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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-01 Recreatrion Committee Minutes - Skate Park Report Reading Recreation Committee Siting Alternatives for the Reading Skate Park Final Report - March 1, 2003 PURPOSE To identify and rank suitable sites for constructing a Skate Park in Reading. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Bramhall family expressed a strong interest in assisting in the development of a skatepark in Reading. They attended a number of Selectmen's meeting's and at a May 2001 meeting they.had a chance meeting with Mr. Mark Dickenson of Dickenson Development The Bramhalls discussed their long standing interest in a skatepark for Reading with Mr. Dickenson. Mr. Dickenson agreed to help but only after a suitable place to develop the park was identified. In November 2001,a meeting of the Recreation Department Skate Park Subcommittee was held to discuss the conceptual plans for the park including the size and possible locations for the park. In early 2002,in a meeting of the hill Recreation Committee,the concepts and possible locations for the Skate Park were discussed. At the meeting,the Committee passed a motion to recommend to the Selectmen that the Skate Park be sited on the existing tennis courts at Memorial Park. In April 2002,this site was presented to the Selectman for consideration. The Selectmen agreed to have a public hearing to discuss the plan to site the Skate Park on the existing tennis courts at Memorial Park. On June 3,2002,the Selectmen held a public hearing at the Police Station to gage public opinion of the plan. At the conclusion of that well attended meeting,the Selectmen recommended that the Recreation Committee more thoroughly review the alternative locations for the Skate Park. This report provides a more comprehensive review of the alternative locations for the park based on comments made at the public hearing,additional research on possible sites, and the opinions of the recreation committee on the relative merits of a large number of possible sites. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED FACILITY The Skate Park is an action park with implements for enhancing inline skating(AKA rollerbladding),and skateboarding. The minimum dimension for the site are approximately 120' x 120' with a level surface. The facility will be paved with bituminous concrete,and surrounded with 8' to 10' high fencing and a single gate. The arrangement and type and number of implements can vary and can be permanently installed with the possibility of rearranging the positioning of the equipment or moving all of the equipment to an alternative location. The Skate Park will likely include a couple of 3 to 4 foot high wedge boxes,a couple of 2 to 3 foot high jump combos,and two 3 to 4 foot high quarter pipes. Grind rails will also be included as either separate fixtures or attached to the above equipment. This size and arrangement of equipment is most suitable for youths aged 8 to 15 years. These ramps and structures are smaller in height and size than structures typically used for older 15+age groups. Page 1 Inside the fence benches will be set against one or more sides and near the gate. Additional benches may be placed outside in a viewing area For security,.a video camera option with a connection to the police station or other supervisory location is possible. Signs at the entrance will be posted to warn on the inherent risk associated with the use of the equipment. Signs will also recommend that all users wear appropriate safety equipment including knee pads,helmets, elbow pads,and wrist guards. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED OPERATION OF THE FACILITY-There is no planned supervision of this facility. An informal review of other skate park facilities indicates about 10%are supervised. The fence and gating could allow supervised operation,or supervised operation on selected dates and times. The facility is planned as a skate park only and it is expected to be used by skateboarders and inline skaters. BMX biking could be a possible use at the facility but this use may be a safety hazard in the presence of skate users. BMX use is also expected to generate more wear on the equipment Therefore BMX use is not a part of the proposed operation at this time. Rules for safety (described above)and time of use will be posted. The facility will likely be locked during the winter season,and reopened after sweeping out of leaves and branches in the spring. The facility capacity is not generally posted at other skate parks. The described facility could accommodate approximately 60 users assuming appropriate etiquette is followed and the equipment is arranged with parallel paths allowing a natural flow of skate activity through the park equipment. If overcrowding becomes a problem,the capacity can be posted and a supervisor assigned. If a supervisor is assigned only for the busy periods,a fee might be used to cover the cost of maintaining the safe capacity at those times. The facility usage will vary by season,day of week,and time of day. Highest use is expected in Spring and Fall all day on Saturday.and with afternoon use on weekdays. Summer use can be expected throughout the posted park use hours of operation, with less use during the hottest days and during the mid day heat. MAINTENANCE-The equipment is expected to have a 10 year warrantee. After this period some of the wear surfaces are likely to need replacement Original wear surfaces and new replacement materials have improved greatly in the last few years. Annual sweeping of leaves and accumulated debris can be expected. Some rotation of equipment and realignment of structures and trails can help limit weathering of materials. IDENTIFICATION OF NOMINATED FACILITY LOCATIONS-Based on comments received at the Selectman's June 3,2002 Public Meeting on the use of the Memorial Park tennis courts, the Recreation Committee's Skate Park Study Team identified 20 sites for consideration in this study. These sites were either sites previously identified in the Recreation Committee meetings preceding the public meeting,sites identified by the public at the meeting,sites identified by the public after the meeting,or sites identified Page 2 by a review of all Town Owned parcels of land provided by the Assessor's Office. The Skate Park Study Team used an inclusive approach in identifying sites and only excluded sites where there was no public access,or the size or dimension of the site was not suitable for the Skate Park. The following is a list of possible sites included in the site evaluation: Memorial Park Tennis Courts RMHS Volleyball Court(north of basketball court) Former Grant Swimming Pool Higgins property-off of Birch Meadow Drive Soccer Backboard At Birch Meadow Park Roof of YMCA Back of Burbank skating rink at Symonds Way Birch Meadow playground and forested area Killiam School field at rear of school Joshua Eaton School playground area between parking and ball fields Barrows School Tennis Courts Coolidge Middle School between parking lot and playing field Parker Middle School upper"field" Comer of Pearl and Audobon Hunt field playground Sturgis field playground Town Forest field near Strout Ave pumping station Washington Park Tennis Courts Hopkins at Bear Hill Map 13, Plot 5l Oakland Road across from High School Auditorium The roof of the YMCA is not a public access site but was included in this list based on a comment made at the public hearing from a supervisor from the Wakefield YMCA indoor skatepark facility. The Recreation Committee recognize that this list includes sites that may already be heavily utilized,sites that may be objectionable to others,and sites that might be marginal for the proposed use. However, it is physically possible to site the Skate Park in any of the above possible locations. The intent of this review is to be as inclusive as possible with sites,and identify the more suitable sites with the criteria listed below. CRITERIA FOR RANKING-Based on input from the previous June 3,2002,public meeting concerning the use of the Memorial Park Tennis courts,and the cost and possible permitting issues for this facility, the following siting criteria were developed. 1. Visibility from street or parking lot. This issue was raised as a subject of concern at the June 3,2002, public meeting. Visibility of the site from a location convenient to motorized police access seems to be desirable. Page 3 2. Proximity to nearest residential property. To limit potential for facility use related noise to influence existing residential use,some value needs to be placed on proximity to the nearest residential neighbors. 3.Number of residential properties within 300'. For the same reason as Item#2,proximate residential structures within 300' should be considered in the criteria. 4. Centrality of location to users. Locations with easy access to the greatest number of Reading youth should be a consideration in the site selection. 5. Cost to develop. Sites with existing suitable paved surface can be developed more quickly and at lower cost. Sites with extensive forest,great slope,or limited construction access will be more costly to develop. 6. Need for wetlands NOI hearing. Sites impacting more than 5,000 square feet of wetland resource would likely require extensive permitting,and sites impacting any wetland resource area will require some permitting through the Conservation Commission. None of the listed sites are expected to have direct construction or operational impacts on any wetlands resource area. Some proposed sites may fall within the Rivers Protection Act or wetlands buffer zones and may require permitting. Permitting related delays and costs should be a consideration in site selection. 7.Parking was raised as an issue in the previous June 3,2002, Public Hearing. Committee review indicates that parking provisions are not typically an issue at other existing skate parks. However, based on the previous public discussion, availability of parking should be a consideration in the site selection. SCORING THE CRITERIA- Scoring of the criteria was conducted by all the current members(voting and nonvoting appointees)of the Reading Recreation Committee. The Selectmen have designated the Recreation Committee as responsible for further study of siting alternatives. The subjective and independent judgment of the Recreation Committee members was solicited by asking each member to score each site for each of the criteria on a scale from 1 to 10.The scale uses I for the worst site and 10 for the best, and only whole numbers were used in the scoring. Because there are 20 sites,some scores for sites will be duplicated for an individual scorer. See the attached scoring sheets in Appendix 1. Eleven members of the recreation committee completed the scoring of each site to the best of their ability. Therefore there are I I scoring sheets included in Appendix I at the end of this document. There is one sheet for each Recreation Member who scored the sites for each criteria.A few members of the Recreation Committee did not score all of the categories of some sites based on their lack of knowledge of the criteria for that site. However,.each member provided their best effort and recognized that none of the Recreation Committee member are experts on these issues. DEVELOPING THE RANK ORDER OF THE POSSIBLE SITES-To summarize the scoring,the median score of all of the individual scores for each site and criteria is listed in Table L The table simply lists the median(or middle)scores of all criteria for each site based on the 11 scores for each criteria and site. Note that eight of the 140 scores are represented with fractional medians because a few of the sites Page 4 were not completely scored. Table 2 shows the same median scores but with the sums of the median scores for the seven criteria tallied in the right column. That sum represents the final score for each of the twenty sites. The table has also been reordered with the sites with the highest scores (best) at the top of the table and the sites with the lowest(worst) total scores at the bottom of the table. Because some people may question the inclusion of some of the criteria used in this evaluation,a Sensitivity Analysis of the Rank Order to the criteria was also conducted. Tables 3 through 9 show the results of the Rank Order summary with each of the individual criteria dropped form the analysis(one out reordering). For example,Table 3 shows what the final score would be for the 20 sites if the"Visibility from the Street Criteria"were dropped from the study. Table 4 shows the results if the`Proximity to the Nearest Residential Property Criteria"had been dropped from the study. Table 5 shows the results if the "Number of Residential Properties Criteria"had been dropped from the study.Table 6 shows the results if the"Centrality Criteria"had been dropped from the study. Table 7 shows the results if the"Cost to Develop Criteria"had been dropped from the study. Table 8 shows the results if the"Wetlands Permitting Criteria"had been dropped from the study.Table 9 shows the results if the"Parking Criteria" had been dropped from the study. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the top 6 or 7 sites on Table 2 are relatively unchanged in there placement near the top no matter which criteria is dropped. That means that their position near the top of the list, and representing the better or more suitable locations,is relatively insensitive to any single criteria used in this evaluation. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE RECREATION COMMITTEE Based on the results of a review of twenty possible sites,the Memorial Park Tennis Courts are still the first choice based on the seven criteria used to score the suitability of these sites for a Skate Park. However,five other public sites including the RMHS Volleyball Court,the Back of Burbank Skating Rink, Killiam School Field,Barrows School Tennis Courts,and the Soccer Backboard site at Birch Meadow were all closely rated to the Memorial Park Tennis Court Site. It should also be noted that the site titled "Roof of the YMCA"was also ranked as high as these six sites even if this is not a public park. Each one of these six public sites list below should be fully reviewed by the Selectmen and presented to the public in a future Public Hearing. It is the Recreation Committee recommendation that one of these six sites should be selected as the site of the Reading Skate Park. Site Total Score Memorial Park Tennis Courts 49 RMHS Volleyball Court 47.5 Back of the Burbank Skating Rink 44 Killiam School Field 44 Barrows School Tennis Courts 44 Soccer Backboard at Birch Meadow 43.5 Page 5 � OFRFq Town of Reading F 16 Lowell Street r Reading, MA 01867-2685 63sINCORP��P FAX: (781)942-5441 RECREATION DIVISION: (781)942-9075 Proposed Skate Park Hours and Administration I. Administration of Fees: \ A. Per use fee charged at the door B. Seasonal Passes would be sold for two seasons: O ➢ School Year Pass(September 1"—June 25") ➢ Summer Season Pass(June 261h—August 31� ) q 4; C. Investigation to MITA on how this impacts insurance ~-`` I� \ i H. Hours of Operation \ / A. School Year Hours: \ ➢ Monday,Tuesday,Thursday, Friday: 2:00 PM—6:00 PM ➢ Wednesday: 12:30 PM—6:00 PM ➢ Saturday and Sunday 12:00 PM—6:00 PM B. Summer Season Hours: ➢ Sunday—Thursday: 1:00PM-6:00PM ➢ Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM—4:00 PM III. Supervision A. Attendant on Duty during hours of operation ➢ Reports directly to YMCA Senior Program Director ➢ Fees Collected from registration to support this part-time position. B. CPR Certified C. Competent confrontation ability D. Ability to enforce policy IV. Site Size and Equipment A. Approximately 12,000 sq. ft. B. Temporary Structure C. Rectangular in shape D. Emergency Call box installed E. Temporary Fencing constructed F. Park li{and locked during closed hours �N OFRF Town of Reading <40,p 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867-2685 9^� ,6J9 /NCORQORP� FAX:(781)942-5441 RECREATION DMSION: (781)942_9075 Reading Skate Park Rules and Regulations 1. All Skaters must have a waiver of liability completed before entering the park. 2. Each Skater must check in with attendant and have hand stamped. 3. Helmets must be wom by all skaters at all times while in the park. 4. Skateboards and In-line skates,only-No Bike allowed. 5. No food, drink, or personal property permitted in the park. 6. No weapons, drugs, alcohol, or smoking. 7. Be respectful of other people—no profanity! 8. No skating when there is no attendant on duty. 9. All skaters must respect the authority of the attendant on duty. 10. Failure to comply with requests made by the attendant may lead to expulsion. 11. Anyone caught stealing, trespassing on vandalizing property will be prosecuted! POLICE TAKE NOTICE