The plan was approved by the Board of Park Commissioners at their August 13 meeting (File 89420). The plan will now move through the process to be adopted as a Supplement to the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan (File 89620). That process is outlined below.
Board of Public Works: September 3, 2025
Plan Commission: September 15, 2025
Board of Park Commissioners: October 8, 2025
Common Council: October 28, 2025
Staff have made minor plan updates from comments by the Board of Park Commissioners. Updates include revised language about UW-Madison recreation facilities and the inclusion of updated maps of the Dane County Park and Open Space plan that was recently adopted. The updated plan is linked below.
The City of Madison is updating the Park and Open Space Plan!
The purpose of the City of Madison Park and Open Space Plan is to guide and inform public parks policy and park facility decisions. The planning document is used by City Boards & Commissions, City agencies and staff, other agencies and municipalities, and interested residents and volunteers. It is developed by staff, professional consultants and volunteers. The plan seeks to be evidence-based and, as such, utilizes extensive public input, census data, park use records, and other monitoring databases. It is subject to public review and hearings and is adopted by the Board of Park Commissioners and the Madison Common Council.
The 2025-2030 POSP update will be in progress throughout 2024 and early 2025, with an anticipated completion date within the third quarter of 2025. Public input on the development of the plan will be available through surveys, open houses and focus group events. Comments may also be submitted directly to Parks using the contact information available on this page.
The draft 2025-2030 update is now available for review through July 7.
The City of Madison owns over 280 parks totaling more than 5,700 acres of parkland and is responsible for maintenance of nearly 6,000 acres of public land. The Parks Division also plays a vital role in the development and policy making of over 1,000 acres of public land administered by the City of Madison Engineering for stormwater, bike paths and landfill purposes.
The City of Madison parks are an integral component contributing to a quality living environment. Parks play a significant role in promoting community and contributing to the well-being and resilience of its residents.
The Park and Open Space Plan (POSP) is updated periodically to adapt to and stay current with changing recreational trends, demographics, and park needs, as well as to reflect integration with the planning efforts of complementary City agencies, as well as, county and statewide efforts.
The POSP satisfies DNR Chapter NR 50 and NR 51, Wisconsin administrative code requiring local municipalities to adopt a local comprehensive outdoor recreation plan to be eligible for several DNR administered funding programs.
Project kick-off / open houses Completed
Review and development of additional text Completed
Parks staff, working together with MSA Professional Services, Inc. have been adding sections to the document to better align with the 2018-2023 POSP structure.
Targeted outreach / focus groups by All Together Completed
Survey development & mailing by UW Survey Center Completed
Updates to maps, tables from previous POSP; review by Parks Long Range Planning Completed
Revision of existing document structure and organization Completed
Following the determination to move the Issue Papers to the appendix area of the document, staff have been incorporating some of the information from those documents into the greater text body.
Preparation of final document Completed
Draft document available for public comment Completed
Review of final document Active
The boards, commissions and committees will review the final document.
The plan was approved by the Board of Park Commissioners at their August 13 meeting (File 89420). The plan will now move through the process to be adopted as a Supplement to the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan (File 89620). That process is outlined below.
Board of Public Works: September 3, 2025
Plan Commission: September 15, 2025
Board of Park Commissioners: October 8, 2025
Common Council: October 28, 2025
Staff have made minor plan updates from comments by the Board of Park Commissioners. Updates include revised language about UW-Madison recreation facilities and the inclusion of updated maps of the Dane County Park and Open Space plan that was recently adopted. The updated plan is linked below.
Staff have made plan updates based on public comment and review. Significant changes include adding a strategy to Chapter 7 that was erroneously omitted in the initial draft and adding the "Parks Within a 10 Minute Walk of a Low-Income Residential Area" map to the appendix. The updated documents can be viewed by following the links below.
Thank you to all who attend the open house event on June 26. Below are links to view the presentation materials and summary boards that were available at the event.
The draft document is still available for public comment through July 7. Links to view the document and appendices are below. Comments can be sent to ParksPlanningandDevelopment@cityofmadison.com.
The City of Madison Parks Division invites the community to view the draft 2025-2030 Park & Open Space Plan. See the draft plan, explore the chapters and meet with staff at the Parks Lakeside Offices.
Madison Parks has received an extension for completion of the Park and Open Space Plan from the DNR until the end of 2025. Since January 2025, the Long Range Planning Subcommittee (LRP) has reviewed and provided feedback on the Funding Mechanisms component of the plan, which pertains to the development and operating resources of the Parks Division. In addition, LRP spent significant time discussing recommended strategies for the 2025-2030 POSP. The recommended strategies of the plan are aligned with the 7 elements of a great city as identified in the Comprehensive Plan, and are currently drafted as follows:
Increase Connectivity between parks to enhance access.
Reduce parkland deficiencies and respond to increasing residential density.
Create welcoming and inclusive park spaces and programming
Foster meaningful connections with groups and organizations that advance the vision of the Parks Division.
Improve public access to lakes and waterways.
Protect and celebrate the community’s cultural richness.
Protect and enhance natural resources.
Improve the park system’s capacity to adapt to environmental challenges.
Develop new parks and amenities in a fiscally sustainable manner.
Secure sufficient resources to sustain service levels across the growing and changing system.
Pursue regional solutions to regional issues.
Promote the physical and social health of the diverse community.
The Long Range Planning Subcommittee will begin reviewing the full plan content in April 2025 (Legislative File 74555). Once the full content is finalized, staff will work with the MSA consultant team to begin publishing the document in its final format. Staff and LRP leadership anticipate that a final format version of the document will be available for public review and comment in June 2025.
January 14, 2025 Update
A new year, a new plan (of sorts)! In late 2024 a determination was made to modify the organization of the POSP document to more accurately meet WI DNR requirements for an Outdoor Recreation Plan, and to provide a similarly structured document to the 2018-2023 POSP. As such, the timeline has been moved forward to allow for developing and reviewing additional sections of text (including "Plan Adoption and Approval Process" and updating data for the summary charts found within sections such as "Park Development Resources" and "Park Operational Resources". Parks has requested an extension for completion of the plan until the end of 2025.
In addition to reviewing and discussing the text in-total, the Long Range Planning sub-committee of the Board of Park Commissioners has been further examining the "Strategies" section from the prior POSP and determining how best to move those forward at its recent meetings.
July 2, 2024 Update
All Together, who are working with consultant MSA Professional Services, Inc. to conduct targeted outreach as part of the Park & Open Space Plan, have placed Wish Boxes throughout Madison to complement "pop up" events this summer. The Wish Boxes contain information about the Park & Open Space Plan and QR codes to surveys accessible at the links, below.
Together with consultant MSA Professional Services, Inc., Parks staff worked with UW survey center staff to analyze the results of the survey responses received (of the 5,000 sent) in spring 2024. Key take-aways from the responses are available in the UW Survey Summary
May 14, 2024 Update
That's a wrap! The Park and Open Space Plan Open Houses are now complete - but there are still opportunities to provide input if you were not able to attend or would like to submit a comment. Please scroll down to the "Submit A Comment" area under Project Information to find a QR code & link to our online comment portal.
We will also be attending a series of pop-up events this summer in conjunction with Parks Alive and will have more information about those sessions to share soon.
Please plan to join us & enjoy the views at the Parks Lakeside Offices! Drop-in anytime between 5:30-7:30pm to share your thoughts and input on the future of the park system. Join with neighbors and other community members to engage with some park planning-related activities, enjoy a snack - and maybe even take home a prize!
Please plan to join us at the gardens! Drop-in, share your thoughts and input on the future of the park system with neighbors and other community members, enjoy some snacks and engaging activities - maybe even take home a prize!
Please plan to drop-in, share your thoughts and input on the future of the park system with neighbors and other community members, enjoy some snacks and complete a few engaging activities for a chance at a prize!
February 8, 2024 Update
Come one, come all! The Park and Open Space Plan Open House dates are set!
Parks staff is working with a consultant planning team led by MSA Professional Services, Inc., to host a series of open houses to introduce the project and gather input from attendees. The open houses are drop-in sessions, held at various locations throughout the city in April and May. Participants may stop by anytime during the two-hour event, each held from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Beginning the weekend of January 27, letters were mailed to 5,000 randomly selected households within the City of Madison asking for completion of the Park and Open Space Plan (POSP) survey. If your household was one of the lucky few, please complete the survey - your answers will play an important role in determining the direction of Madison Parks in the next 5 to 10 years!
