Development by a park authority for park purposes is acceptable and does not preclude your project from earning this credit (subject to other criteria). For example, an educational center built on the park grounds by the park authority is still eligible for the credit. 

If the land was parkland in the past but was owned by an entity other than a park authority before it was purchased for your project, the site remains eligible for this credit. 

It should be easy to determine whether the land purchased for the project was previously parkland. If you’re not sure, check with the owner, developer, the relevant park authority, or the title history.

Determine whether your site, prior to acquisition for this project, was public parkland. Avoid developing land that prior to acquisition for the project was public parkland.

Parkland

Manmade ponds for stormwater and recreation do not count as “water bodies” for the purposes of this credit and are exempt from this requirement. However, manmade wetlands or water bodies developed for ecological restoration are not exempt from these requirements, and all development must be at least 50 feet away from these sensitive areas. 

To determine whether your project site is located within 50 feet of a water body (sea, lake, river, stream, or tributary), use the FEMA website mapping tool, USDA Web Soils Survey map program, or Google Earth. See a Google Earth example in the Documentation Toolkit. See the Resources section for a link to the FEMA and USDA websites. 

“Waters of the United States,” as defined by the Clean Water Act, are “all waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide; all interstate waters, including interstate ‘wetlands’; all other waters, such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, ‘wetlands,’ sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect i

If your site has not been previously developed, determine whether your site is located within 50 feet of any water bodies. Ensure that you do not develop in areas within 50 feet of a water body.

If your site has been previously developed, you can skip the water bodies requirement.