Supporting Documents (Data and Analysis) - Satellite Beach

the facility inventories, as well as the comparison of existing supply versus demands for recreation
facilities in relation to level of service standards contained in this Element.
The City meets or exceeds the standards for most types of facilities. The City’s ability to meet
standards takes into consideration that active recreation facilities located at school complexes are
only partially counted in computing the supply figures. In this manner, the City recognizes the
unavailability of specific facilities due to school use or policy, which states that available facilities
will be unavailable during periods of use by the school, and the likelihood that non-Satellite Beach
residents will also use these facilities. The portions counted toward the City’s available supply are
considered realistic based on decades of experience.
While it might be argued that the beach stretching along the City’s eastern edge provides open space
that is available for enjoyment by the residents of Satellite Beach, this resource is treated separately
in the level of service standards in terms of beach access because it is a unique recreational resource
attractive to a larger population than City residents. The presence of the beach for ocean activities by
City residents and the many private residential pools in the City result in the documented low level of
interest in increasing the number of public pools. Therefore, no level of service standard has been
established for public pools.
Recreation and Open Space Plan Implementation
The objectives and policies contained in this Element comprise the City’s recreation and open space
implementation program. Development of Samsons Island Nature Park as a passive recreation site
coupled with the development of the Satellite Beach Sports and Recreation Park as primarily an
active recreation site sufficiently meet the identified need for additional community passive and
active recreation facilities. As with most major efforts undertaken by the City, these projects were
completed in an ad hoc manner based on general concepts of what the end result should include by a
cooperative effort involving City staff and residents using available funding resources.
In 1990, Samsons Island Nature Park, at the recommendation of an ad hoc citizen’s committee, was
designated a passive recreation park and nature preserve. After over 50,000 hours of labor by
volunteers of all ages, the island is now vegetated with a variety of maturing natural habitats,
accessible by way of three docks located on the north, east, and south sides of the island. The City
operates a pontoon boat on weekends which provides free public transportation to and from the
island at specified times. The island’s amenities include: a fishing pond; one mile of nature trails; a
picnic grove; two picnic shelters; three primitive campsites; one handicapped-accessible primitive
campsite; an observation hill; a handicapped-accessible educational pavilion; two composting toilets,
one handicapped-accessible; and a two-car garage used for storage of equipment and supplies used to
maintain the island. In 1994 the City received from Governor Chiles the first annual Florida
Excellence in Coastal Management Award for the work on Samsons Island.
In 1995, the City’s ad hoc Capital Assets Planning Committee’s Final Report recommended that
capital improvements be made to the 35-acre tract, formerly identified as a Brevard County utilities
site, in the southwest corner of the City. The City held a public referendum in November 1997 on
Recreation and Open Space Element
Data and Analysis 6-5