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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAC 12-06-2017 Czech - Item 3 Purrington, Teresa From:Genevieve Czech <agczech@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, December To:Stanwyck, Shelly; Johnson, Derek; CityClerk; Advisory Bodies Subject:Parks and Recreation Meeting,12/6/17, North Broad Neighborhood Park Congratulations, thank you, and we welcome and applaud this first annual report. Clearly enormous efforts, countless hours, consultation with stakeholders, incorporating diverse interests have gone into the finished product. It is heartening to witness how seriously you commit to the city's parks, open spaces, events, and the training and skill brought by your employees in their continuous training.It is particularly impressive how you distribute your time, budget, and efforts in the diverse neighborhoods and their needs. You pledge to continue to work with the community, and it is in this spirit that I feel compelled to express my disappointment with the mere cursory reference to the North Broad Neighborhood Park project, which has been awaiting its achievement for over forty years, and whose explicit budget has already been pilfered by the P&R for consultation fees with no apparent intention of reimbursement. Those of us who reside in this neighborhood feel nervous about the fund being reduced again with questionable justifications. Last June Ms. Stanwyck told New Times that Parks and Recreation would be both "looking and talking to any large property owners to see if they have an interest in either a sale or lease". Before the 22 Chorro Street and 71 Palomar developments had been approved, suggestions were made to the City to incorporate that land or part of the land for a park. Even a small park is a major relief aesthetically, recreationally, socially and a touch of nature amidst the concrete environment. Now those sites have been lost to developers, 22 Chorro touting itself as luxurious, unrivaled off campus student housing. Please retain the funding set aside for a North Broad neighborhood park and demonstrate a more pro-active search for a suitable site. While we residents can do our part to recommend a site, we do not have the same overview your department has. Furthermore, the Council might be more attentive to your recommendations than they were to ours. Keep the promise to provide this park as a high priority, not as an after thought. We wish to join you in "excitement and gratitude". Yours sincerely, Genevieve Czech, 612 Stanford Drive, SLO , CA93405 1