Parks, Recreation, and Open Space

The purpose of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Element is to set goals, policies and actions related to the acquisition, management, and maintenance of parks and open space, and planning of recreational facilities and programs.

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Chapter Highlights

Parkland. The City of Palmdale operates 19 parks, totaling 370 acres, which provide a variety of features for residents and visitors. Palmdale parks include active and passive leisure amenities like grassy areas, playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis courts, skateparks, walking paths, softball fields, sand volleyball courts, picnic tables, community rooms, pools, and public restrooms, among others.

Parks Service Ratio. The City of Palmdale has a parkland-to-population goal of 5.0 acres per 1,000 residents. The City’s 2020 population of 169,450 and existing parkland of 351 acres result in approximately 45% of the current target for public parks. While Palmdale’s overall parks acreage is below the target, walk access is relatively high.

Future Park Priority Areas. Improving parks and open space access is critically important to the Palmdale community and decision-makers. This chapter aims to increase park access and service across the city by strategically identifying future park priority areas in underserved neighborhoods.

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Goals and Policies

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Children painting outdoors on an easel.

Parks and Recreation

PR-1.1 Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Prepare a Parks and Recreation Master Plan to address park conditions and needs, recreation programming, facilities, and funding opportunities. As a part of a Parks Master Plan, evaluate adopted park standards, including designations for type of parks and guidelines for the facilities to be developed in future parks.

PR-1.2 Park location. Ensure that park sites are located equitably, throughout the city, to maximize access to parks for residents within a 20-minute walking distance.

PR-1.3 Parks accessibility. Provide a variety of parks and recreational facilities accessible to all residents throughout the city, including community and neighborhood parks, to meet the needs of youth, adults, and senior citizens.

PR-1.4 Future parks priority areas. As feasible, work with the private development community to facilitate creation of parks in the future parks priority areas as indicated in Figure 10.3.

PR-1.5 Prioritize underserved areas. Prioritize development of new parks and recreation facilities in underserved areas of the city, encouraging access to free or low-cost recreation for all Palmdale residents.

PR-1.6 Expand park amenities. Encourage expansion of amenities at existing public parks.

PR-1.7 ADA Design. Incorporate all design features, required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which improve access to parks and park facilities for citizens with different abilities and needs.

PR-1.8 School and park synergy. Co-locate schools and parks and partner with non-profit organizations to provide recreational opportunities that benefit both students and the public.

PR-1.9 Parkland incentives. Work with the private development community to incentivize creation of publicly accessible parkland either on-or-off-site.

PR-2.1 Bikeway network. Encourage bicycle use by developing a comprehensive bikeway network for the city that meets access needs of all bicyclists.

PR-2.2 Bicycle safety. Increase the level of public safety for all bicyclists.

PR-2.3 Transportation modes to parks, schools, and recreation. Promote biking, walking, or taking public transit to public parks and recreation facilities.

PR-2.4 Sidewalks. Ensure connecting sidewalks are well maintained throughout the city.

PR-3.1 Recreation education. Collaborate with community partners to expand healthy, and educational recreation programs and services for youth and families.

PR-3.2 Culturally sensitive programming. Provide culturally sensitive programming at various recreation facilities to serve the city’s diverse population.

PR-3.3 Shared school amenities. Work with local school districts to make campus recreation amenities (such as open grassy areas, basketball courts, baseball fields, gymnasiums, among others) available to surrounding neighborhoods and local sports leagues or organizations during off-school hours.

PR-3.4 Arts and culture programming. Work with local schools, non-profits, local organizations, and artists to increase arts and culture programming (such as such as performing arts and theater, visual arts, youth, and senior programs) throughout Palmdale.

Playground at Marie Kerr park in Palmdale.

Parkland

PR-4.1 Incorporate parkland. Wherever feasible, incorporate uses that increase the public benefit of park land, and are compatible with the goal of providing active recreation opportunities.

PR-4.2 Non-traditional parks. Consider non-traditional types of parks to extend the range of recreational opportunities available within the city, including linear parks, neighborhood parks, and remodeling vacant buildings for indoor activities, among others.

PR-4.3 Public input. Seek public input on locations for and amenities in new neighborhood and community parks.

PR-4.4 Recreation, cultural and artistic opportunities. Continue to work with public and private entities to provide opportunities for recreational, cultural, and artistic activities within the community.

PR-4.5 Park site considerations. Account for physical, land use, and cost considerations when evaluating future park sites for acquisition or dedication.

PR-4.6 Dual purpose recreation. Explore options to provide public recreation access (i.e., walking or picnicking) to utility and or drainage basin areas as safety permits.

PR-5.1 Park maintenance and improvements funding. Provide sufficient funding for maintenance and improvements for all parks.

PR-5.2 Park fees. Collect park fees and review this fee annually, to provide financing for improvement of parkland.

PR-5.3 Parks financing. Consider formation of a citywide public financing district to provide funding for design, acquisition, construction, and maintenance of parks throughout Palmdale.

PR-5.4 Parks planning. Continue to use the City’s Capital Improvement Program as the mechanism for short-term planning for acquisition of park land and construction of park and upgrades to existing facilities.

PR-5.5 Grant funding opportunities. Identify and pursue Quimby grant funding and other opportunities to finance future park development to meet parkland goals.

View of landscape from top of a hill in Palmdale.

Open Space Network

PR-6.1 Open Space network. Develop an open space network through preservation of corridors along fault zones, natural drainage courses and in hillside areas to connect with the large areas of open space designated on the General Plan Land Use Map.

PR-6.2 Acquire natural open spaces. Work with private property owners, conservation agencies, and the County of Los Angeles to expand and acquire natural open spaces and hillsides on the periphery of the city.

PR-6.3 Passive recreation use. Encourage the use of open space areas for passive recreation with access points, multi-use trails, and interpretive information.

PR-6.4 Incentivize open space. Work with the private development community to incentivize new publicly accessible open space through land dedications, land swaps, or other means.

Trail in Palmdale.

Trails Network

PR-7.1 Multi-use trails. Provide and maintain multi-use trails, for use by pedestrians, bicyclists, and equestrians, connecting to existing or currently planned multi-use trails.

PR-7.2 Multi-use trail connections. Prioritize multi-use trail connections to existing neighborhoods, public parks, and public facilities based on the modal priority network in the Mobility Element.

PR-7.3 Promote new multi-use trails. When feasible, consider adding multi-use paths near or within areas used for water retention, like the aqueduct, or below transmission lines, to increase local walking and biking routes.

PR-7.4 Trail accessibility. To the extent feasible, ensure that trails are accessible to all residents and incorporate ADA design features.

PR-7.5 Trail amenities and facilities. Provide trail support facilities, such as benches, trash cans and trail heads/staging areas, as needed throughout the multi-use trails network.

PR-7.6 Trails acquisition. Explore various means of acquiring trail easements or rights-of-way and pursue all available funding sources to provide trail acquisition and construction.

PR-7.7 Trail financing. To the extent feasible, use grant funding and private donations to finance trail construction.

PR-7.8 Trails network adoption. Incorporate the citywide multi-purpose trail network adopted under the General Plan into the regional trail system.

View of Palmdale from top of a hill at sunrise.

Open Space Preservation

PR-8.1 Greenbelt program. Establish a greenbelt program to create a network of open spaces on the city’s periphery.

PR-8.2 Varied open space features. Utilize a variety of features, including city entry points, landscaped arterial roadways, bikeways, equestrian paths, hiking trails, and park sites, to create an open space network.

PR-8.3 Open space linkages. Create a network of open space by creating linkages wherever possible, especially to and from residential neighborhoods.

PR-8.4 Open Space preservation through Hillside Management Ordinance. Implement the standards adopted under the City’s Hillside Management Ordinance for new development including clustering and density transfer of housing units, in order to maintain areas of scenic and other open space within hillside areas.

PR-8.5 Location and retain open spaces. Utilize the City’s discretionary land use approval process to locate and retain areas for use as open space through dedication or other legal means. Develop criteria and guidelines to identify areas that should be protected.

PR-8.6 Integrate natural hazards to open spaces. Integrate natural hazard areas, such as floodways, seismic fault zones, and unstable soils, among others into the open space network to ensure public health, safety and welfare while preserving open space.

PR-8.7 Open Space funding. Identify and utilize all available funding sources for acquisition and maintenance of open space areas for public benefit.

PR-8.8 Work to preserve Open Space. Cooperate with private and public entities whose goals are to preserve natural and constructed open space.

PR-8.9 Land Trust criteria. Develop criteria and guidelines to identify how to establish land trust open space locations.

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My Neighborhood Map

Existing Parks, Recreation, Arts and Culture, and Trails
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Current Park Access
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Future Parks Priority Areas
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Future Residential Neighborhoods Compared to Park Priority Areas
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Desired Targets and Outcomes

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Air Quality

OUTCOME: Improved air quality for all residents.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Improved air quality with increased landscaping and trees.

TARGET:

  • Expanded tree canopy, especially in disadvantaged communities.

 

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Reduced exposure to toxic air pollution from industrial facilities.

TARGET:

  • Increase in the percentage of housing units, especially in disadvantaged communities, with air pollution reduction features and other measures that eliminate pollutants.
  • Reduce smoking in public outdoor places in accordance with Ordinance No. 1580 and/or Ordinance No. 1571.
Health & Quality of Life

OUTCOME: Improved health and quality of life, and lower rates of chronic diseases, among all residents.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Greater opportunities for physical activity.

TARGET:

  • Increase in the proportion of residents living within a 20-minute walking distance from a dedicated public park, school, or multi-use trail.

 

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Improved access to healthy food.

TARGET:

  • Increase in the proportion of residents living within a 20-minute walking distance of a grocery store, farmers market, community garden, or other healthy food retailer.
Housing

OUTCOME: Diverse housing options including mixed-use and affordable options, for existing and future residents.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Diversified housing stock in Palmdale.

TARGET:

  • Substantial increase in new multifamily housing units by 2045, 20% of which are affordable to families earning less than 80% of the area median income.
Equitable Economy

OUTCOME: An equitable local economy that provides career pathways and economic opportunities for existing residents, especially local youth.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR:

  • Expanded economic opportunities for existing residents.

TARGET:

  • Increase in the number of youths who participate in job training programs and are connected to employment opportunities in local industries.
Vision Themes and Guiding Principles

Described below are values and direction for Palmdale 2045, set forth by the Palmdale community that chart a course for the future of the City. Vision themes paint a picture of what Palmdale will look like in the future, serving as a foundation for policies and implementation actions. While guiding principles provide further details on a vision theme and serve as a framework for future decision making. Together, the vision themes and guiding principles establish the basis for each element of Palmdale 2045, reflecting the unique needs and priorities for Palmdale residents. Through an extensive community engagement process, the vision themes and guiding principles were vetted by the community; initially prepared with input from the Palmdale General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), community members, and later confirmed by the Planning Commission and City Council.