Preliminary
Plans for Flint Park:
More Parking, Fields & Water
Access
by Judy Silberstein
(January 14, 2003
) Consultant Monroe
Eberlin, from the firm involved in New Rochelle's
downtown revitalization plan, unfurled his proposed
improvements for Flint Park at a well-attended meeting
in Village Hall on Monday, January 13. Representatives
from the Flint Park Conservancy, Parks and Trees Committee,
Little League and soccer organizations crowded around
the conference room table with members of the Village
Board and staff to study the plans and provide immediate
impressions of the proposal. Larchmont members of the
Coastal Zone Management Commission turned up to hear
the news.
The Monday meeting was the latest step in a process
that stretches back to 1997 when the Village first
applied to New York State for a grant to make improvements
in the section of the
park closest to the water. Though
the original grant was not funded, the Village received
a separate small planning grant and continued to apply
each year for the larger award. Finally, in the fall
of 2002, word came from Albany that Larchmont
would be receiving $120,375* from the Environmental
Protection Fund to “expand and improve playing
fields, restore native plant life, provide waterfront
access and visibility.” (*May 2003 Correction:
Please note the amount of grant had been incorrectly
reported in the original article.)
The Eberlin design, which incorporates suggestions
from all of the groups represented at the meeting,
focuses on the roadway, ball fields and undeveloped
land in
the
area
between
the
platform
tennis courts and the waterfront. The diagram above,
adapted from an Eberlin drawing, shows the road (in
gray) leading to the back of the park and a circle
at the end for cars to turn around. The proposal
allows for 52 additional parking spaces (in blue).
In the grassy area, Eberlin suggests reorienting one
of the existing baseball fields closer to the water
so there is room for two baseball diamonds with one
large (dark green) or two intermediate-sized (lighter
green)
soccer
fields in between.
Between
the fields and the water, he proposes a berm planted
with vegetation, including salt-water resistant evergreen
trees that will eventually grow tall enough to keep
foul balls from straying too far from the fields. On
the waterside of the berm, it will be possible to stroll
down a path parallel to the waterway.
 |
View of low tide from Flint
Park |
The attendees' comments and questions related mostly
to safety issues. There was general approval of
the new turn-around at the end of the road and general
consensus that current parking conditions are “total
chaos” during weekend games. However, there
were a variety of views on where or whether to add
parking. There were also different views on whether
it was practical or feasible to provide safe conditions
for kayakers to access the water from the back of
the park where low tides create extensive mud flats.
A different set of conversations covered how best
to orient the baseball field so as to keep the sun
from shining in the batters’ eyes and the
foul balls from dropping on innocent bystanders. |
Can the Village afford
the proposal? That, of course, depends on the final
designs. Mr. Eberlin “guestimated” it
might cost $500,000 to $600,000 to implement the proposal,
assuming the Village springs for water sprinklers and
depending on the conditions encountered under the fields.
The grant provides only $125,000, which must be matched
by the Village “in cash or in kind.”
At this point, though, the emphasis is on concepts
rather than costs. Mayor Ken Bialo stressed that the
Eberlin designs are meant to stimulate discussion and
are “not
a done deal.” At the end of the meeting each
attendee was given a copy of the drawings to share
with the other members of their respective organizations.
In the next few weeks, the representatives will report
back on the feedback they’ve gathered and give
further guidance to the consultant.
The aerial photo from TerraServer provides
a view of the current conditions in the park. Click
here for a closer view.
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