Community park closer to fruition

The development of the Northeast Community Park is being pushed faster than it might have otherwise because the Frisco City Council decided a skate park is needed, said Mike Gfeller, Parks and Recreation Board chairman.

Both the park and the skate park are still in the master-planning process. The plans will be discussed at a joint meeting between the Parks and Recreation Board and the Frisco Community Development Corp. on May 15 at City Hall. If the plans are approved at the joint meeting, they will go before City Council for final approval.

Parks and Recreation Department Director Rick Wieland said the first phase of a park often includes installing infrastructure necessities such as parking lots, roads, water lines and other utilities. However, what is funded in the first phase, as well as the overall cost of the park and skate park, will likely be decided at the May 15 meeting and subsequent council meetings.

The park has several groves of trees, and Gfeller said as many of them as possible will be preserved. He said a drainage creek is another obstacle to design around.

Skate parks

Skate parks have become more common throughout Texas since state liability laws changed in recent years. The city of Allen built the first skate park in the Metroplex area in 2005, and since then, Lewisville, McKinney, Plano and Arlington are among area cities that either have a skate park or are in the process of building one, Wieland said.

Wieland said skateboarders need a place meant for the sport, and that is why the council has been supportive of the project.

"A lot of these kids here in town will do whatever they can to try to use a facility somewhere. I prefer that they not use some of the parks that we have that were not intended for [skateboarding] because it can damage [the park]."

Wieland said perceptions of skate parks vary. For the most part, he said input has been positive.

"I think some people associate negative things with them that I don't think is really fair," he said.

Gfeller said his vision is for the skate park to be one of the best in the area.

"We are going to build a nice skate park that people will come to from all over," he said. "We want it to be bigger and better—that's what makes our city so special."

Gfeller said he has also asked city officials to investigate the possibility of having Wi-Fi at the skate park to provide the youth with a way to spread their photos and videos on social media as well as for the parents and other spectators.

Community feedback

Community input has been a priority throughout the planning process and particularly with the skate park.

At community meetings, feedback has come from residents living near the park, residents throughout the community and youth excited about the skate park.

Wieland said The Northeast Community Park is like any other park in that the residents want it, but they have concerns.

"[Residents] worry about things like traffic, is this going to affect my home values, is the park going to include these types of things for the kids, are you going to make sure there are walking pads," he said. "And they are absolutely viable questions."

Wieland said home values go up when located near parks rather than down. Although lighting is a necessity in this type of major park, new lighting standards make it much less intrusive than the lighting in some of the older parks.

"I think any facility—it doesn't matter what we're talking about—is as good as the people that live near it and help us be the extra pairs of eyes and ears that we've got," he said.

Dudley Raymond, planning and business development manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, said more than just residents are involved in the planning process.

"We are trying to understand how all of those different components fit on that piece of property," he said. "We try to meet everybody's needs with our residents and sports associations and are trying to cast that vision for how that park will end up laying out."

Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series on Frisco parks. Next month: Grand Park.