PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants to ensure that the community's voice is captured as it develops plans for public parks over the next decade. 

The Parks Commission saw draft goals for the Open Space and Recreation Plan to meet Pittsfield's conservation and recreation needs. Formerly a five-year plan, this new iteration will look out over 10 years.

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath and Seth Jenkins, senior planner at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, have worked over the last couple of years to update the document so the city remains eligible for state grant funding. 

"Really, we're looking just to make sure that we've gotten the ideas included," Jenkins said. 

Commissioners will vote on the draft at a later meeting, and a community input session is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

Five former goals were reduced to four, and additional action items were added, mostly related to conservation. The last approved plan ran from 2019 to 2024.

A community survey was conducted last year to help inform the guiding principles of the plan, which will represent the interests of the Parks and Recreation Department, land-use patterns, zoning concerns, and Pittsfield's developed spaces juxtaposed with the natural spaces.

McGrath explained that it asked questions like: Are we encouraging wildlife corridors and general ecosystem enhancement and improvement?

They presented the Parks Commission with draft goals and action items, which will be brought forward to the Master Plan Committee. 

These recommendations will be rolled into the Master Plan in some way, shape, or form, McGrath reported, because the Open Space Plan is like an appendix. 

"We just want to make certain that there is still a comfort level, because again, these will form the basis of kind of how we operate, so we want to make sure we're getting this right," McGrath said.