Plans for developing the Robinson Property in the City of Penticton are starting to take shape.

The public was invited to two open houses, on March 7 and 9, to provide feedback on the three proposed concepts for the park. Residents can view information about all three plans and provide feedback until March 24 at www.shapeyourcitypenticton.ca.

The six-acre property currently houses the Penticton Seniors’ Drop-In Centre as well as the city’s pickleball courts and horseshoe and bocce spaces. The land was granted to the city in 1982 and dedicated as a park.

“Based on input gathered through user group interviews, community workshops, the parks and recreation master plan and park planning best practices, staff have prepared three concepts to test with the community,” states the Shape Your City Penticton website. “The city is seeking feedback from the community on these concepts in order to develop a recommended concept.”

Related: The future of the South Main Drop-In Centre

The theme of concept plan one is to “maximize the park-like setting and greenspace of the site in keeping with the core meaning of a public park from the 2018 parks and recreation master plan.” Concept plan two “maximizes the recreational use supported by the site” and “aims to further the site’s reputation as a recreation hub for seniors” and concept plan three is essentially a balance of plans one and two.

Todd Whyte, parks supervisor with Penticton, said there was a good mix of opinions and viewpoints provided by the open house attendees. Roughly 100 residents attended the open houses and the city does not yet have the numbers of how many people have provided feedback so far online.

“It’s depending on what peoples’ interests are. Some people may have more preference some parking in the area, or changing the alignment for the parking,” said Whyte. “There’s also been a lot of people who have said that they like the fact that there’s more green space and more trees and natural features in the concept plans.”

Migmonne Wood, first vice president of the Penticton Senior’s Drop-In Centre Society, said she prefers concept plan two because it includes an expansion of the drop-in centre.

“We’re running out of space, and it’s not new news, people have been talking about that,” said Wood. “The meridians are I think a new idea, and we’ve talked about other things like the community garden and where it should go. People are aware of all of these things but it’s nice to see them put together into a plan. Then we can think about the plan, what’s good and what’s not so good.”

Related: Penticton beginning review of park uses

Penticton resident Lynn Kelsey said she “picked a smorgasbord of things that she liked” from all of the plans when filling out the city’s feedback survey. She applauds the city for its in-depth consultation process and said residents should “take advantage of every opportunity to provide feedback because it increases the odds of seeing stuff you like in the community.”

“I don’t like the idea of medians at all. I’d like to see mid-range of increasing some of the parking a little bit, but increasing more of the handicap parking but maybe sharing the spaces with some of the schools and churches,” said Kelsey. “The contemplative space, I’d rather seeing it as a gathering space instead of just sitting by yourself to contemplate. Maybe some more interesting walkways, what I was thinking is a destination walkway that has heritage billboards along it. They could be switched out for a first nations or festival promotion – make it a destination you’d want to go to.”

According to Whyte, the final plan that will be recommended to council by city staff may not be any of the three plans as exactly as they are now. He said the point of the open houses and the ongoing online consultations is to fine-tune the plans and, if necessary, change them to better reflect the opinions expressed by the public.

“What we’re asking people to do is not necessarily say plan one, two or three, but what do you like about these plans that you think should be included in that final plan,” said Whyte. “We’re not just going to choose number two because the majority likes it. Components of all three will end up being in that final plan.”

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