Renton has finished an update to the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan to guide the city’s future intentions for parks and other recreation.
The Renton City Council approved the resolution to adopt the 2026 PROS Plan on Jan. 26, after the city first began working on the plan in July 2024. The Parks and Recreation Department, working with other city departments, created the 20-year vision for parks, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and programming, as well as open space, to serve as a blueprint for the next phases of park system acquisition, development and maintenance. The plan is updated every six years.
The PROS Plan, a sub-plan to the city’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan, ensures that Renton manages its parks and open spaces responsibly while remaining eligible for important funding opportunities. The plan is required by the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office to be eligible for state-funded planning and capital grants.
The “three pillars” of the plan are equity, health and well-being, and environmental resilience. Renton Park Planning Manager Jason Lederer said the biggest changes to the plan shifts the city’s strategy on how they manage changes.
“In the past we may have been more of an acquisitions-focused program: looking to acquire park land. Certainly management and maintenance of existing park land was something we considered,” Lederer said. “But we’re shifting to be more of a program that’s looking at how our current parks are serving our community today. Do they need to be improved? Do they need to be renovated?”
The city is more focused on developing land it has access to in key “gap areas” around the city by investing in undeveloped or underdeveloped properties. Lederer said acquisition will be more “surgical” in the future and will focus on these areas where the city doesn’t have access.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a change. It’s just sort of memorializing that our approach is shifting as our community is changing and our infrastructure is aging,” Lederer said.
Community outreach was a major part of the plan revision process, with more than 30 public engagement opportunities, including community conversations, pop-up events in parks and recreation events, and an online survey and interactive map. Lederer said from the outreach, they are confident that the people they heard from know and understand the parks well in their communities.
“One thing that was overwhelmingly clear is that our community loves the parks in Renton, loves the facilities in Renton. There’s just a lot of enthusiasm around them,” Lederer said. “We did a survey and had nearly 600 responses to that survey. Of those responders, 85% said they use a park at least weekly, or visit a park at least weekly.”
Specific communities Lederer said they heard from included skaters, rugby players and other field users, the Punjabi community, dog owners, seniors and golfers. The city heard from people who lack a park close by and have to travel across town to get to a park, as well as people who choose to travel to one of the newly renovated parks in the city.
“We heard quite a bit about access to parks. ‘I want to be able to more easily walk to this park or bike to this park, travel off-road to this park whether it’s on a sidewalk or a trail,’” Lederer said.
Conservation was also an important theme to respondents and the desire to balance development with conservation. Shade and gathering areas for people to passively enjoy parks was also an expressed want. Lederer said the top activities people said they like doing in Renton parks were walking, running or using a trail, and picnics or social gatherings.
