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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-05 - MinutesFAYETTEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes March 5, 2007 A site visit to Walker Park was conducted at 5:30 P.M. to survey the location proposed by Staff for the communication tower to be installed by Smith's 2 -way Radio. Discussion continued during the regular meeting at City Hall. Opening: The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was called to order by Chairman Wade Colwell at 6:05 P.M., on March 5, 2007 in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Present: Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members Colwell, Davidson, Burke, Davis, Biendara, Mauritson, Hatfield and Bitler were present; Park Staff Edmonston, Coles, Whillock, Curry, Wright and Jumper, City Horticulturist Netherland and audience were in attendance. 1. Approval of February 5th, 2007 PRAB Meeting Minutes PRAB Motion: Davis moved to approve as written and Mauritson seconded the motion. Subsequently, Biendara recommended amending the minutes by pointing out one of the proposed changes in the Criteria for Accepting Land was omitted. The item under Trail Corridors' is in the 2nd bullet -point changing the wording `park land' to read 'trail corridor'. Bitler confirmed the omission; Biendara moved to approve the minutes as amended. Bitler seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously by voice vote. 2. Park Land Dedication Kay Curry, Park Planner Development Name: Woodstock Community Engineer: Appian Center for Design, Inc. Owner: Broyles Development Location: South of Wedington Dr., between 46th Ave. and Broyles Rd. Park District: SW Units: 54 single family units and 328 multi -family units Total Acres: 29 acres Land Dedication Requirement: 6.87 acres Money in Lieu Requirement $274,880 Existing Parks: None Developer's Request: Dedication of approximately .92 Parkland and money -in -lieu in the amount of $238,080 for the remainder of the dedication requirement. Staff Recommendation: Staff is recommending a minimum 2 acre parkland dedication and the remainder as money -in -lieu. March 5, 2007/ 1 Justification: There is no other park located within the Y2 mile radius of the proposed development and the high density of this development creates a need for green space. The minimum recommended acreage is consistent with the criteria for accepting parkland. Hank Broyles said Charlie Sloan would sell them two acres to donate to Parks to provide for the required land dedication. This two acres is a portion of the land near Owl Creek School previously conceptually approved by PRAB for a trail corridor. Biendara stated she had emailed residents of Fieldstone, for which she is president of POA, regarding the proposal by Broyles. They responded by indicating they prefer the total six acres of land required per the density proposed by Broyles. The park located within 1/2 mile of Fieldstone is Red Oak Park and is considered unsuitable by Fieldston residents due to the drainage situation. Broyles said dedicating six acres on site would not be possible. Six acres is 1/3 of the project and would cause the loss of 125 units substantially changing the project. He said the project would be changed to commercial instead of the currently planned residential in -fill if a donation of six acres were to be required by the Board. He further stated the acreage value is $130,000 and the Fieldstone acre value is $20,000 and the developer is already giving $450,000 to Parks in real estate and money. Colwell told Broyles he's the first to come to Parks and complain about the green space ordinance in quite a while. Broyles said he's the first to come with an in -fill high density project such as the City asked for in the 2025 Plan. Edmonston said she understood the developer's concern and having looked at this development and the number of projected residents the Staff really wants at least two acres. Hatfield asked if the two acres proposed by Staff is workable within the development. Broyles said he could buy some property adjacent and put a two acre park at that location along the boundary of the development. He said there are several small parks within the development. Hatfield pointed out with Wedington as a barrier Red Oak Park is not an option March 5, 2007/ 2 for the residents in Woodstock. He said he thinks a two acre park would be an amenity on this project. Biendara offered the fact the people in her neighborhood of Fieldstone does not feel Red Oak Park is a good park. She said it's got drainage problems and is washing away. Davidson stated just because someone feels a park isn't a good park isn't reason to penalize another developer. It means the City needs to fix the problem and make sure in the future good locations and good land is given for park locations. Bitler asked if Broyles feels the small green spaces indicated on the map of the proposed development are sufficient to appeal to the people he's hoping to sell homes to. Broyles said the size and amount is not as significant as how well it's utilized. There will be two pools on some buildings and there will be many activities planned. There will be a clubhouse as well as a gym planned. Curry said the two acres along the creek proposed by developers would be wider than the normal trail corridor offering space for other activities as well as a trail. There could be picnic tables and the space will preserve the environmental integrity of the creek. Davidson asked why there is talk of only two acres along the creek and not the six as required. Broyles said he proposed the two plus the money -in -lieu for development of the park. Davidson said it will be Parks problem to provide for development of the park and that land is more important. Broyles said he would be happy to buy six acres from Sloan and Parks can pick out which six acres of the pre -approved land Sloan has offered. Edmonston asked if any park amenities will be associated with the small internal green spaces within Woodstock. Broyles said they were planning to install playground equipment. Colwell said it seems the Board wants two acres with houses facing the park and the alternate would be six acres along the trail corridor with wider areas for park facilities. March 5, 2007/ 3 Broyles said they could draft something up to meet those requests. PRAB Motion: Mauritson moved to table discussion. Davis seconded the motion to table. The motion passed by a vote of 8-0-0. A special PRAB meeting will be held March 15th, 2006 at 5:30 P.M. for further discussion and a vote. 3. SW Park Land Dedication Fund Request: Lisa Netherland, Parks Horticulturist Parks and Recreation Staff is requesting approval of improvements to Wilson Park to be funded from the SW Park Land Dedication Fund in the amount of $4,100. There is ample funding in the SW Park District to fund this project. The project includes installation of stone pavers at the new ornamental concrete bench located near the Castle. This will create unity and provide a hard surface to alleviate erosion and damage to turf. The new stone pavers will match and tie into the existing paved walk that runs from the parking lot to the east sidewalk. The funds for this bench were donated by Jimm Garlock in memory of several family members, a plaque will be installed at the foot of the bench. This project would also include installation of five to seven boulders approximately 5 ft. x 2ft x 1.5 feet to function as a retaining wall, as well as to soften a steep slope that was created by the construction of the curb on Prospect Street. The boulders will be selected to match existing boulders previously installed in the north ornamental garden. PRAB Motion: Davis moved to approve $4,100 of SW Park Land Dedication Fund to pay for improvements to Wilson Park as listed above. Mauritson seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 8-0-0 4. Walker Park Cell Tower Proposal: Dave Reynolds, Smith Radio Project Manager The City is in the process of an agreement with Smith Radio to construct a cell tower at the new Fire Station located in Routh Park. Smith Radio is also interested in locating a cell tower in Walker Park. Staff has toured the site and found that the best location would be adjacent to the parking lot located on Block and 13th Street. The tower would be located on the northeast corner of the parking lot. The site was visited during the 5:30 pm tour. Dave Reynolds presented the proposal for the cell tower during the tour and also attended the meeting following the tour. Colwell said the City has been given first right of refusal to provide the location for the tower. Parks would collect revenues from providing the space. March 5, 2007/ 4 Edmonston said the Board will decide if this tower is compatible with the setting in Walker Park which the Board visited prior to this evening's convened meeting. The City will collect revenue but Smith 2 -Way Radio will donate money which will be used toward the completion of the Walker Park Mural project. Bitler asked if Staff has a recommendation. Edmonston said the revenue is enticing since it's for a 30 year period. Dave Reynolds explained the tower will be built at some location in the Walker Park vicinity due to the increased need for a tower in the area. Some location on commercial land will likely be used if Walker Park is not approved. PRAB Motion: Hatfield moved to table the vote to the Special Board meeting set for March 15th. Davis seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 8-0-0. S. Arbors and Springwoods-Bryan Cooper Barber Group representative Bryan Cooper explained the following: On December 5, 2005 Soloman Apartments was presented to Parks Board as a 420 multi -family unit development. At that time PRAB approved the developer's and Staff's recommendation to dedicate 2 acres of park land to be located at Wellspring and pay money in lieu for the remaining acreage requirement. Shortly thereafter the development was sold and the number of multi -family units was greatly reduced to 122. The 2 acres at Wellspring remained with a condition -of -approval the deed for the 2 acres must be received by Parks and Recreation Staff prior to issuance of the building permit. During the past year Barber sold the Wellspring property to Lindsey. At this time the developer cannot get building permits to develop the land as the deed for the two acres was never received by Parks and Recreation. Because the new owner is not the responsible party, Barber is accepting responsibility and offering money -in -lieu. The possibility of Barber selecting other land to replace the two acres was briefly discussed. However, ordinance requires dedicated land be in the same quadrant as the development generating that dedication. Barber does not own any land in the NW Quadrant at this time. Edmonston said Staff is recommending accepting the money -in -lieu because there is no available park land in the development and the development has already been approved by Planning Commission. Bitler said he feels there should be a penalty for the oversight on the Barber Group and suggested $100,000 instead of the $47,946 required. PRAB Motion: Colwell moved to accept the $47,946 money -in -lieu. Burke seconded the March 5, 2007/ 5 motion. The motion passed by a vote of 7-1-0 with Bitler voting 'no'. 6. Regional Park Update: Staff met with the consultants working on the Regional Park development and design on three occasions during the last week. Edmonston stated the concepts are looking good and Staff recommendation for 12 soccer fields, 8 baseball fields, 4 softball fields and 2 amphitheaters will be part of the developing plan. The consultants will be back in Fayetteville in May to begin the public meetings. 7. Other Business: Colwell stated the Wilson Park bridge and trail project to be built on the east side of the park really needs to be done. The people using the Wilson Park trail and motor vehicle traffic converge at that location and it's becoming more dangerous as more walkers and traffic use the area. Coles reported a site analysis has been completed. Bitler said in the planning of trails at Mt. Sequoyah Woods there is need for soft surface as well as hard surface trails. Edmonston reported the bids for the construction of Harmony Point Park have come in under budget. Wright announced the Annual Art Walk sponsored by Parks and Recreation received the Program/Recreation Administration and Tourism award presented by Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association at the annual convention held in February. Edmonston reported the Fayetteville Youth Soccer spring program has over 1500 participants this year. That amount represents the most ever in this program in which boys and girls from three years to 16 years participate. Colwell requested a volunteer to represent PRAB at the April meeting of the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks monthly meeting. Davis will attend the March meeting and Hatfield volunteered to attend the April meeting. S. Adjournment: Colwell adjourned the meeting at 8:15 P.M. Minutes prepared by Cheryl Whillock March 5, 2007/ 6