Park Visioning Application: Unincorporated DeKalb County

Every other year, Park Pride guides up to two communities in unincorporated DeKalb County through a public engagement process that converts that community’s ideas and dreams for their park into a conceptual vision plan that can be used to guide development of the park over a longer period. 

Park Pride is not accepting applications for park visioning at this time. Applications will open in Summer 2024 for DeKalb County.

Up to two groups will be selected to receive, at no charge, the services of Park Pride’s visioning department, headed by a professional landscape architect, for a six to eight-month community engagement and design process to create a conceptual park vision plan.    

Application:

Please review all of the below information fully and carefully before beginning your application. We recommend you prepare your application in a separate document editor, and copy and paste your responses into the form below when you’re ready to submit.

What is park visioning?

Park Pride assists communities within the City of Atlanta & Unincorporated DeKalb County to develop vision plans for their neighborhood parks. Professional park designers will facilitate a public participation process with neighborhood groups that builds consensus around a conceptual, but realistic vision plan that may be phased over several years following adoption.At the end, the community will have a professionally-produced long-term plan and report that will provide a fundraising and advocacy tool for the community. 

How does Park Visioning Work?

 

Our process hinges on a robust, inclusive public engagement strategy, which is tailored to each park and each community. A steering committee of committed residents and stakeholders will serve as representatives of the community and will work closely with the visioning team throughout the process. At monthly steering committee meetings, the group will help to develop and implement a public engagement strategy as well as participate in design discussions and decisions. Committee members should represent a broad and diverse spectrum of community interests and act as liaisons to and representatives of the larger community.  

Applicants for park visioning and members of the steering committee must not be tied to pre-determined outcomes and must be open to results based on feedback from the community. Park Pride’s landscape architects and the steering committee analyze community input and balance it with site conditions, accepted industry best practices, municipal standards, and the DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Comprehensive Master Plan to develop a conceptual vision plan. The final plan and report will include a summary of process; including public engagement strategies, documentation of how decisions were made, rendered vision plan, and a prioritized project list and budget. 

Limitations of a vision plan

It is important to note that a vision plan is not a mandate, does not carry weight of law (unless officially adopted by the DeKalb Board of Commissioners), and does not guarantee funding from either DeKalb County or Park Pride for the projects detailed therein. However, many groups who complete a vision plan successfully use the document for fundraising, grant applications, and advocacy.

Steering Committee

Park Pride relies on the applicant to assemble a diverse and committed steering committee to represent the community. It is important that the steering committee represent differing interests and perspectives. No one can be purposely excluded from serving on the steering committee, nor should any one group be over-represented. Steering committee membership should reflect the demographics of the neighborhood (race, gender, and socio-economic status) and should not exceed 15 members. Steering committee members will be asked to sign a Memorandum of Understanding before visioning starts. 

At a minimum, Park Pride strongly recommends that all steering committees include at least one long term resident (15 years or longer), one newer resident, one parent with young children, one senior citizen, and one park-adjacent resident. One person may fulfill multiple of these required roles (for example, a senior citizen who also lives directly adjacent to the park). 

Depending on your park, the applicant should also consider and include different park user groups or interested parties – especially anyone in your community who feels strongly about the park. Past steering committees have included: recreation enthusiasts, dog owners, elected officials, clergy, teenagers, allied non-profit staff, DeKalb County staff, lawyers, schoolteachers and principals, sports league representatives, historians, preservationists, professional engineers & architects, builders, college students, artists, professional grant writers, differently abled people, police officers, cyclists, Scouts, neighborhood association members, naturalists, and business owners. Think carefully and compose the proposed steering committee with intention to achieve the broadest representation possible.  

In the application, the applicant must provide a minimum of four proposed steering committee members representing diverse points of view to be considered. The proposed members will be reviewed during the interview. If selected for visioning, Park Pride may ask the applicant at any time to expand outreach and/or reorganize the steering committee if it does not achieve the goals of broad representation as stated above.

What are the eligibility requirements?

  • The park or potential park must be managed by the DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs. 
  • The applicant must have registered with Park Pride as a Friends of Park group.  
  • The steering committee must be ready to commit to six to eight months of planning work.  
  • The park or potential park must be publicly accessible in perpetuity.  
  • The applicant and steering committee must be open to an inclusive, consensus-driven public engagement process during which all ideas will be considered. 

Selection Criteria

To be selected for park visioning, groups must meet the eligibility requirements listed above. Friends of the Park groups that are in a visioning process will not be eligible for a Park Pride grant while visioning is underway. Proposals will also be evaluated on the following: 

  • Does the park have an existing master plan? If so, how old is it? 
  • Are there ongoing or pending initiatives that might influence the timing of a Park Visioning? 
  • What are the challenges and opportunities presented by the project? 
  • What neighborhood dynamics are at play that may help or hinder the visioning process? 

Selection Process

Applications are first reviewed by Park Pride and DeKalb Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs (RPCA) staff, including the Park Pride’s Visioning Team, Executive Director, Associate Director, Director of Grants, Director of Community Services, and a representative from RPCA.

Once all applications have been reviewed, Park Pride will schedule interviews with each applicant. Interviews will consist of a site visit to the park, and will include discussions of: 

  • Park challenges and opportunities 
  • Previous neighborhood and park planning efforts  
  • Community initiatives in the park or proposed park 
  • Proposed steering committee members 
  • Neighborhood dynamics 
  • Overview of visioning process 

Based on the applications and interview, Park Pride will recommend up to two parks to receive visioning services. Park Pride will request additional input from DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs before finalizing selections.  

Once selections have been finalized, all applicants are notified of the decision and the first steering committee meeting is scheduled. 

APPLY

Once you have reviewed all of the information above, you may proceed to the Park Visioning Application!

Park Pride is not accepting applications for park visioning at this time.