Lasley Park Improvements

Transcription

1 I think the parking lot is a really sad/terrible idea. We don't want that kind of parking on Florida to make traffic, crime, congestion worse. We hate the idea of a parking lot - especially on the south side of the park! Please don't create that kind of congestion, traffic, crime. My freshman year I would walk home but as I was crossing, a black car came from Lamar and at the moment no cars then he came out and had such speed he tried to hit me. I was walking across the street taking my two dogs for a walk and as I was crossing, a truck came speeding out and my dog and I nearly got hit and now sometimes I'm afraid to walk my dog. I really like the park proposal, like leveling the sports field and seating areas, the adult fitness areas. Wasn't sure about the parking area, but after seeing the area proposal I can agree with concept. I appreciate what you are doing for the park. Please add disc golf baskets!! I like the parking area. Now that I've seen it. I also think it might work at the west end by not sure what to do with the shelter. I'm hoping you keep ALL the trees. Paths are wonderful and I also really like the use of natural grasses - wonderful idea! I'm excited about the fitness area. My only concern is keeping the park up. How will that - I'm thinking about vandalism always an issue. Thank you for all your hard work - I appreciate it! I've lived in the neighborhood since I was 2 years old! Love the updates. Sidewalk on Florida south side with pedestrian crossing zone that automatically signals motor traffic to half when peds are present. I like the layout of the proposal. It is time to renovate - the park has been stagnant for too long. Lots of young families are moving to the area - by updating the park will attract more of the families with children. Put handicap parking north and east of tennis courts and on west end just north of the west shelter. Absolutely NO parking lot in middle of park. I want the park to help beautify our neighborhood. I am against the parking lot. Right now the park is uglier than the neighborhoods. It should be the center for aesthetic interest and beauty. We're a local family of four who use the park several times a month. We agree that the park is underutilized in its current form and is in need of update. The new plan look great. We are particularly happy with the plan for the playground and landscaping in the southeast part of the park. It would be great if bike racks are included. The addition of a parking lot seems like a good idea to make the park more accessible. A second restroom is also a good idea. Like all the new trails throughout the park. Would love a dog off leash area, small is fine. Planters seem excessive and costly to maintain, should reduce them. I just fell in a hole that was not listed or proposed on the map. I would like to see a change. Everyone I know is really good with the way the park is now. It's not a busy place. I say "hi" to many people walking here daily. Don t' change perfection. Lasley Park is not large enough to accommodate a parking lot and plenty of options are available surrounding the park for parking (Otis, school lot, south streets). A parking lot will lead to loitering, drug dealing, etc. We already have enough of this on Otis. Making the park more accessible by foot/bike is needed from Florida (Hawk crossing signal, wider sidewalks). Speeds need to be reduced on Florida. I welcome more features in the park, but no parking lot on Florida! Please do not create additional parking on Florida. Place the parking lot, if needed, on Otis or another location. Thank you. I have lived in the Lasley area my whole life, and I think it is time for improvement for the park. I think the parking lot to the south is a great idea, and all the activities that are projected to be out here will be great for the neighborhood and keeping kids available to do nice activities and staying busy and away from trouble. This is going to be a great improvement. The only suggestion I have is to have the parking lot closer to the shelter houses. If you have handicapped spots those people will most likely have a hard time getting up hill depending on how level the park is made. I think the new idea of Lasley Park is great. The south parking lot would be a great idea due to trouble parking sometimes on Otis, and the Lasley parking lot being far away and not available during school hours. Lasley Park does not need a parking lot on Florida Ave. It will cause more traffic problems and the neighborhood is already dealing with the traffic. It will only get worse once Green Gables development is developed. Handicap parking can be located on north side of the park. You can also purchase the land that is for sale and add parking plus more. That is what you had planned 13 to 15 years ago. Leave volleyball court where it is. Move corn hole, ping pong, horse shoe to where proposed volleyball court is going. Move new playground to where the old playground is. Please no parking lot on Florida Ave. 1

2 No Parking Lot on W. Florida Ave!!! The planned playground is too over the top for a small neighborhood park. Don't remove existing mature trees! Corn hole, ping pong? Liability? Bad Idea! Drinking and pot smoking in cars. This will be a law enforcement nightmare encouraging vagrants. This new proposal was not one of the proposals the students came up with. This is not fair to the residence that attended those meetings. New proposal: Purchase new playground (replace old); no parking lot on Florida Ave. (more alcohol and drugs brought to neighborhood); exercise equipment between basketball court and volleyball court; net climber south of pavilion; no horse shoe, corn hole or ping pong; more flower beds. Less cost. I am extremely opposed to a parking lot at Lasley Park. Elementary school next to it, children, elderly residents and pets use park daily. I don't want drug pushers in our area - the busy traffic on Florida is enough to content with. No to this proposal. I don't like the plan for a parking lot off Florida. There's enough parking on Otis street and at the school. I can understand updating the children's playground, but I don't think it needs to be expanded as the school playground is next door and it has really been redone. It seems like all the ideas for play/exercise areas are rally taking away from the green areas as are all the extra walkways. I like the feel that this is a small park and therefore doesn't attract the large groups and activities that take away from the enjoyment of a small park. It almost feels like all the ideas are for a larger park than Lasley is (more like O'Kane). Is there any change of a partial median to help slow down some of the traffic along Florida? With all the proposed additions, it will mean more people and more traffic along Florida. Drinking fountain near tennis; basketball and volleyball courts, kids run out of water they bring and then ask neighbors. Large bulletin board as is at park (1st and Pierce Street). More handicap parking to roundabout at tennis courts. It's too much to push a wheel chair up the hill! Especially if you are pushing an adult. I will consider this and perhaps give more feedback, but my initial thoughts are that I like the idea of a raised point for the views, a soft running trail, a small parking lot, a water feature for the kids and an improved play area (I have three boys). I LOVE the corn hole and ping pong idea. Could we have two sets of corn hole side by side? They don't take up much space and it will be a real bummer if the one set is taken and we can't play. The exercise equipment is a neat idea. For the playground, what about some sound features? Some parks have really cool vibraphone and musical pipes. This would only be good if really sounded great though and were durable (Dekoevand Park), otherwise, we wouldn't want something that sounded bad or was trashy after a short time like many parks. On a separate note, I would like to request a dog park, but not at Lasley, perhaps at the Heritage/Belmar park. How would I go about that? The closest dog park currently to us is minute drive. Thank you. I am vey excited to see improvements to Lasley. We go there often and use the fields, the playground, the paths, the basketball court, and the tennis court (mostly for our dog to run around in). I know that this will improve our quality of life, our community, and our property value. Thanks! Please do not put a parking lot along Florida and Marshall. Florida is already very busy. Having a parking lot put in along this street will cause congestion, trash concerns, loitering, and traffic issues. The neighborhood people already voted down one effort for this several years ago. This will not bring any improvement to the area, only new problems. This feedback actually is for any and all projects in the City of Lakewood. I would love to see more adult CrossFit or Free running equipment. Angle walls or warp walls obstacles for climbing over of any kind in our parks. If you could install any of this kind of stuff where you could do rock climbing walls, anything with climbing ropes, adult size monkey bars, dip stations, pull up bars, jump boxes. Anything that can increase balance, grip strength, upper body strength. You know the stuff we see on American Ninja Warrior and Tough Mudder events. One last thing list any of this kind of equipment on some kind of website. I know myself and a lot of others will travel to any of the city parks to use this equipment. We just need to know where it's at. Thanks Some of the improvements are good. WE DO NOT NEED PARKING OFF FLORIDA ST. If you need parking for Handicap, put it on the west side near the covered picnic table or by the tennis courts on the north side. NO PARKING along Florida. I didn't hear any feed back from the public for a parking lot at all. Handicap can have a drop off area. New idea: grassy area like an arena for classroom use. I have a 2 year old she likes the swings, slides and really enjoys the climbing feature. She really likes to walk up and down the stairs and ladder, I'm worried that the new playground will be too open with not enough things to walk on. In the new park she would like to be able to climb and slide and swing. I like that there are infant swings and regular swings because I like to be able to swing with my daughter. I'm excited that there is a fitness center with playground visibility. 2

3 The plans look wonderful! Here are my comments/feedback/questions: 1. Is the small Parking lot ONLY for Handicapped/Disabled and will it be marked as such (and ticketed!)? 2. Are there bike racks near the play areas? 3. Are there drinking fountains? 4. This park is NOTORIOUS for off-the-leash violators. Suggest more signage - Golden has a "Zero Tolerance" sign for off the leash, picking up waste, licensing. 5. In my opinion, having adults exercise while watching their children is a lot like distracted driving. Kids can do anything in a split second, and multitasking is a poor idea. Parents are already on their phones and not paying attention. Perhaps invest in shaded seating. Can't make parents watch with undivided attention, but we don't have to encourage it. 6. Is the $1.3 million an ESTIMATE or a BUDGET? What provisions are in place for permission (from whom) for cost overruns? 7. Has the source of the $1.3 million been determined? Do City voters have a say in #6 & #7? Thank you to everyone for the many hours invested so far. I am disappointed in the VERY small # of Survey respondents and Meeting Attendees - do you think that is a result of the way the invitation was sent out? (I MAY have seen them, but really don't remember! It was the postcard received today which caught my eye.) Forgot to include another point re: Exercise Equipment for Parents watching their kids on the playground. This is what Gym Memberships are for. Are Parents supposed to be watching their kids while they work out at the Gym? I'm PRETTY SURE folks would be using this equipment who HAVE NO KIDS. I feel strongly against this part of the plan. Thank you for hearing us ~ I'm shocked that there is a parking lot on W. Florida Ave. included in this plan. This issue came up several years ago and was abandoned because of the opposition to having a parking lot on Florida. It would be a traffic nightmare. There is a school crossing a short distance away. If I were the planners I would not want the liability of having caused the death or injury of a child because of lack of foresight. The other problem is parents will be using it as a drop off point for children to go through the park unsupervised to school a law enforcement nightmare because of all the vegetation planned. If a parking area is needed why not put it on Otis St. on the West side of the park Which would alleviate the traffic problem and being so close to the school crossing on Florida. There is a vacant lot across the street on Otis, so there would be a parking lot as well as on the street parking. It is my opinion that there is plenty of parking on Otis St. the way it is without a parking lot and if the issue is ADA the Otis St. entrance to the park could easily be made handicap accessible with very little trouble. Lasley Park is a small neighborhood park and most of the people who use the park regularly walk to the park and enjoy the openness. We do not want to encourage vagrants to live in the park or criminals to hide in the park. Our Police Department has enough to deal with already. I love the idea of more lighting and the playground is OK (a little extravagant for a small neighborhood park). Horseshoes? Has anyone considered the liability of Horseshoes? Ping pong? I see a ping pong table as an invitation for vandalism, which has always been a problem at this park and the school. I hope after the students did their initial designs, you had a professional design team review their drawings. If this had happened, then maybe the parking lot wouldn't be on Florida, which is an extremely busy street. That is the wrong place for the parking lot. It should be off of Otis. That way people can easily get in and out of the lot and turning onto Florida from a street is much safer than trying to pull out from a fairly unmarked parking area. With the lot off of Otis, the children will be away from Florida and safer for parents to try to wrangle their children. Also, you won't have any back ups from people trying to get in and out onto Florida. Other than the design of the parking lot, it will be an added improvement to the neighborhood. Reconsider the lot, it is safer for the community and a smart choice for the city. Imagine how you would feel if a horrible accident happened right there, simply because the design is not correct. I hope the City will see the safety concern and put the lot on Otis. Love it! Overall, I think that the Lasley Park Improvement Plan is a well-thought out, reasonable project. I do have one specific comment: If a portable toilet is placed at the northwest corner of the western end of the park, adequate police patrols will be needed to ensure against improper use of that facility. This is because people often park their cars at night along the section of Otis Street next to the western end of the park, where these people drink, smoke, and have sex. My family and I live on the southwest corner of Florida Avenue and Otis Street, and worship at Phillips United Methodist Church at 1450 So. Pierce Street, so we would like to see the daytime and nighttime use of the western end of Lasley Park kept legal, safe, and clean. Thanks very much, and best wishes, Randall K. Voigt NO PARKING ON FLORIDA between Marshall St and Newland St. Use Otis St for parking or by the tennis courts. Tabletop gaming tables would be nice, from the YouTube presentation I can't tell if those will be included for chess, backgammon, Catan, etc. games. Also actual Uni-gender restrooms instead of portapotties would be nice. Soccer pitch looks good. A sidewalk along the south side of Florida from Pierce east with the bus stops is a must. The rock gardens at Kendrick Lake Park are beautiful and we take visitors there and go ourselves often. It'd be nice to have at Lasley too. And when did everyone get paranoid? We had those when I was growing up too but we didn't build fences and walls and not build access, like parking lots because of it. My family and I think the Lasley Park Site Plan is great the way it is and doesn't need and changes :) There is to much traffic on Florida to put parking between Marshall St and Newland St. Put the parking on the west end of the park or by the tennis courts. 3

4 My family and I are long time residents of the area. We live on the south/west corner of Florida and Marshall St. We have fought against a parking lot across the street in Lasley Park in the past and will continue to oppose it in the future! Lasley Park is OUR neighborhood park and is Just Fine the way it is! At the present time, we are often awakened in the middle of the night by loud parties and fireworks in the park. Last summer a group of young people had a fight in front of our house in the middle of the night and we received a rock through our dining room window! We are concerned about having more traffic on our overly travelled street (Florida)! We definitely do not want people parking in the proposed parking lot, playing loud music, drinking, using drugs and bringing more danger to our neighborhood! This proposed parking lot is unsafe for the residents of our neighborhood! The residents of our neighborhood are mostly elderly and enjoy strolling around OUR park! We strongly oppose changes to Lasley Park! If you feel you need a parking lot, consider putting it on the north side of the park and make it accessible to Lasley Elementary School! WE ARE STRONGLY OPPOSED TO A PARKING LOT AT LASLEY PARK. AS LONG TIME RESIDENTS, PLEASE RESPECT OUR WISHES! Sincerely, Barry Buy the Lewis property and put parking lot there. No parking on Florida - too much traffic. No parking on Florida. If you need handicap parking, use the west end by the picnic table or on Arkansas by the tennis courts. Fully against the parking lot shown! This creates a more dangerous situation for people, especially children. It adds more congestion to smooth flowing Florida Avenue. This is not a regional park, but a neighborhood park. ADA access and handicap parking spaces can be located on Arkansas Avenue or on Otis Street away from Florida Avenue. Like to see more floral gardens - xeriscape where new located volleyball space; keep old space. Do not like the idea of the corn hole, ping pong area like the parking lot idea, but not sure about cars turning left on to Florida Avenue. I think the small parking lot will be fine. I don't think the gravel path close to private property should be an issue. People already walk there! Don't forget a bulletin board! Shade play area with trees around south side; parking lot OK, not any bigger like location centrally located. Like bench wall seating areas with landscaping. Like multi-age play area with adults close working out. Water drinking would be great; easy to get dehydrated while playing. Thank you students, City of Lakewood, and all others working on this projects. I'm interested in the art work project, who chooses? Sidewalk along south side of Florida from Pierce to Kendall with bus stop (now steeply sloped weeds). Table top gaming area for chess, backgammon, etc. We do not want the parking lot on Florida. It should be at the top of the park or the people that own the house where the horses use to be are willing to sell their lot to Lakewood for parking. We have too, too much traffic as is!!! Improve the playground, leave the parking lot at the top of the park. I believe the parking lot will create more traffic and congestion, creating an unsafe condition for children using the park and kids from Lasley Elementary School. I appreciate any and all improvements. Thanks for greater handicap help. Thanks for all your hard work. I was at the meeting last night about the park and I just wanted to say how excited I am about the improvements to the park. I have 3 little girls who will have a lot more fun at the park after the renovations will be done. We will no longer be driving over to Kendrick Lake or other parks, we can just walk to Lasley. The Playground and net climbing area look awesome. I also love the fitness area right by the playground, and that there are games that will be fun for adults as well as children. Wanted to say thanks for all the hard work that has gone into this, and I can't wait to see it happen! I have been in my home in this neighborhood for over 30 years and I am against any improvements to the Lasley Park. We fought this a couple of years ago and I am not happy that I have to continue fighting it. I would prefer that the park be left alone, use the money elsewhere. The elderly in the neighborhood enjoy walking around the park. I am extremely against a parking lot and all of the noise traffic that come with it. Dear City of Lakewood, It appears to me your plan is to turn our lovely, serene park into a $1.3 million junkyard. My preference would be thank you but no thank you please. My biggest concern is the parking lot. There is no need for a parking lot. There is always plenty of parking space at the west end of the park on Owens Street. I live on Iowa Ave. at the end of Marshall Street. This parking lot would mean that I would see headlights flashing into my window from cars entering and leaving the park at all hours. Make no mistake, the drug dealers and prostitutes will love this new arrangement. It also means there will be more traffic when I try to cross Florida to walk my dogs. This whole thing smells like a gift from the City of Lakewood to RTD to give them a free park and ride. There is no benefit to the people in this neighborhood to have a bunch of junky looking equipment and more concrete to look at that will replace our beautiful trees and lawn. Please put me down in favor of leaving the park as it is. It isn't broke, but I think it will be if you "fix" it. Another concern I have is the noise and traffic disruption that will occur while this project is underway. How long do you estimate the construction project will last? This is not going to be a quick fix. Leave us alone, please! I use the park several times a week, and contrary to what I read in your survey results; this park sees plenty of use as it is. Please do not junk it up! 4

5 My wife and I often walk in Lasley Park and appreciate the planned upgrades. Our preference is Concept C with the following additions: 1. Add at least two more pavilions; 2. Add walkway access from Otis to the concrete loop walkway at northwest corner of park (people entering from Otis at the northwest corner will cut through to the Loop); 3. Add trees to concrete loop on North and South sides of the park for shade for people walking on the 'Loop'. Thank you! Alfred & Eileen I know from the past that the parking issue has always brought lots of negative feedback and I know that was true again this time. Could it be possible to think of limited parking on the street near the 2nd picnic shelter--i think that is Otis street? I think some parking is reasonable, even if the neighbors are not so reasonable! Otherwise, the plan looks great to me, especially if some new and nicer signage is included. I feel badly that I didn't participate/give feedback before now, but I really like the addition of exercise equipment and the wider sidewalk path along Florida! Corn hole and ping pong will be fun, too. No Parking lot would be our preference, but if the real reason for the parking lot is to make it more accessible to older or disabled people, the lot should be just for that. It should be a small lot for handicapped parking only. If it is not marked for handicapped only it will be used by people taking RTD and as a drop off or pick up spot for the school. I believe a better spot for a lot would be on the northeast side closer to the pavilion. I'm sure you have seen lists over the years of the parking lot concerns, they are numerous and they are valid. We would have to say we agree with the majority of them. The proposed parking lot, as it stands now will be a neighborhood nuisance and will not serve the park as you intend it to. As a second point, we would like to see additional pavilions. Two is not enough. Living across Florida from the park we see the usage and the park could benefit from a least one more. We like the new playground design, better for the little ones. My Husband and I were among the original organizers of the Greenbriar-Cloverdale Homeowners Association. We worked with Lasley and Foothills to get the handicapped accessible ramp to the shelter. We do not like the idea of a parking lot unless it is for handicapped only. Able bodied people can park at the school and walk. There should be more benches, and we would like to see flower gardens or xeriscape gardens. If Lakewood plans to put in trees they really need to be maintained and taken care of. We were really impressed with the plan. We LOVE the parking plan, although we would love to see more spaces. Love the fitness court. (Please add three smile faces) How will the volleyball court be leveled when it is moved to the slope? We would really like to have a swimming pool, whether indoor or outdoor. If a pool isn't possible what about a splash park/water park? We would also like to have brick restroom facilities. Port-a-potties are not sanitary. (cplease stress how important this is!) My isn't working too well, so I am going to give my thoughts on Lasley Park project the old fashioned way and hand deliver them to you! As I stated in an to the city in February this year, I feel that Lasley Park could benefit from changes in several areas. The students in the University of Colorado Denver's graduate landscape architecture program put a lot of effort and thought into their six designs to modernize Lasley Park. My husband and I thought that the six designs were very interesting but we were impressed that all six designs encouraged all ages to use the park. The proposed Lasley Park site plan that was presented to the public this June is a very good use of great ideas from the original six concepts. The playground looks like fun (wish I was a kid so I could check it out), the exercise area is a very good idea for those of us who need motivation to get in shape, the enhanced park lighting is a necessary safety improvement, flowering bushes will get needed color into the park and improve the aesthetics (this makes me really happy!), and adding another port-a-let on the west side is just common sense. I can tell you from my experience that when my community organization hosted a picnic several years ago in the park we had little kids who were using the trees as temporary bathroom facilities! Lastly, I am pleased that the city is going to update the irrigation at Lasley Park. I know this was a major impediment to getting landscaping improvements done in the past so this is necessary to the redesign of the park. I feel that I need to add a comment about parking in the park. I know that some of the adjacent neighbors to the park have fought on-site parking at Lasley Park for many years. As a neighbor that doesn't live immediately next to Lasley Park, I have used the park by driving to it and parking on Otis or at Lasley Elementary. It doesn't make sense to me to deny convenient parking to disabled or elderly neighbors because some neighbors don't want on-site parking. What gives these people the right to make it difficult for handicapped or elderly people to access our park? After all, it isn't just their park and they need to learn to share with others. Perhaps the parking lot could be designed for handicapped parking only? Accessibility is a big deal to someone in a wheelchair or using a walker to get around. Thanks for all the work that the students at CU and the staff at the city have done on this project. You have all done a great job! This park plan is a HOMERUN! This really is a shining example of the city working with us to give what we wanted and positively so much more! I wish this park was here already!!!! Thank you so much for making this happen! 5