It is recommended that the Parks and Forestry Department, in consultation with the residents of Little River Acres develop a concept plan for Council ’s approval for the redevelopment ofLittle River Acres Park. (Recommendation 47)

This recommendation was ranked in the CIP as a low priority and remains one of the few outstanding items among the recommendations for which the City is responsible.

As the first step in the implementation of this recommendation, a survey of residents in Little River Acres was conducted in 2005 to gather demographic information about current residents, their opinions about the existing park, and their thoughts on the redevelopment of the park. The survey was distributed to 150 residences in the Little River Acres community, of which 100 surveys were returned. There are 1000 single family residences and 6 apartment buildings in Little River Acres.

Survey Results

The results indicate that the community is lacking adequate facilities in the park, with emphasis on the lack of adequate play equipment for children. It is noteworthy that eighty-seven (87) percent of the 100 respondents had children in their household. Also of note is that twenty-two (22) percent of the survey respondents were between the ages of 19 and 25.

In all, the survey covered 15 questions. The responses demonstrate that residents attach considerable importance to recreation in general. The top three concerns expressed by residents were lack of parking, lighting, and play equipment, followed by a lack of access to the park, walkways, places to sit, and things to do.

The type of activities that residents participate in for recreational or leisure purposes were ranked, in addition to questions about how they presently use the park and what changes would increase their use of the park. The survey has allowed staff to take a hard look at what residents feel are key factors affecting the under-utilization of the park and the lack of facilities for outdoor programs.

Public Open House

As a follow-up to the survey, a public meeting was held in the community on January 30, 2007 (6 pm. to 8 pm.) at Riverside Baptist Church, to present three design concepts based on the survey results and to solicit cement from the community. Notice was published in Windsor Star and filers were distributed by Canada Post to all residents in Little River Acres (a total of 1105 households). In addition, a mobile sign was leased courtesy of the Little River Acres Residents Association (LRARA), for one week prior to the Public Open House, and stationed in front of Riverside Baptist Church. Two of the three concept plans presented at the meeting included new road frontage in the park and infill housing. Written comments were solicited from attendees at the Public Open House.

Existing Conditions

Little River Acres Park is a ten-acre neighborhood park, which by City standards is considered to be large in the “neighborhood park” category, as defined in the Official Plan. During the development of the subdivision in the 1970s, both school boards declined the opportunity to develop schools on the sites provided for such as part of the original concept.