Prince William Parks forum: Residents crave more Pickleball

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — What should the future of parks and recreation amenities in Prince William County look like? Members of the community will get a chance to answer that in an upcoming forum on January 26.

The forum is just one part of a concerted effort the county has made in hearing what residents want more of in their parks. It is the last planned community forum at this time, so anyone interested is encouraged to come and share their ideas.

“We want to make sure we are making investments where our citizens want them to be,” Brent Heavner, communications chief for the county, told Potomac Local. “We encourage anyone who is interested to join us.”

There will be about 100 electronic response devices in circulation for participants in the forum. General questions will be addressed to the audience and participants can use the devices to indicate agreement or disagreement, and facilitate group discussion.

Consultants will work with participants to determine the appropriate balance of future amenities for Prince William County parks. Playgrounds, sports fields, hiking trails, cyclist trails, green space — all of these are recreational needs that could be made more of a priority if enough residents want it.

As one example, a few years ago many residents started to request more courts and areas for playing pickleball, a fast-growing sport across the country. Since then, Heavner said the County has developed more pickleball areas. It might seem niche to some, but if enough people request a recreational activity, it can gain traction.

The forum will help shape the county’s comprehensive plan, a ten-year vision for service in all aspects of county government.

“This gives us a vision of how the community wants to see their recreation assets develop over the course of the next decade and what their expectations are,” Heavner explained.

“If there are members of the community that have recreational needs that our current facilities and programs are not meeting, then we want to know that,” said Heavner. “That’s something we want to consider over the next ten years.”

Parks play a big role in resident satisfaction and the county’s attractiveness to visitors and new businesses. Open green space where a family can picnic, well-maintained biking trails, sports fields utilized by teams all over the nation, and children’s programs are just a few services the parks provide to the community.

In addition to the forum, surveys will be mailed shortly to a random, geographically representative sample of about 15,000 households in the county, followed by a data collection and summarization process.

The forum will take place on Saturday, January 26, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the James J. McCoart Administration Building. For more information, visit pwcgov.org/government/dept/park/Pages/community-needs-assessment-forum.aspx.