pages: RecreationandParkCommission/2019-09-12.pdf, 59
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RecreationandParkCommission | 2019-09-12 | 59 | From: bmathieson@aol.com To: Amy Wooldridge Cc: klofkorn@comcast.net; dnowi@comcast.net Subject: For Recreation and Park Commissioners -- September 12 Agenda Item 7c Date: Monday, September 9, 2019 7:29:27 AM Attachments: Compilation of opposition comments 8-22-2019.pc CAUTION: This email message is coming from a non-City email address. Do not click links or open attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe. Please contact the Help Desk with any questions. *** Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Park Commission: I am a neighbor of Jackson Park and am looking forward to participating in your September 12, 2019, meeting. I appreciate the conclusion in the staff report that states, "Overall, it was clear that a playground is not necessary to fulfill the requested needs but rather a small natural play area and/or gathering space for families would suffice." I would like to provide some additional context to the request for a playground in Jackson Park. Your May 9, 2019, recommendation to the City Council that a playground be constructed in Jackson Park was based on misleading information. The two Alameda residents who spoke at your May 9 meeting live in a neighborhood a few blocks from Jackson Park. One of them had conducted an online survey to gauge interest in a playground at the park and told you that the survey respondents were all in favor of a playground. That was not true; either the compilation of the survey results was flawed, or the speaker inaccurately summarized the results. The input provided at the July 30, 2019, Community Meeting, which at least two of you kindly attended, included vast opposition to a playground by people who identified themselves as living in the immediate neighborhood of the park. In contrast, very few of the playground proponents identified where they live. Unfortunately, the sign-in sheet for the meeting included only names and e-mail addresses, with no record of where the meeting attendees live. Speakers who stated that the closest playgrounds are a mile away are mistaken. Edison School, whose large, modern toddler and big-kid play structures are accessible to the public during non-school hours, is 0.6 mile from Jackson Park and 0.4 mile (an 8-minute walk) from the Crist Street homes of many of the pro-playground speakers. Lincoln Park is 0.7 mile from their homes, and Krusi Park is 0.8 mile from their homes. Those three existing playgrounds provide ample opportunities for climbing, swinging, and sliding on conventional play structures in a fenced environment. The attached document is a compilation of comments that various Jackson Park neighbors emailed me about the proposal for a playground in the park. They provide more detail about neighborhood concerns than could be included in the compilation of input from the July 30 Community Meeting. I look forward to hearing the discussion at your meeting this Thursday. I hope that your recommendation will be compatible with Jackson Park's uniquely valuable character as a place of peaceful respite, for all Alameda children and adults, from the hectic aspects of urban life. Sincerely, Betsy (and Scott) Mathieson 1185 Park Avenue (510)523-5852 | RecreationandParkCommission/2019-09-12.pdf |