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PARK AND OPEN SPACE PLANNING PROCESS

The Waukesha County Park and Open Space Plan is intended to refine and detail the regional level planning and
integrate County strategic goals, planning objectives and standards. Therefore, an understanding of past park
and open space planning efforts is essential to the preparation of an updated park and open space plan.
Accordingly, this section provides a brief description of the previous park and open space plans and various
supporting functional plan elements that have been prepared to date as they pertain to Waukesha County.

Inventory of Park and Outdoor Recreation Facilities (1960)
The Inventory of Park and Outdoor Recreation Facilities report prepared by Waukesha County Park and Planning
Commission identified existing park and recreation facilities in Waukesha County. The report called for
conservation of Waukesha County’s natural resources and to provide for recreation facilities development. The
report proposed a program of large regional county parks, lineal parkways and the conservation of wetlands.

A Park and Parkway Plan for Waukesha County (1973)
The Park and Parkway Plan for Waukesha County, prepared by the Waukesha County Park and Planning
Commission, qualified the County for State and Federal parkland acquisition and development grants. The plan
recommended the following:

• Preserve the County’s natural resource base
• Establish regional County Parks distributed evenly throughout the County
• Develop parkways along the major rivers
• Establish land acquisition criteria
• Establish park classification standards
• Cooperation and coordination with other park agencies
• Promote family oriented natural resource based recreation

A Regional Park and Open Space Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin: 2000 (1977)
The regional park and open space plan, described in SEWRPC Planning Report No. 27, identifies:

• Existing and probable future park and open space needs in the Region
• The need for a system of large regional resource-oriented parks
• Recreational corridors
• Recreational facilities
• Smaller urban parks

The portion of the regional plan that applies to Waukesha County was revised and updated in 1989 and is
documented in SEWRPC Community Assistance Planning Report No. 137, A Park and Open Space Plan for
Waukesha County. The plan was adopted by both the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors and the Regional
Planning Commission in 1990. Subsequent amendments to the Park and Open Space Plan were incorporated
into Community Assistance Planning Report No. 209, A Development Plan for Waukesha County Wisconsin in
1996 and amended in 1998 and 2004.

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