Politics & Government
3 New Community Parks Under Review
A city commission will review conceptual plans for parks that would be constructed near a future civic center in Lake Forest.
Conceptual plans for three new public parks to be built in the same tract as the city’s future civic center are up for review before a city commission Tuesday night.
The Serrano Summit parks, as the trio is known, are composed of two community parks and a passive park, adjacent to the Serrano Creek regional trail.
The parks, while proposed to be constructed by the developer, would be dedicated to the city.
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The land where the city plans to build its civic center, as well as the parks under discussion, consists of 82 acres at the end of Biscayne Bay Drive and Indian Ocean Drive, currently owned by the Irvine Ranch Water District.
In addition to the planned civic center and parks, the project proposal includes 608 residential units and a private recreation center.
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Two of the parks would be neighborhood parks, each half an acre.
The third, a “passive” park, is intended to be a green area for strolling and the like, rather than for team sports. Under the development agreement, the passive park has to be at least 2.95 acres, adjacent to the existing Serrano Creek trail. The developer has proposed a 3.2-acre park.
Both neighborhood parks would have have a sport court, tot area, barbecue area with shade structure, tree groves, open turf, and associated walkways and park amenities such as tables, benches, water fountains and trash cans, under the requirements of the development agreement.
One park would have half-court basketball, the other an enclosed full sport court. Both would be near residential areas.
The Parks and Recreation Commission is expected to comment Tuesday on the design and location of the park amenities and how the parks relate to their surroundings, according to city staffers. Eventually, the plans will come before the Planning Commission and the City Council, which gets the final say-so on the plans.
The meeting Tuesday begins at 7 p.m. at .
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