Park Acquisition & Development

Resources

These are some of the planning documents the Department uses to forecast the land acquisition and park facility development needs for Caroline County:

Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan 2017 (LPPRP)

This is the land use planning document developed in collaboration with Caroline County Planning and Codes and the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board. The plan is amended into the County’s Land Use Plan and is used to forecast the public demand for public recreation facilities. This forecast is based on perceived demand and the use patterns for specific facilities and the projected population growth in the next 10 to 20 years.

The accomplishment of this plan is also a condition for receiving state funding through Maryland Program Open Space.

The 2022 LPPRP has been drafted. To review and provide comments on this document click here.

Program Open Space is an important funding resource for land acquisition for future parks and for the development of park amenities.

Caroline County also submits an Annual Program Plan to the Department of Natural Resources in July. This plan can be amended at any time and provides a list of land acquisition and park development priorities the county will pursue if grant funding is available.

Caroline County Capital Budget Plan for Recreation & Parks

Presented annually to the budget committee of the Caroline County Commissioners, this is a fiscal planning document for the capital infrastructure needs of the county park system. If a park requires expansion or re-development within the next 5-6 years, the Director and the Parks Coordinator work to forecast those costs and balance them with other projects.

The conditions that improve the relative priority of a capital development project are as follows:

Public safety concerns
Improvements to maintenance operations – increased quality and efficiency
Partnership opportunities with user groups and municipalities
Leveraging capital grant funding with local funds (increasing the “bang for the buck” )
Increased opportunity for public use of existing facilities; increasing the quantity of high demand facilities.
Long-term maintenance and operation of new facilities in addition to its initial capital construction costs.

Notice that the capital budget plan and the Program Open Space Annual Program do not always agree. The budget plan is used to appropriate the local funds for parks development and/or land acquisition within a given fiscal year. This is part of the budget plan for the current fiscal year and is “what we can afford.”

The Program Open Space Annual Program is what “we want”. The LPPRP is our “vision for the future”.

Park Master Plans

Not all facilities within Caroline County have a master plan in existence. Master plans are a visual forecast of what a park will look like when it is completed. These are not construction documents, and sometimes what “we want” and what “we can afford” take longer periods of time to come together.

Some of the park master plans that have been reviewed and adopted are listed below. If you have questions about a particular park plan that is not reflected below, contact the department office during regular business hours or email the Department Director regarding your concern.

South County Regional Athletic Field Complex Master Plan
Ganey’s Wharf Boat Ramp Master Plan
Ober Community Park Playground Renovation Master Plan
Jonestown Community Park Master Plan
Marydel Community Park Master Plan
North County Regional Park Master Plan