Belgrade Regional Parks, Trails, and Recreation District Master Plan 2025

This chapter introduces the 242-square-mile District, its recent creation by voter referendum in 2023, and the need for a comprehensive parks, trails, and recreation master plan to guide future growth. It highlights the District’s vision: ensuring all residents have access to open spaces, trails, and diverse recreational opportunities. Key community engagement findings include high interest in a large community park, an Aquatic and Recreation Center, safe and connected pathways, and family-friendly programming.

Benchmarks comparing current facilities to National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) standards reveal strong performance in playgrounds and courts but gaps in rectangular fields, walking loops, and indoor facilities. Recommendations emphasize proactive land acquisition, facility expansion, donor programs, and future programming development to meet the District’s growth trajectory.

The plan’s purpose is to capture community priorities, document existing recreation assets, and establish a long-term decision-making framework for the District. The approach emphasizes aspirational planning while staying adaptable to future needs. Engagement included surveys, interactive mapping, focus groups, open houses, and a project website.

Key community themes emerged:

• Places: desire for new parks, dog parks, and a regional recreation center.

• Connections: safe and accessible pathways linking destinations.

• Programs: inclusive, year-round events and activities.

• Administration: need for policy, maintenance, and management improvements.

This chapter outlines the District’s purpose, governance, and funding. Covering the Belgrade School District #44 boundary, the District includes urban, rural, and natural spaces. Governed by a seven-member board with City and County oversight, the District currently generates approximately $1.5 million annually through a special property assessment.

The plan envisions the District as the lead agency for developing parks, maintaining facilities, and facilitating partnerships. Initial efforts focus on establishing operational structure and identifying early capital priorities.

A comprehensive inventory identifies 70 park areas totaling 603.2 acres, with a mix of HOA-managed and City-owned spaces. Parks are predominantly neighborhood- or pocket-scale, leaving gaps in community and regional parks.

Highlights include:

• Park Classifications & Equity: Analysis shows most developed parks are concentrated in central Belgrade, with peripheral areas underserved.

• Benchmark Comparison: Deficiencies exist in rectangular fields, walking loops, and indoor facilities.

• Capital Projects & Recommendations: Land acquisition for future regional parks, playground replacement programs, improved field/court striping, and signage/wayfinding initiatives are prioritized.

• Trends: Growing demand for aquatics, pickleball, dog parks, and senior programming is anticipated.

This section defines the District’s capital improvement planning (CIP) process, including project identification, prioritization, cost staging, and annual review. A weighted prioritization matrix evaluates projects based on safety, community need, connectivity, funding opportunities, and equity.

The plan proposes a multi-stage capital improvement roadmap with funding strategies that blend property assessments, bonds, grants, partnerships, and potential “pay-go” financing for smaller projects.

The District currently offers no in-house programming but plans to introduce core programs aligned with community desires—family-friendly, health-focused, and multi-generational. Future offerings will likely include:

• Seasonal events and festivals

• Youth and senior activities

• Fitness, aquatics, and environmental programs

Partnerships with HOAs, schools, local sports clubs, and regional organizations (e.g., Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks) are emphasized to expand capacity and leverage resources. Facility rental guidelines, external event use, and potential revenue-generating collaborations are also detailed.

This chapter formalizes the District’s organizational framework, including staff role definitions, Board responsibilities, and engagement strategies. As the District grows, recommended staff additions include a Recreation Program Manager, Facilities Manager, Grounds Maintenance Manager, and specialists in aquatics, trails, and natural resources.

Community engagement remains a core administrative function, with transparency and regular master plan updates suggested every 5–10 years.

The action plan translates the vision into phased priorities and projects, with a focus on:

1. Land acquisition for future regional and neighborhood parks

2. Development of a District maintenance facility

3. Aquatic and Recreation Center planning

4. Pathway and trail connectivity initiatives

5. Partnerships for expanded programming and funding

The Capital Project List provides a clear roadmap of short-, mid-, and long-term projects, many of which align with community input from surveys and open houses.

The appendix includes supporting maps, survey summaries, and technical tables referenced throughout the plan.