Green space, ball fields and traffic

Last night the City Council held a hearing on a proposal to put two soccer fields on a tract of land that was purchased by the City for open space. The proposal included artificial turf, field lights on 70 foot polls with cell phone antennas , 100 parking spaces for cars, rest rooms, and several zoning variances. It would have required cutting many large trees and grading 8 acres of the area down by as much a 20 feet. In my view this constituted development of the space. I attended the hearing and spoke against the proposal.

I believe that the end result of the hearing will be that one field will be constructed, fewer trees will be cut and no lights will be put up and no cell phone antennas will put up.

I believe that the area is unsuited for even this reduced level of activity and I feel that the change in traffic flow will create problem for residents of the subdivision. However, the City Council seems determined to proceed with construction of one field.

“Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got, till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got, till it's gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot”

Lyrics by and sung by Joanie Mitchell