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E-mail This StoryTuesday night’s council meeting lasted well into the night before a compromise was reached that allowed Bicentennial Park upgrades to pass without the much-debated batting cages. A handful of Love Henry Court residents and a few others stuck around to hear the decision and make their opinions heard.
The residents of Love Henry Court are closest to where the park is and had many concerns about the park being upgraded, not only because of the size but also because of the light and noise pollution and how it will effect their nearby houses.
City staff met with those residents since the prior council meeting and worked with them on making some of the changes they requested.
Some of the things that the Love Henry Court residents requested staff to look at was the sound from the batting cages, and ask they be enclosed or soundproofed in some way. They were also asked to reduce the number of parking spaces, add additional plantings, check operating hours of parks, find ways to secure fields and cages, add five-foot backboards for out field and possibly a higher wall.
Staff looked at all suggestions and even made a trip to Mansfield to look at their baseball complex and their concrete walls. Staff decided concrete walls will not be part of the barrier because of cost and aesthetics.
The staff met with Southlake Baseball Association. SBA agreed to maintain the same operating hours, which at the north fields end earlier.
The staff decided against the backboards in the outfield and also against reducing the parking lot size.
Claudia Pillow, a Love Henry Court resident, gave a presentation called “Paved Paradise and put up a parking lot”. In the presentation, she said that the community was not aware of what was going on with the park. She herself did a survey of residents and found that 26 people did not know about the park. She did not say where the residents lived in relation to the park. She also claimed that SBA participation was down 3.9 percent. She also made a request to staff to move the proposed batting cages to the south part of the complex and requested a 12-foot wall along the north border of phase one to minimize light, sound and noise pollution.
“I am here to echo the concern of my colleague Mrs. Pillow,” said Timothy, a resident of Love Henry Court. “We are responsible business people. We are good neighbors and we expect the city to be good neighbors to us.”
After several others spoke out against the batting cages, the mayor made a suggestion that they pass the plan without the batting cages at this time. Councilman Greg Stansell made a motion to approve the park with lighting option two and a 10-foot wooden fence. The item passed unanimously, 7-0.
In other council news, a wrought iron fence was approved to go around White’s Chapel Cemetery. Several other items were tabled until the next meeting. The next council meeting is set for Dec. 2.
