The City of Chanhassen is dedicated to improving park facilities and enhancing the quality of life for the community. We are always looking for ways to add amenities to existing parks and build new ones as our city expands. Park projects are planned as opportunities present themselves. See below to read about current and ongoing park projects in Chanhassen. 

Lake Ann Park Expansion Project 

After extensive negotiations with Lennar, the city is fulfilling a fifty-year plan to preserve the forests and wetlands between Lake Ann and Lake Lucy. A concept park plan developed in 2018 includes natural resource preservation and trails throughout the park. It is based on the goals and findings of the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Park System Plan. Learn more about this project by clicking the button below. 

---

General Park Project Funding

The two most common funding mechanisms for park projects in Chanhassen are:

Park Dedication Fund
Chanhassen has a park dedication ordinance that recognizes the impacts that a growing city has on the parks and recreation system. The city seeks to ensure that areas are preserved for future parks and trails. It establishes a cash in-lieu of land fees where the dedication of land is not feasible or practical or will not create a site useable for park purposes. Fees collected are deposited into the city’s park and recreation development fund or its multipurpose trail fund and are used for the development of new or expanded facilities. Park dedication may not be used for maintenance or replacement of existing facilities. The city has and will continue to update its park dedication ordinance from time to time to reflect changes to Minnesota Statutes.

Park Replacement Fund
The city has been acquiring and constructing community and neighborhood parks for 50 years. In aggregate physical improvements within these parks including playgrounds, buildings, ballfields, fencing, structures, etc. total over $25,000,000 in accrued assets. The oldest equipment within our parks has reached an age and condition that replacement is required, because repairs are no longer cost effective. The Park Replacement Fund was initiated in 2019 in response to this need to start replacing park amenities that are no longer serviceable. An ongoing funding source has not been identified to date. The city has used fund balance and other one-time money to support the fund.