On Tuesday, May 28, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors adopted the Recreation and Resiliency Master Plan (Master Plan), which positions Nevada County and local, state, and federal partners to work together to advance countywide recreation and resiliency projects. Read the entire final draft of the Master Plan here.
“This is a chance for us to align and pull together resources and to incorporate our unique sense of place by acknowledging arts and culture, agriculture, health and wellness and the many benefits of recreation,” Heidi Hall, District 1 Supervisor. “I want to highlight that the County's role here is as a convener, to help find funding and be a centralized resource. I hope the community recognizes and understands that approving this plan is a huge step forward as a community-driven vision to guide us into the future.”
The Master Plan is a summary of ideas and information provided by community and agency stakeholders, residents, and visitors along with recommendations that may enhance recreation access, support health and safety, preserve natural resources, and increase economic vitality.
The Master Plan identifies eight focus areas, or initiatives, to address and improve recreation throughout Nevada County. The focus areas include:
- Community & Regional Park System
- Recreation Outposts
- Towns to Towns Trail System
- Recreation & Resiliency Hub Network
- River Access Management
- Destination Donner Summit
- Sustainable Recreation & Communications
- One Centralized Hub for Recreation Resources & Programming
“What I love about this master plan is it really looks at recreation in a holistic way,” explained Sue Hoek, District 4 Supervisor. “It focuses on the people that live here and what people need, with extensive community engagement and input received. You can see that people want community parks and to strengthen connection and access. It also addresses visitors and links to economic opportunities and what draws visitors to our county. They can come here and go to the river, shop or dine or stay in our downtown areas, and attend performances or events at night. It all works together in a complementary way.”
Background
The County’s role in recreation has traditionally been to support independent Recreation and Park Districts formed by local constituents and independent recreation providers through the AB1600 program, to pass-through State Per Capita grant funds to qualifying projects and to apply for other grants. These independent districts, along with the cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City, assume responsibility for providing park and recreation facilities and services within their boundaries. The County does not own and operate park and recreation facilities outside of the Grass Valley Veteran’s Hall and Tobiassen Park. Past recreation planning efforts have been completed through the General Plan process and updates, individual park district plans, the Western Nevada County Non-Motorized Trails Master Plan, the Park and Recreation Facilities Fee Nexus Study, the Nevada County Active Transportation Plan, the South Yuba River Comprehensive Management Plan, and various other documents.
On February 8, 2022, the Board of Supervisors adopted recreation as a board objective and the development of the Master Plan was identified as a priority initiative. Thereafter, the Board of Supervisors approved up to $450,000 for developing the Master Plan through a combination of $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding and $200,000 from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Vibrant Recreation & Tourism grant program. Consulting services were approved on September 27, 2022, with Design Workshop, Inc. for a contract term through June 30, 2024. Subcontractors for the project have included Dudek, Sierra Business Council, Quantified Ventures, and Steve Randall.
In late 2022, the County of Nevada began developing its first comprehensive master plan for recreation, in support of Goal 5.1 in the Nevada County 1995 General Plan. Unique to this effort has been the incorporation of strategies that leverage parks and recreation resources to reduce the risk and impacts of wildfire, support response activities, and address impacts of visitation and a changing climate on the landscape.
For more information, visit www.nevadacountyca.gov/Recreation.