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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/23/2003 - Regular Minutes - Parks Board (3) Parks and Recreation Department Steeplechase Park Public Hearing Notes CITY OF COLLEGE STATION College Station Larry J. Ringer Public Library 7:00 PM February 23, 2003 Staff Present: Steve Beachy, Director; Eric Ploeger, Assistant Director; Pete Vanecek, Senior Park Planner; David Wood, Park Planner; Curtis Bingham, Parks Operations Superintendent; Pamela Springfield, Staff Assistant; Guests: Jodi Warner, Chair Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; Gary Erwin, Larry Farnsworth, and Kathy Ireland—Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members (did not constitute a quorum); William Charles Wendt— 631 Westridge Drive Francia Cagle— 1511 South Texas Avenue, #103 Lee Ann Roman—249 Navarro Stephen Stewart—2310 Pheasant Lane Mike Meschler—203 Bernburg Court 1. Call to Order: The public hearing began at 7:00 p.m. 2. Presentation and discussion of ideas regarding development of Steeplechase Park site in Park Zone 5: Steve Beachy welcomed everyone in attendance and stated that the purpose of the meeting was to get input on what amenities the residents of the neighborhood would like to see go into Steeplechase Park when it is developed. Steve introduced all of the staff and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members present. He stated that input was encouraged. Eric Ploeger pointed out the location of the park site and briefly explained about the Park Land Dedication Ordinance and park zones, pointing out that the Steeplechase Park site was located in Park Zone 5. He stated that neighborhood parks were intended to serve residents within a one-half mile walking distance. The Steeplechase site, which the city has owned for about four or five years, is heavily wooded in some places with a creek running through it. Some portions of the site are located in a flood plain. City Council approved $315,000 in the FY 2005 budget to develop the park. Ric stated that staff wanted the park to fit the character of the community and so were very interested in hearing what it was that the residents wanted. He explained that, based on the input received, a design would be done and everyone would be invited to a second public hearing. Pete Vanecek went over the elements which could go into Steeplechase Park and presented a concept of what could be done which included: a bike rack, picnic unit, a playground with shade cover, and a detention pond that was meant to hold water for a while and then gradually drain off at one end of the park. A couple of bridges would be needed to cross the creek. There would also be room for a small shelter with a couple of picnic tables, walking/jogging trails, benches, a swing set, and a drinking fountain. Exercise equipment could possibly go around the walking/jogging area, with lights around trail. The site was too narrow and wooded for a disc golf course to go in - too much clearing would have to be done. One of the limitations was the floodplain and the areas that get a lot of water when it rains. Pete briefly went over the population estimates stating that there were over 600 families in that neighborhood, mostly college students, but there were school age children as well, for a total of about 2,100 young people. Staff wants the park to serve all age groups. The guests present were assured that the concept he had presented was in no way a final design, merely an idea of what the park could be like. The guests were asked what they would like to see. Questions, Comments, and Discussion: Would you keep the detention pond? Yes, there is a requirement that there has to be an area for water to drain. It could be used for practice fields. Concern was expressed about the proximity of the basketball court to one resident's duplex and also the fact that the playground and basketball court were pretty close to the street. A final plan had not yet been done. Everyone was reminded that the concept presented was done only as an example. What kind of security will there be to keep kids from trashing the park and doing drugs there? There will be lighting and the police will patrol the area. The heavily wooded areas will try to be kept towards the back, but some areas will need to be opened up for good visibility. Some clearing out of the underbrush would be done. Where the basketball court is, could it be moved over to where the play area is? That is in the detention pond area and the court couldn't go there due to maintenance issues — it would mean a muddy basketball court that would have to be cleaned off every time it rained. I don't mind the basketball court if it could be placed somewhere else—my condo is right there. Basketball courts in neighborhood parks are not normally lit, so they wouldn't be used at night. It would still be a congregation area. In Fitch Park they are out there until all hours. Staff had looked at that area because it was a larger, cleared area. We can look at some other possibilities. How do you feel about playgrounds? We need them. Where will they be parking? Will they be parking in the street? Probably — normally there is no parking lot in a neighborhood park - it encourages people to walk. The TAMU bus comes through there every few minutes. That is good to know. We will have to take that into account. It seems like you would need to have a fence if small children are playing right there. That could be considered. Not necessarily a full blown fence like at Edelweiss but a fence like at Rock Prairie Elementary. If a fence is a high priority to you, we can make it a high priority. I have a question about zoning. Is this going to have to go before City Council to be rezoned? No, parks can go into any zone. Could you put in a parking lot next to the basketball court? We can consider a parking lot, but it would be fairly expensive - it's a trade off Most of the traffic is foot traffic or bicycles, but we'll explore different alternatives for the location of the basketball court. What would the tradeoffs be? I think fencing and lighting are affordable if we don't install too many lights — it will depend on how many we put in. A question was asked about security lighting. Normally we put in aerial or security lights along trails. Some communities don't want lights. Lighting would definitely be a benefit because of kids walking their pets. We are going to go to a water fountain that has a bowl down low for dogs. We appreciate your doing this for the people in the area. Well, we appreciate the input. This can be a really nice park. There is enough money to do some of the better improvements. The site also has trees, which some sites don't have. When will this park be done? Final completion could be achieved in about one year. The design will be done in-house by our park planners and hopefully it will be under construction sometime this summer. Will the playground be a tot playground or a combination? No there is a mix of items so it is not just for one age group. What about drainage? It floods. Will the walking trail be visible from the street? It depends on where we put it. If we can afford to put a trail in that will go all around the park,part of it will be back in the woods, but we could light the trail. So, the basketball court will not be lit? We could put a timer on the lights so they go off at 10:00 p.m. and no one can play past that, but we would like to hear from you. Lights on a timer would be good where they go off at a reasonable hour. I would rather there be lights than they jump the curb with their vehicles and turn on their lights. If there are lights younger kids may not congregate as much. I am not happy about the picnic grills because they would be a fire hazard. If you look at the density situation the area has a higher density of students surrounded on all sides by apartments. My concern would be the woods in summer when it is dry- having someone building a fire and then leaving it. We have other parks where the density is just as high and this issue has not ever been a problem. As far as it being a fire hazard, we have had more problems with trash cans being set on fire. There will need to be speed bumps going down Westridge in order to slow down traffic. We have a traffic planner and traffic engineer who would deal with those issues. Would there be a bridge? There would probably be a couple of bridges. We have a number of parks with very similar terrain - creeks, woods, etc. I feel that the walks that go through the back part - through the woods - need lighting. We can budget for lighting. If we can't do it all at one time we can come back with funds at a later date. We are adding improvements to our inventory all the time. Do you have any contact with the owner that has the property that backs up to this site? There are bulls and cows grazing on that property and there are portions of the fence that are pretty flimsy. Will there be any benches? Yes, benches will be plentiful. There being no further comments or questions, Steve thanked everyone for coming and stated that staff would use the input to further refine the plan for the park. At the next meeting, staff would have costs estimates. If contact information was given when the guests signed in, they would be contacted as to the time and location of the next public hearing. Steve asked those present to contact staff if they thought of something else. He finished by stating that the process would go on for a few months but the end result would be something the neighborhood would enjoy and use. 3. 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