By Lisa Smith
February 8, 2024

What we all want:  Smith-Hazel outdoor facilities need improvement.  This can be done without destroying any trees or bulldozing and levelling the park. 

Funding:  Improvements at Smith-Hazel Park are being funded by a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund matched by city funds.  The grant provides a one-for-one replacement of existing facilities. No new facilities are currently funded.

Problems: 

• According to the city, the current basketball court is in a DOT right of way and cannot be improved with grant funding.  For this reason, the Basketball court must be relocated. 
• When the basketball court is relocated trees must be removed and the tree removal and additional hard impermeable surface will cause stormwater runoff. 
• The Smith-Hazel Park is 30’ higher than surrounding properties.
• The additional stormwater runoff will require a retention pond to be constructed.
• The additional stormwater runoff and retention pond will require significant grading work all over the park, destroying not only the trees, but groundcover and surface soil and will substantially change the topography and character of the park. 
• A retention pond is a dangerous and attractive nuisance for children.  Even with a fence. This is a lost recreation area in a park that is already small.
• Relocating the playground will result in substantial cost and destroying two grand trees (more than 6’4’ around the trunk) longleaf pines may be between 300-400 years old.
• The new locations of basketball and playground will require ADA approved access which requires more pavement and results in more storm water runoff.
• As far as we know, the city has not conducted any study into the storm water runoff problem that they are creating. The adjacent Perry Park and residences sit 30’ below Smith-Hazel.
• The city does not have funding for any additional amenities but has decided to remove all 68 trees and do all site grading in advance.
• Parking will be added where the basketball court is now.  This will require substantial grading and the addition of a more impermeable surface will cause more stormwater runoff. Water and sediment will run into the street and neighboring properties.
• No study has been done to determine the need for more parking, although approx. 62 spaces are being added. No study has been done to understand the traffic that will be generated. We do not know the capacity of the current building. There are currently 73 parking spaces.
• The city has not released information on the destruction of 68 trees and substantial earthwork to be done to the public at any time.  No public hearings have been held. Only Bill McGhee has been given this information, after months of requests, and only on January 12, 2024.
• The Neighborhood Association, Schofield Community Association, has expressed important concerns about the city plan.
• The Parks Commission voted to pause the project.
• 1200 citizens have sent emails requesting a pause and a public hearing.
• The city will not release the mandatory tree inventory list for Smith Hazel Park.
• The city conducted a survey of citizens at two public meetings held at Smith-Hazel in December 2022.  Thirty-nine people responded.  Although it was asked, no information was given about the sitework and tree destruction.  This is the only survey of residents and does not justify any of the city’s plan.  In fact, the most requested amenity, outdoor bathrooms (18 times), are not being built, and the respondents specifically asked for “less pickleball” (11 times), “less basketball courts” (8 times), more parking (8 times), also “no pickleball”, no “hammock garden” (12 times) (yes, that’s a thing) and “more green space”, “keep the trees.”
• Removing 68 mature trees and replacing them with impermeable surface will not only cause significant storm water runoff but will also raise the temperature at the park.  There will be no shade. The long term, unfunded plan for the park will cover 80% of the park with impermeable, heat retaining, reflective surfaces.
• The LWC fund Grant money expires on October 1, 2024
• The removal of 68 trees, substantial grading, retention pond, demolition and moving existing amenities are all costly
• Pickleball is loud and basketball is louder. The plan for four pickleball courts, three basketball courts and three tennis courts will be loud in this residential neighborhood.  This is the source of complaints and lawsuits in other neighborhoods. As far as we know, the city has done no study, or survey and has not notified any neighbors of the potential noise issue.
• There are city ordinances regarding the removal of trees.  As far as we know, the city has not done surveys needed to establish the exact distance of trees being destroyed from the road.  City ordinances specifically state that no grand trees may be removed unless there is absolutely no alternative, and other protections are also included. We do not know if any other options have been explored as seem to be required by ordinance.

Solutions:

• Pause the project until citizens can be heard at a public hearing.
• Look into extending the Land & Water Conservation Fund grant funding deadline.
• Fund the badly needed basketball court improvements with a different source of funding.  Fix the court where it is.
• Learn about the “right of way” issue and see if something can be negotiated with DOT
• Fix the tennis courts where they are.  Line them for tennis and pickleball.  Two courts surrounded by trees will not create a noise nuisance for neighbors.
• Leave the trees alone.
• Do not bulldoze and grade the park.
• Do not put in a retention pond.  The park is only 4.75 acres and does not currently need a retention pond.  The limited space must be used wisely, not wasted on a retention pond.  Stagnate water, the attractive and dangerous nuisance a retaining pond is for neighborhood children, storm water runoff, sediment runoff into the streets and neighborhood are not existing problems.  They are problems this plan will create.  Do not create problems.
• The existing trees do a wonderful job of providing shade, habitat for birds and animals, and catching storm water in their canopies, letting it run down their trunks and be absorbed by their roots.  Let them continue to do the job.
• Utilize the 25 acres adjacent to Smith-Hazel at Perry Memorial Park, for additional park facilities IF they are needed. If necessary, work with the school system on this project.  Perhaps they’d also be able to use tennis courts or other amenities. The two parks could be managed as one and combined would be about 30 acres.  Odell Weeks is 44 acres.
• Utilize the underdeveloped 118-acre Generations Park for other amenities.
• Be transparent and work with citizens instead of against them.  Be willing to answer questions fully.  Always be honest. Admit mistakes.  Provide great service. Represent citizens accurately and fairly.
• Encourage communication between citizens and City Council by responding to correspondence. Hold regular meetings in each district with councilmen to facilitate communication and diminish animosity.

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ABOVE: Marked for destruction is a shade tree in the Smith Hazel Park, its bare bones beautiful in the winter landscape; in summertime, the tree is leafy green and provides a generosity of cooling shade and habitat and respite for birds and other wildlife. Part of the tree’s leafy bough is visible on the right side of the photo of the children’s playground at the top of this article.