Columbia Prompts Nonprofit To Revisit Park Data

COLUMBIA, MD — People in Columbia love their parks. So when a study from The Trust for Public Land mapped the city and said that only 42 percent of residents there could walk to one in 10 minutes or less, they knew something was amiss.

The nonprofit said that there were 1,386 acres of parkland in Columbia.

However, the Columbia Association maintains approximately 3,600 acres of open space.

"My own neighborhood is listed as a 'park desert,'" said Long Reach resident Brook Hubbard, "despite having a community center and tot lot within five minutes' walk, another tot lot within 10 minutes' walk and an entire lake (with a tot lot) only 15 minutes' walk away. That's not even including our own open space, maintained by our community HOA."

In its methodology, the nonprofit said it did not include parks managed by homeowner's associations (HOA) and did not incorporate golf courses or cemeteries either.

Areas that were included in the mapping database, called ParkServe, are publicly owned by local, state and national governments; school parks with a joint-use agreement with the local government; and privately owned parks managed for full public use.

The goal was to show where parks were located and where they were needed. The nonprofit says it aims to ensure all people have access to a 10-minute walk from a park.

"Columbia is about as far from a 'park desert' as you can get, and I'm betting if your maps were accurate you'd find the vast majority live within minutes of trails and open space," Hubbard said in a letter to The Trust for Public Land that she shared with Patch and local officials.

The problem in Columbia appeared to be that many of its parks are owned by the Columbia Association, which could be considered a large homeowner's association and as such, would not be included in the data.

"...most homeowner association parks are private, and are not included in the ParkServe data unless we received confirmation that they are open to the public, as stated on our methodology," The Trust for Public Land's Director of Public Relations Keith Maley told Patch.

"We’re working specifically with Columbia, Maryland, to address their concerns," Maley said.

He said that the nonprofit was in touch with both residents and the Columbia Association but declined to comment further on the data and potential updates to the map.

The Columbia Association issued a statement to Patch affirming its pride in the thousands of acres of open space it maintains.

As a whole, Columbia includes approximately 31.93 square miles, or 20,435.2 acres, according to the U.S. Census.

"From Columbia's earliest days, James Rouse wanted nature to be integrated throughout the community rather than merely exist at a distance beyond the developed areas. That vision remains the reality more than 50 years later," the Columbia Association said in a statement. "Columbia Association is proudly dedicated to maintaining nearly 3,600 acres of forests and lakes, ponds and streams, with 95 miles of pathways leading people into nature just mere footsteps from their homes."

The association also maintains 165 tot lots, most of which are within open space areas, and noted there are additional parks maintained by Howard County government.

"This natural beauty and commitment to recreation is a significant reason why Columbia has long been a community of choice — and why Columbia will continue to be one of the best places to live in the country," according to the Columbia Association.

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The Trust for Public Land's spokesman said the organization welcomes input from communities as it fine-tunes its mapping tool.

"We are engaged in a rigorous feedback period to add local knowledge into the data for each community," Maley said, and we encourage local input to help improve the accuracy of public park data."

Here is how to submit feedback about the data to The Trust for Public Land.

Photos by Elizabeth Janney.

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