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Local Parks Master Planning FAQs

Common Questions about the Local 5-Year Parks and Recreation Master Planning Process

Please refer to the “IDNR Planning Guidelines for Five Year Parks and Recreation Master Plans”.

Planning Help, Deadlines, and Reviews

  • Is my city/township/county required to submit my parks and recreation master plan to DNR for approval?

    It is only required if you want to be eligible to apply for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant program administered by the IDNR Division of State Parks, Community Grants and Trails. If you do not wish to apply for this grant, then you are not required to submit a plan to us, even though we highly recommend it. The Indiana Trails Program does not require a master plan on file with IDNR to be eligible, but it is also highly recommended.

    Any local entities that would like to submit a park and recreation master plan to IDNR simply for IDNR review, future LWCF grant potential, guidance, or suggestions is welcome to do so; there is no requirement to apply for grants. A copy of all approved master plans will be retained by the IDNR and will maintain grant eligibility for 5 years.

  • My city/township/county has never created a plan before, where can I get help?

    We’re more than happy to see plans from consultants, in-house plans, or combinations of the two. We have received excellent-quality plans from local entities using all three methods. We recommend comparing notes with local planners, regional planning agencies, as well as other park and recreation agencies that have created successful plans. IDNR can provide many kinds of information and reference materials that may be of assistance with your planning process. IDNR offers the Park Planning webpage, with lots of free, downloadable documents, guidelines, and even plan templates. You can find the page at https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/recreation/planning/park-planning-information-and-guidelines/. Please also feel free to call, email or mail us your questions.

  • What are the November 15 and April 15h deadlines about anyway?

    These deadlines are only for eligibility to apply for Land and Water Conservation Fund grant programs through our division. If your plan is new, expired, or expiring, you should turn in your preliminary draft by November 15 and your final draft by April 15 (of the year in which you want to apply for LWCF grants). Your local park board also must comply with current Indiana Code (local government park board creation ordinance newer than 1981) to be eligible for LWCF. As stated above, if your community has no interest in LWCF eligibility, IDNR accepts and reviews all stages of park plan year-round.

  • I’m almost ready to submit my plan; what exactly should I send you?

    Ideally, you should send us an electronic copy of the entire plan plus appendices. Minimum standards for plan draft submissions are discussed in detail in the IDNR Plan First Draft Submission Guidelines, available at https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/recreation/planning/park-planning-information-and-guidelines. Emailing a low-resolution copy of the plan is recommended. Acceptable electronic plan versions include Word or PDF. At the end of your planning process, either with your final plan submission or soon after the IDNR final review of your plan, please provide copies of the ADA/ABA/Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 Accessibility Compliance sign-off sheet and the park board’s resolution adopting the plan, both in hard copy with original signatures.

  • I just sent in my master plan to DNR; how long does it take to get my review?

    The turnaround time for reviews depends a lot on the time of year, but generally we strive to get submitted master plans and drafts turned around in less than a month from the date of arrival (or a two-month maximum immediately after the November/April 15 plan submission deadlines). The plans are always reviewed in the order that they were received. Plans received at other times of year than the November/April 15 submission deadlines will usually be reviewed within a week.

  • I just received final IDNR approval for my five-year parks and recreation master plan; what kinds of grants may I apply for?

    Having an approved, current master plan and a park board that complies with State Statute (usually Indiana Code 36-10-3 or 36-10-4) makes you specifically eligible to apply for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants. IDNR offers a number of other grants agency-wide (not just in State Parks, Community Grants and Trails) that you may apply for. For more information about some of the various grant programs available, see the “Community Grants” website: https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/recreation/grants/, you may also contact the Division of State Parks, Community Grants and Trails grants section manager at 317-232-4075.

    NOTE: Not all grants are funded in any given year, so please call our grants staff at the phone number above for details of grant availability.

Planning Area

  • May I consider a set distance outside my town/city/township's boundaries as included in my planning area?

    Yes. This is fairly common. Many rural entities have a number of rural users who come from the area outside the municipal boundaries. This section is asking you to consider what your “real-life” service area is, not just where you draw your tax base from. Ask yourself this question: “Where do all my park users really come from?” If a significant portion of your user base comes from outside your local government jurisdiction, then you should consider where those people live as part of your planning area. Consider the economic impact of the rural park users attracted to local businesses by your parks as part of the return on investment your community gets from improving quality of life via your parks.

Accessibility

DISCLAIMER:
This document provides guidance to assist local park and recreation planners and interested individuals in understanding accessibility issues in park planning. The following information is provided as information and guidelines for IDNR planning standards only. This technical assistance does not constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from an attorney.

  • What should we include in the Accessibility section of our plan?

    In the IDNR Park Master Planning guidelines, under the “IDNR Accessibility Requirements for Local Plans” heading, there is a discussion of what is required. We are looking for specifics of the things mentioned in the guidelines:

    • Designated ADA coordinator for either the local government entity or for the park department in particular (required only if government entity has 50 or more employees) OR a designated staff person who can act as an information source about accessible sites, amenities, programs, and services.
    • Self-evaluation or commentary on currently accessible programs, activities, and services.
    • Self-evaluation or commentary on currently inaccessible programs, activities, and services; with suggested timeline for improvements, estimated costs, person(s) responsible, and potential funding sources.
    • Information about public notice of ADA requirements (short discussion of methods, formats, locations, etc.) Where can residents find out about accessible sites, amenities, programs, and services in your parks?
    • Information about ADA grievance procedures for the local government entity or park department.
    • ADA/ABA/Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 compliance sign-off sheet with original signatures (must be submitted as hard copy)

    Write about facilities, programs, policies, etc. that your department uses to ensure access to all. Even the best, award-winning park departments have some accessibility issues in their facilities or programs. Be honest, acknowledge the potential for improvement, and discuss when, what, and where improvements might be made. Include some ideas of where funding might come from, and where outside expertise might be useful. Include and consult with persons with disabilities during the evaluation process; their input can be critical to identifying program, activity, and/or service barriers that are unique to your park system.

  • Do I have to provide the IDNR Division of State Parks, Community Grants and Trails with an Accessibility Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan?

    No. Not for the purposes of this plan. IDNR does not require it; this is a federal requirement for local governments under Title II of the ADA and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice. We recognize the difficulties in conducting this kind of evaluation in-house without specialized and possibly expensive outside experts. There is much helpful guidance and information at: http://www.adagreatlakes.org/ada/ .

    IDNR does require a concise commentary or table illustrating some examples of currently accessible facilities, currently inaccessible facilities, and a suggested timeline for improvements, estimated costs, the person(s) responsible, and potential funding sources.

    NOTE: Title II of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act does require that state and local government entities perform an accessibility self-evaluation and create a transition plan for themselves. Please see http://www.ada.gov/ for information. This is purely for local use and is not required by IDNR for these park plans.

  • What is this ‘Universal Design’, and why is it mentioned in the guidelines?

    No, not for the purposes of this plan. IDNR does not require it; this is a federal requirement for local governments under Title II of the ADA and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice. We recognize the difficulties in conducting this kind of evaluation in-house without specialized and possibly expensive outside experts. There is much helpful guidance and information at: http://www.adagreatlakes.org/ada/ .

    IDNR does require a concise commentary or table illustrating some examples of currently accessible facilities, currently inaccessible facilities, and a suggested timeline for improvements, estimated costs, the person(s) responsible, and potential funding sources.

    NOTE: Title II of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act does require that state and local government entities perform an accessibility self-evaluation and create a transition plan for themselves. Please see http://www.ada.gov/ for information. This is purely for local use and is not required by IDNR for these park plans.

Public Participation

  • Why do you ask for more than one type of public input for my master plan?

    In the Planning Guidelines document, the ‘minimum planning effort’ asks for one method of random public input gathering (such as sending out a randomly sampled mail survey), and one method of user group input (such as conducting public meetings or focus group interviews). Each type of public input method has its own drawbacks; using more than one method cancels out some of these drawbacks. Remember, a larger sample size (number of people surveyed/interviewed), typically is a better representation of the community. NOTE: We always ask for the number of actual members of the public involved in each of the following:

    1. Attending each public meeting,
    2. Participating in a survey or questionnaire,
    3. Being interviewed,
    4. Participating in any other public input methods.

    DO NOT COUNT media members, consultants, park staff, park board members, elected officials, local government employees, or any of their families in these attendance figures.

  • No one has shown up at my public meetings; is trying this method enough to satisfy the public participation section of the plan?

    Not if it is the only method you have tried. This is consistently one of the toughest parts of anyone’s planning process. We consider each and every plan on an individual basis. We suggest that you fully document each type of public participation method, even if it wasn’t successful. We want to see a good faith effort, with multiple methods tried. If one method fails, document it in the plan, and then try something else.

    Many departments have more success using “outreach” type methods such as formal or informal focus group or user group interviews. This has the advantage of taking the interviewer to the users instead of vice versa. We would prefer to see one random form of public input gathering, such as a survey, and at least one method that tries to reach user/non-user groups. As an example, it would be acceptable to have tried a survey (and received a small return), tried to hold public meetings (and had no one show up, so long as they were well-advertised and you provide proof of that), and then completed a series of interviews with stakeholders, users, and non-users to fill in the gaps.

  • What is the "ideal" or minimum number of people that we can receive public feedback from and still meet your requirements for public participation?

    There are no stated figures in the Planning Guidelines document for the minimum number of citizens that should be heard from during the public participation process. For the consistency of plan reviews, we try to follow all previous standards set within the Planning Guidelines document. We look at each plan on a case-by-case basis, as the situation for each community is unique and requires unique examination.

    Here is an inside look at how we try to determine if a plan’s public participation section is thorough and complete:

    • Keep in mind the “Law of Large Numbers”. As the size of a population sample increases (the number of people heard from during all your public participation methods), so does the chance that it really speaks for the entire community. In other words, if a park system from a community of 100,000 only gathers feedback from 50 people, those 50 people do not represent the other 99,950 people’s needs, opinions, and ideas accurately or completely. It is always best to try to get the biggest sample that you can afford and accomplish practically.
    • How large is the community/township/county? We try to take into account the population size of the community; larger populations would generally require larger numbers of survey participants/interviewees for a representative sample.
    • The Planning Guidelines state: “You may consider using statistical equations to help you select the type and size of sample you use based on the total population of your planning area.” There are free sources of online information on this kind of statistic; two of them are: http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm and http://www.greatbrook.com/survey_statistical_confidence.htm.

    NOTE: IDNR does not make any judgment of or support any product or service associated with or sold by these or any related websites.

    • The Planning Guidelines suggest that “Your goal should be 50 to 70% of the questionnaires returned in a usable form.” and “If you get fewer than 35% of the surveys back, it will be risky to attempt to draw conclusions that apply to the entire population in the planning area. This does not, however, mean that the information is useless. Your survey can still give insight into recreation issues.”
    • Was there a great deal of variance in the responses gathered? If the responses from several methods tended to agree or seem similar, then you may be more confident that you may not have to keep trying other methods. However, if you get totally different responses from each public participation method, and within each method (for example, all your survey respondents provide totally different answers on each question), then adding another participation method is probably a good idea. Wide variation in responses indicates a larger sample is needed.
    • How many methods must be tried? Since the Guidelines specify at least two methods, that’s our bare minimum. We prefer to see more methods being used if one or more of the first methods had very small response from the public (such as a public plan review meeting that was only attended by the park board and park staff) or had huge variations in the responses. Consider using an “outreach” method of gathering public feedback (such as going out into your community and interviewing user groups or stakeholders) if your surveys or meetings had small responses.
    • Have all the various methods used been documented in the plan? We consider all methods that we see reported and documented in the plan, whether they were successful or not, so long as there was indication of good faith effort on the part of the planner. An example of a good faith effort would be to advertise a public meeting using several newspaper ads or articles, fliers posted at strategic locations in the city/county, and invitations to stakeholder groups. If no one showed up at that meeting, and the effort was documented in the plan, we give credit for a method tried in good faith. A “who, what, when, where, why, how many were there, and what did they say” approach is a good way to document each of your public participation/input methods.

Needs Analysis

For more assistance with DNR's master planning process, please contact:


Greg Beilfuss
Chief Planner
DNR-State Parks, Community Grants and Trails
402 W. Washington St. W271
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2782
Phone: 317-232-4071
E-mail: gbeilfuss@dnr.IN.gov
Get forms, downloadable documents and information on the DNR Planning Webpage .

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