COMMITTEE OKS SKATE PARK SITE
Council could OK skate park for Fourth Street on March 15
Members of Lansdale’s Parks and Recreation Committee have made their recommendation about where they think a skate park should go, and those who live nearby say they’re still opposed.
The committee voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that full council choose Fourth Street Park as a site for a skate park, a decision neighbors nearby urged the rest of council to reconsider.
“Take a drive over to Fourth Street, and park in the parking lot, and walk over and look at the four stakes that are placed there, with yellow bands on them,” said resident Alan Silfies of Edgewood Avenue. “Stand there, and consider that you own one of the homes, perhaps at Williamson Court, with your deck and your patio and 10,000 square feet of concrete, right there, day after day after day.”
For the past several months, the parks committee and residents have discussed the possible locations for a skate park, which will serve skateboarders and possibly bikes and scooters. Over
the summer, staff and the committee identified and graded four possible sites, with Fourth Street Park coming at the top of the list after two rounds of grading — a choice neighbors opposed in a special town hall meeting Monday, and again Wednesday.
“We can talk about all the people in the borough who this is going to be positive for. It’s positive for them, no matter where it is,
but it’s really negative for the people who are going to be there,” said Paul Cutajar of Fifth Street. “We’re the ones who are going to have to live with it, whether it works or it doesn’t work.”
Neighbor Chris Pescatore of Williamson Court said he thought the flagged stakes showing where the skate park could be, made it look even larger than the design appeared on borough renderings, and said he thought the edge of the skate park was too close to the fenced-off swimming pool nearby — and if the pool is closed for much of
the year, are the restrooms there a useful amenity for the skaters?
“The restrooms are used as a reason why it should be at Fourth Street, but if they’re only going to be (open) there 10 weeks out of a year, that’s kind of a useless point,” he said.
Neighbor Harold Schoonover asked the parks committee to put in writing their responses to neighbor concerns about the noise, light, and other worries, and Fuller said most of those were addressed during a townhall Monday.
Jeff Kuntz of Fifth Street said when he grew up that neighborhood, he and his friends would ride bikes in the street, and thought a skate park could be safer by creating a place for kids to congregate — and could spur
a look at the entire park.
“I would like to see the landscaping used as an opportunity to revisit the entire park area: the basketball courts, the tennis courts, a walking trail, whatever. Make the playground more modern. If you’re gonna do the skate park, do the entire park,” he said.
Neighbor Chris Wiseman
of Williamson said he enjoys being able to walk out his back door to the baseball fields at the park, but has heard of other neighbors who are already looking to sell before the skate park is built.
“My realtor said to get out sooner rather than later, because most places where she’s worked, (property values) haven’t gone up. It
hasn’t enhanced their value, and there are so many other things we could do for the park,” he said.
Members of the parks committee said they took that feedback into consideration, but they felt the other locations did not have as many positives, such as easy access and visibility, as the Fourth Street site.
“We could site it somewhere that wouldn’t affect as many homeowners, but then there also wouldn’t be as many families that would go there,” said Councilman Jason Van Dame. “They need the variety of activities, for the younger kids and older kids, and that was one of my primary considerations.”
Councilman Jack Hansen said he was troubled
that the committee would go against the preference of the many residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting in favor of moving park away from Fourth Street.
“It troubles me that the parks and rec Committee would go against the will of a majority of people that spoke up at that meeting,” he said. “We’re here to serve the people, and there are other locations in the borough where this could go.”
The parks committee voted 3-0 to recommend that full council consider approving the Fourth Street site when council next meets on March 15, and parks committee Chairman Mary Fuller thanked
the Fourth Street neighbors for voicing their concerns.
“You’re very well-spoken, you’ve been respectful, and I appreciate that, even when we haven’t agreed,” Fuller said. “You bring up great points, and no matter which way this falls, we all live in the borough together, and we’d like to be good neighbors with you and work together to make the borough a better place.”
Lansdale Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 15 at Borough Hall, 1 Vine St.
For more in formation or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.