Community Input
Community input played a central role in shaping the San Carlos Parks Master Plan. Through multiple rounds of outreach conducted between 2024 and 2026, the City engaged more than 4,000 residents, park users, community organizations, and other stakeholders in developing a shared vision for the future of parks, recreation, and open space.
Outreach included community surveys, pop-up events, workshops, public meetings, stakeholder discussions, and online engagement opportunities. Feedback gathered throughout the process helped inform the Plan's vision, priorities, recommendations, and implementation strategies.
The adopted Parks Master Plan reflects the ideas, priorities, and aspirations shared by the San Carlos community throughout this collaborative planning process.
The Community Outreach Appendix provides detailed documentation and data from the community engagement efforts conducted for the San Carlos Parks Master Plan. It includes detailed survey and pop-up event results, meeting summaries, charts, and tables that supplement the outreach summary presented in the main report.
Outreach Appendix
Engagement Timeline
Round 1: Listening & Learning
August–September 2024
Round 1 of community outreach for the San Carlos Parks Master Plan took place in August and September 2024. More than 1,100 community members participated in pop-up events, a virtual community meeting, and an online survey, providing feedback on existing parks, open spaces, recreation facilities, and future community needs.
Participants described San Carlos as an active, outdoor-oriented, and socially connected community that highly values its parks and open spaces. Community members emphasized enhancing existing parks while expanding recreation opportunities, with a community pool or aquatic center emerging as the most desired new amenity. Other priorities included improved sports fields and courts, playgrounds, shade, trails, dog-friendly spaces, and amenities that support health, safety, and social connection.
Engagement Activities
August 9–September 9, 2024 – Community Survey
August 9, 2024 – Family Campout Pop-Up, Burton Park
August 22, 2024 – Virtual Community Meeting
August 25, 2024 – Farmers' Market Pop-Up, Downtown Laurel Street
September 7, 2024 – Highlands Park Pop-Up
Round 2: Confirming Priorities
March–April 2025
Round 2 community outreach engaged more than 1,800 community members through surveys, workshops, pop-up events, and public meetings. Building on the findings from Round 1, this phase focused on confirming community priorities and refining recommendations for the Parks Master Plan.
Residents continued to prioritize an aquatic facility, a community center, and improvements to sports courts, trails, playgrounds, and other recreation amenities. Feedback also emphasized inclusivity, multigenerational recreation, shaded gathering spaces, arts and performance opportunities, and expanded fitness options. Community members expressed strong support for new recreation opportunities while also recognizing the importance of balancing costs, space limitations, neighborhood character, and parking impacts.
Engagement Activities
March 21–April 25, 2025 – Priorities Survey
March 30, 2025 – Farmers' Market Pop-Up, Downtown Laurel Street
April 23, 2025 – Community Workshop, San Carlos Library
Community Center & Aquatic Facility Outreach
September 2025 – May 2026
To explore potential locations for a future community center and aquatic facility, the project team developed three conceptual site options for Burton Park and Laureola Park. The concepts were presented through the project website, a community meeting, and an online survey to help community members evaluate the opportunities and trade-offs associated with each location.
Community feedback showed the strongest overall support for Burton Park Option 1, while also emphasizing the importance of preserving sports fields and courts, expanding aquatics, distributing recreation opportunities throughout the city, and minimizing neighborhood impacts. Following the presentation of outreach results in October 2025, the City Council directed that community center and aquatic facility planning continue as a separate planning effort beyond the scope of the Parks Master Plan. Additional site concepts were presented in spring 2026, and the Council ultimately identified Laureola Park as the preferred location for a potential future community center and/or aquatic facility.
Engagement Activities
September 17–24, 2025 – Online Facilities Survey
September 17, 2025 – Community Meeting, San Carlos Adult Community Center
October 8, 2025 – Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission Meeting
Draft Plan Review
March–May 2026
The Draft Parks Master Plan and associated environmental documents were released for public review in spring 2026. Community comments received during the review period informed final revisions prior to City Council adoption in June 2026.
Review Activities
March 2026 – Public review period for the Draft Parks Master Plan
April–May 2026 – Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for CEQA
