Commissioner Tyler Carpenter
Nolensville Board of Commissioners
Parks often get the last dollar of a municipal budget, even though they provide an immense resource to the residents they serve. A growing town must first make sure it has enough staff to provide essential public services. Once those staffing needs are addressed, the Town must also invest in the infrastructure needed to support those services, including roads, public safety facilities and other municipal buildings.
As an elected official, I see firsthand how difficult it can be to balance those competing needs while also planning for what Nolensville will need five, 10 or 20 years from now.
Parks need to be part of that conversation.
Between 2020 and 2023, Nolensville's population grew by more than 20 percent. If the more than 2,000 homes already approved are built as expected, we could see another 9,000 or more residents, representing an increase of more than 40 percent over the next decade.
That growth makes the question of adequate parks and open space even more important. Parks are part of the infrastructure that creates thriving communities. They provide places for children to play, families to spend time together, residents to exercise and neighbors to interact.
Let's Talk Numbers
According to the Nolensville Parks Master Plan, the Town has approximately 1.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. That figure includes land that has not yet been developed into functional parks and does not include county parks that also serve Nolensville residents. Even when those county parks are considered, the total would increase by only about 1 acre per 1,000 residents. The plan estimates that Nolensville would need to acquire approximately 135 additional acres to reach the average amount of parkland found in comparable communities.
Acreage alone doesn't make a great parks system. Location, amenities, accessibility, connectivity and maintenance all matter. But the acreage gives us a starting point. As Nolensville grows, we will need to continue investing in land, facilities and maintenance.
The challenge is that those investments compete for the same limited municipal dollars as staffing, roads, public safety, public works and other services.
This is where I believe Friends of Nolensville Parks (FONP) can make a meaningful difference.
An Opportunity for our Community
Parks are a public responsibility, and the Town will continue to play an important role in providing and maintaining them. But public investment does not have to be the only way our community supports its parks.
As part of the Streetscapes and Public Spaces Advisory Committee's work on the Parks Master Plan, we conducted an informal community survey about parks and public spaces. One of the things we heard was that residents were more willing to make voluntary contributions toward parks and recreation than they were to support a tax increase for the same purpose.
That distinction is worth considering.
FONP gives residents, businesses and community partners another way to invest in the parks they care about. Through private donations, grants, business partnerships and volunteer efforts, the organization can bring additional resources to projects and priorities that benefit the community.
But I think its value goes beyond fundraising. FONP can help connect people who want to contribute their time, talents or resources with opportunities to make a tangible difference in our community.
The Town has already taken steps to support the organization, and I am glad to see this community effort moving forward. I believe there is an opportunity for residents, businesses and other community partners to play a larger role in helping Nolensville build the parks system our growing community will need.
Our parks belong to all of us. Building and maintaining a parks system that serves a growing Nolensville will take all of us.