Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — At its Nov. 4 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council approved the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan, along with a maintenance and use agreement with the Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association (DSYSA).
Parks master plan
The 10-year plan comes from a year-long process, explained Parks & Community Services director Andrew Binz, and it’s designed to enable multi-year planning for capital investments and guide the development of shared programming and educational opportunities. Additionally, the plan will align new investments with a community-driven mission and vision that integrates the city’s strong pursuit of parks, recreation, the arts and environmental education.
The plan is preceded by other planning efforts, including the 2014 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan, the 2020 Dripping Springs Citywide Trails Plan and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, as well as some individual master plans for some of the larger parks.
The city’s park system consists of five developed parks that, together, account for approximately 261 acres and offer a variety of event, athletic and passive open‑space experiences, the plan stated. This includes Founders Memorial, Dripping Springs Ranch, Charro Ranch, Rathgeber Natural Resource, Sports & Recreation, Veterans Memorial and Arrowhead parks.
Within the plan, there were four guiding principles that were developed to be used as “guideposts” for the implementation of the plan, Binz said. These are the following: foster the growth and vibrancy of the Dripping Springs Parks and Recreation system to support the community; support the Parks and Community Services Department to lead with excellence and innovation; champion environmental stewardship to conserve the Hill Country; and cultivate community spirit and preserve local heritage by incorporating history, art and culture into public spaces and programming.
Other key accomplishments from the plan, Binz said in his presentation, include:
Executing a robust public engagement component, including a statistically valid survey, stakeholder sessions, public meetings and booths at community events.
Completing a parks system needs assessment to assess current and future park needs, including demand, resource, level of service, programming and conditions assessments.
Performing a Park by Park Assessment, including park personality, ecological report, what the city heard, conditions assessment and recommendations.
Developing two conceptual design plans for Dripping Springs Ranch Park and the future Arrowhead Park.
Developing vision statement, mission statement and core values for the Parks & Community Services Department.
Updating trail maps for each park.
From the process of creating the plan, Binz said that he has taken away several things, including the establishment of the foundation of the Parks & Community Services Department.
“I feel like we’ve built the foundation for the Parks & Community Services Department. We’ve established an organizational chart and put staff in place and are set up for sustainability,” he said. “[We’ve] developed our vision, mission and core values for the Parks & Community Services Department going forward and developing goals and objectives for each division of our department.”
He has also found that current park acreage exceeds the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) guidelines based on the 2025 population of 8,689. There are 261 acres of developed parkland and 313 acres of undeveloped, so the city has to “take advantage of adding parkland whenever it makes sense for our community,” Binz said.
The city also needs to continue to develop DSRP according to conceptual design, develop Rathgeber according to the vision plan, utilize the Stephenson Building and address the current parks and facilities that are showing their age, Binz presented.
“We need to reinvest in current parks to keep facilities and equipment up to date and aesthetically pleasing. [We need to] look to provide high priorities out of our community engagement, such as an indoor community center, trail amenities and pickleball,” Binz said. “And then, Founders Pool was another subject of this master plan. We need to either reinvest or reimagine that pool area in the future years.”
Council unanimously voted to approve the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.
Now, Binz explained, city staff and consultants will get together to develop a strategic business plan for the next five to 10 years, showing projects where they think they will land each fiscal year; look at the equipment and how long they will last each year; and put strategic tasks in place for each guiding principle.
Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association
Previously the city had three agreements in place with DSYSA — two field use and one irrigation. Last year, at about this time, Binz said, city staff started working with the association to combine all three agreements — known as the Maintenance and Use Agreement — into one and update the terms and conditions to streamline everything.
The term of the agreement is for five years. Previously, the other agreements were around 10 years, but “we think things change a lot more quicker now. We are going to have to revisit this agreement a lot more often, so we put a term limit of five years on there,” Binz said.
Additionally, other key points from the agreement include:
DSYSA will continue to maintain the athletic fields in exchange for use of the athletic fields as defined in the agreement.
Adult softball fields at Sports & Recreation Park remain reserved for two spring and two summer seasons.
DSYSA cannot sublease the fields without approval from the city.
Increased availability for the public to rent the athletic fields throughout the year — allowing an opportunity for coaches outside of DSYSA to utilize the fields.
The first two weeks of registration shall be reserved for participants residing within Dripping Springs’ city limits.
DSYSA is required to do background checks on all league officials, coaches and managers.
Electricity fees collected by the city at Sports & Recreation Park will be used for capital improvements at Sports & Recreation Park.
Annual inspections of the athletic fields will be held with city and DSYSA representatives to identify maintenance, repair and replacement needs.
Council unanimously approved the agreement and now, it will be executed with DSYSA with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.
Dripping Springs City Council meets next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19.
