09-28-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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-5- This is the most comprehensive study available and is intended to "develop facilities based on their ability to provide the variety of recreation facilities needed by the Region's population, now and in the year 2000". The result of the Facility Analysis identified the "top 20 potential sites" for future development accounting for present facility use, user characteristics, facility inventories, population characteristics, travel distances, site capabilities, general participation and preferences. Two of the top three sites identified are on Lake Minnetonka. b) Service Area Needs Analysis - Lake Minnetonka Regional Park; circa 1982 This study identified the expected facilities for a regional park on Lake Minnetonka, the characteristics of the anticipated use and the affect of other surrounding regional facilities. A park of about 250 acres: a picnic area of 20 acres, 1,000 feet of beach, 600,000 summer occasions, peak day 6,100 people; 100 car -trailer parking spaces (consistent with Cooperative Water Access Task Force standards), 20,000 boats launched/summer, 250 launched peak weekend day; 2 miles of bike/hike trails to support the other facilities, rather than an attraction, would generate 60,000 occasions per summer season, 700 on an average weekend. c) Leisure 1n the Twin Cities Area Survey; Activity Interest and Constraints; 1983 In the preceding study, most of the major facilities currently being discussed for a regional park on Lake Minnetonka are addressed with the exceptions of cross-country skiing, camping, and a historic center. From this general population survey, leisure time activities were identified along with the public's interest and the perceived barriers to participation. Of the fifty-eight activities identified, visiting historic sites and museums ranked llth with 71% of respondents interested, camping ranked 21st with 60% interested, and cross-country skiing 32nd with 38% interested. For each activity nearly 50% of those interested identified some barrier or constraint to their participating as often as they would like. "Lack of time" was identified most often as the barrier to participation. While need may be difficult to identify for a historic center in a Lake Minnetonka regional park, this indicates that it would be a desired support amenity and would add to the overall interest of the park if conveniently located with regards to other facilities in the park. A preliminary review of available information indicates that there is a strong need for a regional park on Lake Minnetonka. The indications are that the facility would be heavily used by the public "due to the regional visibility of the lake and the social attractiveness of the Lake Minnetonka area", as well as fulfilling unmet regional demand.