Thursday, May 3, 2007

CM PRESS # 130













REPORT FROM THE PASSIVE PARK MEETING AT PAULARINO SCHOOL ON 5/2/07


About forty-five people attended the meeting last night on making Paularino Park an official passive park, and they were unanimous in telling the City that they wanted this park to be passive.

The CM PRESS noted that former Parks and Recreation Commissioner David Stiller--who opposed making Paularino Park a passive park when he was on the Commission--was in the audience. Stiller is a political ally of Katrina Foley and Linda Dixon. Dixon has also tried to keep Paularino from being a passive park.

There was some discussion as to the definition of a passive park, and most in attendance seemed to agree that they didn't want to prohibit a parent from throwing a ball to his or her child, but they also wanted to stop the real problem in the park, and that's soccer and sometimes baseball games that endanger those who want to use the park for more passive purposes.

Most also agreed that soccer and baseball games where balls are thrown, kicked or hit by as few as two adult size players can present a safety problem in this very small park.

They also agreed that the City's seeming attempt to rely on using the term "organized sports," in any banning of dangerous sports activities, is a mistake as many of the games in this park may not fit the definition of "organized," but are pickup games which are just as dangerous as the so-called organized ones.

Although there were some minor variations on the passive park theme, most residents seemed to agree that the following four major points are what they want:

1. The City should post the park with a sign that might read: "THIS IS A PASSIVE PARK--NO SPORTS ACTIVITIES ARE ALLOWED. CMMC Sec. 12-45(a)*

2. The City should put boulders and more trees in the park to make the park more aesthetically pleasing and to break up open spaces.

3. The City should improve the tot lot.

4. The City should locate benches in some of the open areas.

WHAT'S NEXT

City staff will prepare a staff report with recommendations that will be voted on by the Parks and Recreation Commission at their regularly scheduled May 23, meeting. This staff report should be up on the City's Website on May 19, for early viewing.

If the Parks and Recreation Commission votes against the wishes of the residents, then the matter can be appealed to the City Council for final disposition.

If approved, Paularino Park will serve as the model for making other similar parks passive.
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*Below is the wording of CMMC Sec. 12-45(a) as it currently exists. Some suggest that this should be made clearer by inserting the word "soccer" after "football," as indicated in bold and brackets:

"No person shall fly a kite or airplane (driven by internal combustion engine) or participate in any games such as baseball, football, [soccer], hockey, and the like in any park where such use has been prohibited by a sign posted at the entrance to the park as designated by the administrative services department or the public services department."

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