Agenda - Council - 06/11/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Bennett recognized that this is a pocket park and anyone that wants to use the park from outside the neighborhood will most likely park in the church parking lot. Commissioner Sis commented that pickleball courts are popular and will increase the number of patrons going to the park, therefore additional signage on where people should access the park could be helpful. Parks & Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood stated that the Commission could have another opportunity to address that scenario prior to the review by the City Council in May, although he was not sure what that scenario would be. He noted a reciprocity agreement with PACT Charter School for shared parking but noted that agreement also provided the school with use of the Central Park parking area. He stated that he could reach out to the developer to determine if there would be agreement in shared parking for park users. Commissioner Bennett commented that the intent of the case is to determine whether the Commission supports the dedication of the land and fees, recognizing that access could be a challenge and perhaps direction to work with the developer could be added to the motion. Parks & Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood agreed that direction could be provided to staff to have a conversation with the developer related to permitted parking within the private area of the PUD. He stated that citing pickleball courts can also be a challenge near residential properties because of the noise, which is why he mentioned a potential privacy fence. He noted that the courts are scaled to neighborhood use and the seniors in the proposed apartment building will most likely use the courts along with other neighbors in this area. He did not think two courts would attract throngs of people from outside this area. Chair Barten asked if there would be more benefit in having Haviland Fields build their own pickleball courts for private use and the City instead use its funds to build courts in another area, such as Elmcrest. Commissioner Bennett commented that the challenge would be that part of the process is to have resources that could be used by everyone as part of this development. Commissioner Sis asked if it has been considered to leave the new park dedication area as grass and locate the pickleball courts in Solstice Park proper. Commissioner Bennett commented that regardless of where the courts would be located within Solstice Park, the issue would be access. Commissioner Sis noted that the changed location would encourage people to park on the public street parking. He asked if access could be arranged off Erkium. Parks & Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood replied that would not be likely as there are driveways on that cul-de-sac and therefore there is only a bit of space for parking. He stated that adding a parking lot would take up a lot of park space, disrupt the irrigation, have additional cost and provide a small amount of parking in return. He stated that on -street parking has not been an issue for Solstice Park to date. He also reviewed the present use of the open space area in question. Park and Recreation Commission/ April 11, 2024 Page 4 of 6