Both Shenandoah residents and City Council members discussed concerns regarding rules and regulations at city parks at length during Wednesday's regular workshop meeting.
Shenandoah residents are concerned about the lack of safety at the newly opened Toddler Park, among other park-related issues.[/caption]
Issues addressed included implementing a reservation system for the main park’s pavilion, increasing safety for children at the newly opened toddler park and whether or not sports organizations should be allowed to use the facilities at the main park.
Organized sports
The item that received the most differing viewpoints from citizens and council members was the issue of whether to allow organized sports to hold practices using the facilities at the city’s main park.
The majority of Shenandoah residents stated in a 2013 survey that they did not want football or baseball facilities at the main park, City Administrator Greg Smith said. In 2015, after several public hearings, the council amended the ordinance to prohibit organized sports from using those facilities.
“Apparently, I’m in the minority because I’m opposed to organized sports because I think the park is not a facility for football,” resident John Brennan said. “The grassy area is not suitable for football games—it might be suitable for practice, but it’s not suitable for football games. Secondly, it would increase traffic down by the park. I lived here when they had softball games in the park and the congestion in that area was pretty intrusive to the neighborhood.”
Although the rule is not new, it had not been enforced until the city received a complaint regarding a youth football team in late August, causing the city to distribute signs reading, “No organized team sports or practices allowed in the park.”
“I think we should have organized sports in the park,” resident Ritzy Fletcher said. “To have young kids and members of this community who want to use that park—we all feel that the rule should be changed. I hope that [the council] does consider that because that’s what the people want; [they] were elected by the people and [they] need to hear their voices.”
Steve King, a coach for a team in the South County Football League, said he has held practices at the city's main park for more than a decade. His team was forced to find a new field after the rule was enforced last month.
Some concerns about organized sports raised included liability issues, traffic congestion in the neighborhood, damage to the field by sports equipment, such as cleats, and addressing limitations on the number of teams wanting to use the facility.
Council determined that the item would be taken to the parks committee for discussion and recommendations would come back to the council at the next workshop meeting and then to the following meeting for possible action.
Toddler park safety
Another issue brought to council’s attention was the safety of the newly opened toddler park adjacent to Shenandoah Drive. According to citizens, a child recently ran out into the street in front of a moving vehicle from the park, which has no fencing to serve as a barrier between the playground and the street.
Although the general consensus of council members and citizens alike was that the park needed to be made safer, the method of how to do so incited dispute.
“We have got to have a fence, or maybe a lower speed limit,” Fletcher said. “I would rather spend the extra money on that than we have a fatality because ultimately, the people are asking that of you all and that rests in your hands. Let your legacy be, ‘Yes we heard the people and we will take care of that situation.’ That should always be a priority.”
Possible solutions included making the section of Shenandoah Drive next to the toddler park a no parking zone to improve child visibility, adding another stop sign at the intersection of Shenandoah Drive and Twisted Oak Court or adding children at play traffic signage.
“I live right there by the toddler park, I see what’s going on and as a concerned parent, if you’re watching your child you should be able to grab your child before it hits that street,” resident Julia Hepburn said. “To put another stop sign on Shenandoah—that’s ludicrous. We already have three stops signs and it’s like the speedway—nobody stops there anyway. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Smith said that playground traffic signage would be ordered Thursday in an effort to improve visibility for drivers. The item was also allocated to the parks committee for further review.
Pavilion reservations
The last issue discussed regarding parks was the lack of a reservation system for the main park’s pavilion.
Residents brought up concerns that more than one group has recently tried to use the facility at the same time, inciting conflict. Some residents have even resorted to camping out at the pavilion beginning as early as 4 a.m. to ensure they will have use of the facility for an event nearly 12 hours in advance.
“My concern is that if we have people going up there that early in the morning before it’s opened and it’s dark—that’s a safety issue,” Mayor Ritch Wheeler said. “I would hate to see an incident happen to one of our residents because of that.”
Again, the consensus was that a reservation system needed to be implemented, but the problem was how to do so.
“In my opinion, this is a great problem—it’s not a bad problem, we’re not dealing with crime and vandalism and gangs at the park; we’re dealing with people wanting to use our parks and that’s a good thing, that’s what we had hoped for,” Council Member Jean Teague said. “To me, if we had three parties in the park this past Saturday, maybe it’s time to look at more parks.”
Other potential solutions included adding a city parks position to be in charge of monitoring the parks, enforcing a reservation system and adding a second pavilion to the existing main park.
Again, it was decided that the item would go to the parks committee for further consideration. Additionally, Teague offered to relinquish her position on the parks committee to allow Wheeler to take her place.
