City council discusses Jackass Hill site plan

Jackass Hill, an undeveloped 16-acre park in Littleton, could possibly before long take on a much more innovative – but however pure – appear as town and park officers look at a new style for the area.

Mark Taylor, principal at a landscape layout company referred to as The Architerra Group, presented a principle web page strategy for the park to metropolis council members at a research session on Feb. 28. South Suburban Parks and Recreation employed the organization in 2022 as a advisor for the internet site layout course of action.

The approach commenced very last yr, spurred by considerations from neighbors with regards to following-hours park usage, sound levels and fireworks. A grass fireplace at the park in March 2022 brought a lot more neighbor worries to the metropolis and SSPR’s notice.

Via a local community survey and dialogue course of action, SSPR and the design firm been given feedback from 681 contributors, general public functions director Keith Reester said.

The feedback showed that respondents required to maintain the all-natural character of the house, preserve views and safeguard native vegetation, between other wants. Respondents also expressed worry about right after-darkish loitering, fireworks, privateness considerations of neighboring houses and deficiency of accessibility to the space.

In an exertion to instantly handle some of these troubles, officials improved the park hours. New signage labeled the park open to the general public from sunrise until sunset, as opposed to having it open for a few hrs just after darkish.

Reester claimed neighbors expressed that this transform constrained some after-hours action.

Notion internet site system features

The new design and style strategy implements various other aspects to formalize the park even much more, in hopes to dissuade inappropriate behavior.

“Really what we’re attempting to do right here is activate the site,” Taylor explained. “And we want to do that in a way that is reliable with the way men and women want to see the web-site used…. The a lot more we can have persons using the website in an appropriate way, the a lot less cozy it is for people today to use the web-site in an inappropriate way.”

The thought web page approach includes two paved loop paths all-around the two sections of the park with tender-surface paths traversing across the loops. The concrete path will be maintainable throughout the year and is supposed to be a lot more accessible than the current behavior trails.

“We did hear from a several inhabitants who have liked kinds utilizing mobility gadgets who have not been in a position to use the website,” Taylor explained. “We seriously do want to present fairness and universal accessibility to this web site.”

District 4 Councilmember Kelly Milliman said she was anxious about the paths not all currently being ADA available.

“What I nonetheless am struggling with is this gentle-surface path as a result of the center,” she reported. “If any individual is on a scooter or a wheelchair or no matter what, they’re not heading to be able to use that to lower across… If its heading to be obtainable to most people, I individually would like to see it all pure concrete.”

“I like the differentiation among the two,” Mayor Kyle Schlachter responded, introducing that the Mary Carter Greenway Trail has various regions that are paved and unpaved.

The strategy also proposes an place named a vista terrace the place park readers could see the mountains, as preserving views was a recurring want of community customers. This region would be shifted back from recent informal park viewpoint areas in an effort to lessen privateness considerations for close by houses.

For households, the site plan features a “nature play” region for young children. It would include things like “discovery paths” with boulders and logs for households to check out as very well as a all-natural composition for young children to engage in on.

“Part of the aim of nature play is to get children back again outside,” Reester mentioned in an interview with Colorado Community Media. “But at the identical time, do it in an ecosystem which offers them the possibility to be interactive in character, but also have that engage in be extra imagination-primarily based.”

Milliman claimed some local community customers have been concerned about the placement of the character participate in area, practically nothing that it is shut to Prince Avenue. Councilmember At-Substantial Pam Grove agreed.

“We really do not want youngsters getting hurt, simply because that is a chaotic street,” Grove claimed.

Taylor said the location is 50 to 60 toes from the highway and the plan has it there because trees monitor the watch of that location from the community. But he said there is flexibility in where by it could be put.

Local community comments was divided in dreams for parking, with some community users expressing they wished-for a parking good deal and many others opposing the plan. The draft strategy contains some selected parallel parking spaces along Sunset Travel as perfectly as an Americans with Disabilities Act parking place on Dry Creek Court.

Other website amenities would include things like seating, native plant parts, signage and other possible inventive interpretive things.

“I assume this plan really represents truly listening to the feedback that we have acquired given that that 1st assembly and making an attempt to stability an asset that the taxpayers paid out for and listening to the problems of these that could be most impacted by (it),” mentioned SSPR government director Rob Hanna at the conference.

Prices and following ways

So considerably, the town has contributed $22,669 to the style job, with SSPR contributing the exact same, according to city files. The metropolis anticipates whole project expenses via design to attain $1,000,000 to be shared amongst SSPR, Littleton open place cash and Arapahoe County open up room grant funding.

Littleton’s anticipated share would be $125,000 in 2023 and $200,000 in 2024, according to the city.

Town council will communicate about the web page plan at an future typical conference and will look at a resolution to help the program, Reester explained. Neighborhood members will be welcome to make community comment at this conference.

Citizens can also assessment the web site design and style system and offer suggestions at https://gameplan.ssprd.org/jackass-hill-park-internet site-system?instrument=news_feed#resource_tab. Following the town council will take action on the system, South Suburban Parks and Recreation will host another meeting with an option for general public comment.