By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
A neighborhood park seems to be in the future for residents of Meadowbrook and Milford Knoll.
Salisbury City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to accept Walter Tatum’s offer of 3.6 acres, including his Salisbury home at 223 N. McCoy Road, and develop the property for a park.
Tatum will donate the land in honor of his late wife, Frances. Had the city not wanted the property for a park, he planned to sell it on the open market.
Mayor Susan Kluttz said Tatum’s property is a beautiful area centrally located within the Meadowbrook and Milford Knoll neighborhoods, which generally lie between Statesville and Jake Alexander boulevards.
Whatever the park becomes will be decided by the residents who will use it, Kluttz promised.
During a public hearing Tuesday, nearby homeowners expressed both support and concerns about a park. Several of the residents said they first opposed the idea until they realized the passive recreational nature of a neighborhood park could be a positive.
Bill Safrit, of 207 Gallarie Place, said he initially envisioned full-length basketball courts, ballfields and lights at night. But he became a park supporter once he learned of the type of things usually associated with neighborhood parks such as walking trails, picnic areas and a playground for kids.
Safrit also noted how a new owner could densely develop the property with housing, leading to more traffic in the quiet area.
“I am definitely for the park,” Safrit said, adding it is “a wonderful thing for Walter to do.”
Safrit’s wife, Linda, agreed it would be an appropriate memorial for Tatum’s wife, Frances, daughter of a late Salisbury mayor, Linwood Foil.
Tom Speaks, an Arbor Drive resident, said he would prefer it to remain a single-family house, but if the property were placed on the market, the residents had no control over how it would be developed.
Larry Shaw, a neighbor on McCoy Road, said Tatum’s offer was an excellent opportunity for the city. The neighborhood is quiet with some new families moving in, and a park will be a good addition for those families and the future residents to come, Shaw said.
Martha and Randy Lassiter, who live on North Milford Drive, have a backyard that backs up to the Tatum property. Martha Lassiter said she has concerns about the loss of privacy, security issues and possibly compromising the integrity of the neighborhood with the addition of a park open to the public.
A public park might entice unsupervised teens, she warned. Private property owners already have yards in which their kids can play, she added.
Randy Lassiter said the property, which has dense landscaping and a row of tall trees on some of its borders, still had no physical barriers, such as fencing, next to private homes and yards. The landscaping would not keep people from trespassing on private property, Randy Lassiter said.
He added that he would like to see the city use the Tatum home and warned that basketball goals in a park would be “trouble magnets.”
Sherry Keller, of Shamrock Drive, said developing a park in the middle of the neighborhoods would attract unwanted criminal activities, while the focus should be on safety and protection. She described walking and jogging as the activities of choice for residents.
Keller suggested a memorial garden park as a tribute for Frances Tatum.
Dennis DeLong said large gaps exist in the property’s extensive foliage. He also asked where the money would come from to develop a park.
Parks and Recreation Director Gail Elder said the Tatum property has a hedgerow of trees on one side and is heavily wooded in the back. “They’ve got beautiful landscaping we can work with,” she said.
It would surprise residents to know that Salisbury already has 11 neighborhood parks, White said, suggesting that they are typically quiet, non-advertised sites that are family-oriented and walk-to destinations.
They usually include playground structures, a shelter of some kind, picnic areas and, if there’s enough property, walking trails.
They do not provide parking for cars and are not meant for full-court basketball, ballfields and lights.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board voted Sept. 11 to recommend the city accept Tatum’s offer. It also favored removing or demolishing the existing house, which would cost an estimated $10,000 to $15,000.
The park’s development would cost between $50,000 and $75,000, White said. She also would need an additional maintenance position. White said she would seek grant funding toward the park’s development.
Under its current zoning, the property has enough acreage to be developed with 12 new houses and a cul-de-sac, according to city planners.
Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson said if he were a resident in those neighborhoods, he would rather see a park than 12 new houses and all the additional traffic.
“There’s no question what I would do,” he said. Woodson said he talked to a builder recently who wanted to know where he could find small lots to build affordable homes. Builders in general would be highly interested in the property, Woodson said.
Councilman Bill Burgin said the pros and cons expressed by residents posed an interesting dilemma.
“I just want what you want,” he said, adding there was no reason a park couldn’t be designed the way residents preferred. Under the city’s Land Development Ordinance, Burgin said, security actually improves when neighbors increase their interactions with one another ó something a park might foster.
Burgin said he saw a longer list of positives than negatives about a park, but community input would be crucial in its development.
White said a lengthy process will follow with community meetings, development of a plan, neighborhood and council approvals, the search for funding and the park’s actual construction.
The application for matching grant funds might not occur until January 2010, she said.