The need for a new city policy governing its many parks shows just how much Whitehorse has changed over the years, says Mayor Bev Buckway.

"Look at what we have now," she said in an interview following a noon meeting Wednesday between council and senior management as she recalled a time when Shipyards Park was a "wild" idea that had yet to even be named.

With the main location for outdoor special events and festivals moving to Shipyards Park from Rotary Peace Park, now set up for more "spontaneous use," city parks and recreation staff are working on a new policy governing parks.

At Wednesday's meeting, parks and recreation manager Linda Rapp and Doug Hnatiuk, the department's projects co-ordinator, presented council members with the policy that's been developed thus far.

As Hnatiuk explained, the current policy, adopted in 1995, deals only with Rotary Peace Park, which served as the main area for festivals and events until Shipyards Park was developed.

Moving events to Shipyards Park has been met with successful reviews. Users have enjoyed the stage, a proper electrical set-up, warm-up building and the areas designed specifically for tents.

"That transition has actually gone quite well," Rapp said.

What has become evident is the need to update the policy regarding the parks to include Shipyards, the changes to how Rotary Peace Park is used, and smaller neighbourhood parks being used more and more for things like weddings, filming and gatherings.

Initially, the department had looked at simply updating the current policy.

However, with so many changes, officials opted to start with a "clean slate" and come up with an entirely new document proposed to replace the current one, which would be rescinded, Rapp said.

Present for the meeting were Buckway and councillors Dave Stockdale, Jeanine Myhre and Florence Roberts.

Going through the document with them, Hnatiuk said the department hopes the policy will help groups hosting an event on the same date work together.

"We tried to create some synergy," he said.

That, along with many other portions of the proposal, reflect the current practices of the city in dealing with park bookings and questions that come into the department from people wanting to use the Shipyards Park.

Many residents, for example, call to see if they have to book it for birthday parties, gatherings or to use the skating loop.

"We say, ‘Go for it,' " Rapp said, adding the only time the park would have to be booked for those events would be if the party wanted exclusive rights to the site.

If anyone plans to use the fire pit, they must also book that (at $30.45 an hour) because the city provides firewood and an attendant to oversee it, Rapp explained.

Stockdale recalled a controversy years ago over opening up the Mt. McIntyre Recreation Centre as a reception hall.

He asked whether the city could be seen as competing with private business in permitting events to be held at the park.

"We haven't really run into that," Rapp replied, noting the birthday parties and small gatherings that happen at the park likely wouldn't be things banquet rooms would be booked for.

"It's a busy little place," she said of the park.

While the city could provide exclusive use of Shipyards Park, it doesn't provide bookings for neighbourhood parks being used for special events like wedding photos.

City staff do work with people wanting to use the neighbourhood park for an event to help make the event work, Hnatiuk said.

In making sure the policy reflects the proper use of each park, staff included a portion that allows for concession sales at Rotary Peace Park.

As Hnatiuk pointed out, the concession items that have been sold in the park over the past few years, including food from a burrito truck, have been successful.

"We wanted to make sure we continued that," he said.

After the meeting, Buckway said she's pleased with what the document proposes.

It brings the policy up to date with what's been happening at the city's parks and balances the uses of Rotary Peace Park with Shipyards Park, she pointed out.

While residents may not notice anything major happening to city parks when they're skating in Shipyards Park or going for a walk through a park in their neighbourhood, what it really does, said the mayor, is provide clarity for staff who can consult the document if they're unsure of where the city stands on a park situation.

"Then everybody's on a level playing field," she said.

Parks officials are planning to bring forward the proposed policy for council's approval in February.