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North WG residents approve park plan
Site at Bird and Fisk avenues to be done next year
By Kate Carter
City officials impressed residents in northern Willow Glen last week with a plan to create a city park out of a small parcel of open space.
But the team working to turn the overgrown and under-maintained corner of Bird and Fisk avenues into a fenced grassy area with a playground and game tables credited neighbor Renee Erez with getting them started with Erez's initial proposal.
City Parks Manager Steve Roemer told the group gathered Jan. 29 to see the city's plan for the site that he and his team members liked Erez's ideas and only had to make a few changes to make sure the future park meets the city's standards and falls within the project budget.
"This is a doable project in our minds with a fairly fast timeframe," he said, adding that the park could be completed next spring.
The site has been slated to become one of the city's official parks--receiving regular city maintenance--and to receive $300,000 of city money for its construction. The North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, which brought the site to the attention of District 6 City Councilman Ken Yeager, has been working on plans for the park and hosted the community meeting.
City assistant landscape architect Chris Mastrodicasa led the group through an explanation of the park's layout, includes four entrance points along a connected path running through the square park and around a central playground area. The triangular-shaped half closest to the street corner would be grass, he said, and the shady area toward the back would be mulch, with the pathway separating the two. Erez's plan had the grass and mulch areas reversed, but Mastrodicasa said the team thought the grass would be more appropriate in the sunnier part of the site.
A circular playground site would be in the center of the park and accompanied with four benches and two adjacent permanent game tables, he said. Under recommendation from the city's arborist, three of the site's current unhealthy trees would be removed--although a controversial fig tree will remain--but 11 would be added, he said. In addition, the two traditional lighting fixtures would be fixed and another would be added to discourage persons from hiding in the site during the night. The park would have three trash cans and two "mutt-mitt" dispensers to provide plastic bags for people with dogs.
Safety was the neighbors' biggest concern. Given a choice of adding a wrought-iron fence around the front half of the playground area or along the street edges of the park, the group opted to add a fence at the park's edge to keep children from running or falling from the grass into the street. They recommended a spring-loaded gate at the Bird Avenue entrance to the park to keep bicyclists and skateboarders from going through the park. They also wanted to make sure the site would be graded level, removing a sloping area that attracts homeless people and other loiterers, they said.
The neighbors also wanted the playground equipment to be see-through on all sides, game tables to detract graffiti and carving, and park benches to have central armrests so they cannot be used for sleeping.
In addition, residents wanted the park's style to be in keeping with the neighborhood's historical character and add elements similar to those in other areas of the neighborhood. The city officials said they would use those preferences when considering the types of benches, fencing, path paving and playground equipment and would meet with the group again to make final choices. They also said a stone with a plaque from the park's founder would remain on the site and that a short white wooden fence like one along the Fuller Street Plaza area could be incorporated into the park's front community garden space.
"It would give us that unified thread that we want throughout the neighborhood," said association member Dan Erceg.
The group voted to ask the city's team to begin the actual design of the new park. It also asked the city to remove some of the weeds and other unsightly elements at the site during the interim.
Also at the meeting, neighborhood association President Alison England announced that the Greater Gardner Strong Neighborhoods Initiative plan, which includes northern Willow Glen, was approved by the city council. Erceg announced that the area will receive 10 new trashcans to place along Bird Avenue near bus stops and by markets. The group also voted to request a photo-radar vehicle for traffic calming along Hull Avenue.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
