Lewisburg residents gathered on Tuesday evening to offer their opinions on the needs of the city’s parks system.

The public feedback session was the first of two scheduled to aid in the development of strategic plans for the city’s open spaces.

“The best plans come from community feedback,” said Keith Covington of Common Ground, who facilitated the session.

The city has undertaken two related studies: an overall survey of the city’s parks and green spaces led by Common Ground, which has handled the design overlay planning for the city’s main thoroughfares and a parks master plan from HFR Design, that will address each parks needs individually.

Participants went over maps of each park, as well as the city, offering their opinions of ways the system can better serve the community.

Developing a master plan for the system will greatly improve the city’s access to grant funding for improvements.

The focus of the planning is based more on improving the current assets as opposed to adding more, Covington said, noting that the city’s 13 different park facilities offered a wide range of uses and space for its citizens.

Lewisburg contains an average of 27.4 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, Covington said, while the national average is just over 10 acres per thousand

Another public planning meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. at Greater First Baptist Church, with an emphasis on Harmon and Jones Parks, which the city has identified as priorities during this round of planning.