objectively determine them,” says P&R Director Gerald Boudreaux in a release announcing the survey.
The survey queries residents on 19 basic questions, among them park utilization, park improvements, and current and future funding priorities. LCG wants to know, for example, whether you see the park system primarily as a place for youth league sports or for passive recreation like a picnic, barbecue or just tossing around a Frisbee.
Lafayette, it turns out, has been doing parks on the cheap: “The Community Assessment for the comprehensive plan, completed in 2012, found that per capita park spending in Lafayette was lower than comparable communities, about $54 per person, compared to $180 per person in Baton Rouge, and $140 per person in Raleigh, NC,” notes Carlee Alm-LaBar, LCG’s chief development officer.
To take the survey, click here.