BooneCountyGirl
skyler the weird
Rick Barton
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Park Road Sidewalk SlugFest
Under the city’s sidewalk policy, areas to be designated as thoroughfares, such as Park Road, are identified by staff. No public meeting is required for a thoroughfare sidewalk project, and no set percentage of neighbors requesting or opposing sidewalk placement is necessary. But that hasn’t prevented residents in opposition from speaking out.
“The thoroughfare sidewalk is inconsistent with the rest of Park Road and its size and scale are unnecessary,” said Robert Fitzpatrick, who owns property that would be impacted by the proposed project. In some cases, Fitzpatrick told councilmembers, the sidewalk’s width would span seven feet, with eight-foot setbacks, and would require tearing up as much as 25 feet from neighboring yards.
Fitzpatrick and other neighbors also expressed concerns about the precedent the project would set for others areas along Park Road, should they also be retrofitted to the thoroughfare standard. For example, he said, to bring the sidewalk in front of Holy Trinity School, which is only about three-feet wide, up to the thoroughfare standard would require moving the school’s football field. The stretch of road right in front of Park Road Shopping Center, he said, receives heavy pedestrian use, but doesn’t have any sidewalk.
“We don’t see the city having the capacity for changing any of this in the near future,” Fitzpatrick said.
Because the project falls under an already-adopted city policy, it doesn’t require specific approval from the council, although that august body will have to sign off on the construction contract and expenditure. And if the city can’t reach agreement with impacted homeowners to purchase part of their front yards, the council would need to vote to snatch the property by eminent domain.
Given the amount of community feedback and concern, Councilmember Michael Barnes, a Democrat, asked that the council’s transportation committee receive an updated briefing on the project, to include an accounting of its price and more details about tree-save efforts.
Councilmember Patsy Kinsey, a Democrat whose district includes Park Road, said that’s appropriate.
“It deserves our full consideration,” she said. “I’m trying to balance both sides of the issue. The policy calls for having a sidewalk on both sides of the road, for pedestrian safety, but we also have to take into consideration the disruption the project will cause residents and the impact it will have on our efforts to save our tree canopy.”
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Short URL: http://pundithouse.com/?p=693
I know people want to save the trees and their yards. But as a Park Road resident with children-I would love consistent sidewalks on both sides of the road to allow for walking trips to the store and local restaurants.
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I suppose it comes down to priorities. When there is a limited supply of money and lingering areas of concern all over the city, I just personally can’t rationalize spending this kind of money for such a small portion of sidewalk…especially considering there is already a sidewalk on the other side of the road and an inevitable amount of damage that will be done to the current property owners. I’m always a “needs first – wants second” kinda guy. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
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It has been my experience that the Indian Chiefs in charge for projects like as this one really have some strange notions on how to do their jobs.
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Why does sidewalk cost $660,000+?
Is there a place we can read the embarrassing list of expenses?
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Financial responsibility of elected officials to the citizens of Charlotte should dictate an IMMEDIATE halt to this project! If we take care of the NEEDS of our citizens now we can take care of some WANTS down the road. Sanity must prevail here. Stop this project before we waste any more money considering it.
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