martha walker pm1_summary of comments

Martha Walker Park Improvements

Public Meeting #1 Comments

DATE: MAY 30, 2013

LOCATION: CROSS TIMBERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, ARLINGTON, TX

PUBLIC MEETING NOTES

QUESTION/COMMENT RESPONSE Who requested that this park be developed? Did this come from an individual or a group?

The department regularly analyzes our park service areas to ensure that we are providing parks and recreation services equitably to all residents. While progress has been made in southwest Arlington, we still have a very large area that we are not meeting the needs of residents according to our adopted standards. Martha Walker Park provides open space in one of our service gap areas, but no recreational amenities to serve residents. Without funding to acquire additional park land, this site will allow the City provide passive recreational opportunities in an effort to meet citizen needs. The park’s namesake, Martha Walker, also requested that we begin plans for developing the park.

What happens if we don’t want to do any additional park development to this property? I heard there’s been talk of selling the park?

This property was purchased in 1986 to secure park land within the under-served southwest Arlington area. The property is classified as a neighborhood park, meaning it is intended to serve residents within a ½ mile radius service area. If we do not develop this park, we would need to sell the property and use those funds to purchase other park property in the service area. Our preference is to develop the existing park.

The rail fence should be extended the full length of the park to prevent any vehicle access into the park.

We will consider this in our project scope.

Will there be any area or security lighting for the park? Parking lots are required to be lit by City ordinance. We can provide area lighting at the playground if desired. We will not light the trail—this gives people a false sense of security and encourages them to use the trail at night.

People come into the park at night already. By adding improvements, more people will be in the park after hours.

Like all neighborhood parks, the park is open from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm. Anyone using the park outside of these hours should be reported to the Police.

Is an automated gate to keep cars from going into the parking lot at night an option?

It’s a very expensive option, but one we can consider in our project scope. An automated gate only prevents people from entering the park after hours; it does not force cars that entered before the closing time to leave.

Lack of sidewalks for access from Harris Road means that children trying to get to the park will have to walk in the road, but adding sidewalks could increase pedestrian traffic into the neighborhood which is undesirable.

We will discuss the issue with the Public Works and Transportation Department, but currently, there are no plans to add sidewalks along Sharon Lee Drive or the immediate Harris Road area. Ideally, we would like to have safe and easy access for pedestrians, but this situation occurs at many park locations in our system.



DATE: MAY 30, 2013


There’s no access to the park from Turner Way. Unfortunately, providing passive amenities in Martha Walker Park does not solve all of the service area needs in southwest Arlington. We recognize the need for additional parks in and around Turner Way, but direct access to this site does not seem feasible at this point. The lack of a street network and numerous private properties between the park and Turner Way make it difficult for residents to access the site without driving off of Harris Road.

Developing the park could lead to increased traffic, cars parking in the lot at night, or people using the ditches in front of homes as overflow parking.

These are typical concerns any time we develop parks in residential neighborhoods. Most of the time, once the park is developed, residents find that the benefit of the nearby park outweighs any minor problems, if there are any at all. We can post signage to make parking along the road illegal. However, this will mean that no one can park there—not even residents or their guests.

We want to keep the park natural! Can we include things like a monarch butterfly way station, wildflowers, and opportunities for wildlife/bird watching?

These are great ideas, and we will consider them in the scope of our project.

Can there be equestrian trails? Can there be a combination of concrete and natural trails? Perhaps the upper loop of trail can be natural trail, and the lower loop can be concrete.

We can include a combination of concrete and natural surface trails. The suggestion of making the upper loop natural and the lower loop concrete is a good one, and we will consider this in the scope of our project. We will also consider equestrian trail areas, but the small-sized, neighborhood parks are not the best candidates for this type of activity. Larger pathways and parking areas would need to be evaluated to accommodate these activities.

We don’t want a lot of people in our neighborhood. How can we discourage large, formal gatherings? We do not want a pavilion.

Based on the discussion at the public meeting, the pavilion will be removed from the conceptual plan. The park will be designed to encourage passive activity, such as using the trails and observing wildlife. Large groups are more likely to use one of the nearby community parks (i.e., SJ Stovall and FJ Red Kane) that offer different and larger amenities.

I’m excited about having a playground that’s within walking distance for my family. Is it possible to have the poured-in-place rubber surfacing like I’ve seen at other parks?

Poured-in-place surfacing is incredibly expensive and therefore isn’t cost effective for a park like Martha Walker. We would much rather use available funds to provide more and better play equipment. The engineered wood fiber we use in most of our parks is cost effective, easy for staff to maintain, and meets all required safety regulations.

I think it’s important to include dog waste stations for people to clean up after their pets.

We can definitely include dog waste stations as a park amenity. Thank you for the suggestion!



DATE: MAY 30, 2013


COMMENT CARDS

COMMENT FOLLOW-UP? Limited parking spaces, lighting for parking, clean up wooded area, no basketball or tennis courts, children’s playground, better road maintenance for increased park traffic

No

Thanks for your efforts! You are encouraged to continue! We are encouraged! - Would really love the trails and loops—great for walking, jogging, and dog walking. Also support the playground and picnic tables. - Keep the park as natural and beautiful as possible. Butterfly area would be great. Wildflowers. Small parking area. Trails. No pavilion or exercise equipment (ugly!!!). Limited playground equipment.

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As little development as possible! Concerns: traffic, parking, security, turn around in private drives. Use area for nature/wildlife. No baseball fields, no playgrounds, no soccer fields.

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The comments above are taken directly from comment cards turned in by meeting attendees. Every effort has been made to correctly interpret illegible handwriting. Emphases are those of the comment writer.

E-MAILED AND TELEPHONED COMMENTS:

COMMENT FOLLOW-UP? Disabled citizen that lives near the park and received the mailer—curious about what we’re going to do in the park. Says that walking trails would be great since there isn’t much other place to walk in the neighborhood (rural streets). Mentioned that UTA students used to come to the park and stargaze. Is in support of playgrounds, practice fields, and a small parking lot.

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“I got a postcard about the meeting on 5/30 about the Martha Walker Park. My biggest interest is will it be able to tie to other parks via a walkway? I enjoy walking and in my very small neighborhood it is kind of hazardous since there are no sidewalks. I don’t like to walk on Turner Way or Calendar. We usually load up the dogs and go to the park on Eden road by the Golf Course. That park has a super walkway. Again would be great if more parks were attached to each other. But whatever is done will be appreciated. Thanks.”

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The comments above are the writer’s understanding of the various discussions held and conclusions reached.

RECORDED BY: Briana Morrison, City of Arlington

martha walker pm1_summary of comments

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