The school sites have since been amalgamated with the originally proposed 5-acre park site to create a 10.5-acre (4.25 hectare) park.
Little River Road runs along the North side of the park; one and two-story single-detached houses back onto the East and South sides. Adjacent to the west side of the park are three-story apartments (Villa Polonia). A storm sewer and catch basin for the park was installed in 1987, however, there are ongoing drainage problems in the South-East corner of the park. Recreation equipment consists of a basketball key (4 hoops on a common pole), a soccer field, two swing sets and a platform with a slide for young children, as shown on the drawing attached as Schedule ‘B’. There are few shade trees and no shade structure.
The walkways that previously connected the adjacent residential streets to the Park were closed in 2003, as discussed in the Section below.
3. DISCUSSION:
Based on the Community Improvement Plan and further public consultation focused on Little River Acres Park, the redevelopment concept is meant to do the following:
- Introduce new means of access to the park.
-
Facilitate monitoring of the park by surrounding residents.
-
Provide adequate facilities to meet the recreational needs of residents.
-
Improve the image and self-esteem of the community.
-
Create a “Commons” that fosters exchange and respect among residents of the community.
Lack of Access
Although the neighborhood borders the park on three sides, there are no internal access points to the park from the neighborhood. This has proven to be a problem for residents of Little River Acres because anyone wishing to use the park does not have convenient access to it. A parking lot is proposed in the design concept attached as Appendix ‘A’, however vehicular access would not serve children and youth Who wish to use the park on a routine basis. At present, the walking distance to the park from the geographic center of the community (intersection of Cottage Place and Little River Acres Drive) requires walking out to Little River Road, for a total distance of 0.70 km (0.43 miles). Pedestrian access connecting the park to Copperfield Place or Foxhill Place would reduce the walking distance in the above example to 0.21 km (0.13 miles).
Recommendation # 46 (Low Priority) of the Community Improvement Plan was to explore the option of purchasing lots backing onto the park to provide for internal access to the park.
Walkway connections previously existed between the park and the above-mentioned streets but were closed in 2003. The opinion was divided in the community on the subject of closure, but it was finally determined that the inappropriate design of the narrow walkways facilitated nuisance behavior, which had a significant impact on the adj acent properties.
The walkways were very narrow (10 feet wide from fence to fence), unlit and obscured by adj acent vegetation. The walkways were not aligned at the terminus of the street and