Time for Public to Weigh in on Flint Park Expansion Plans

by Judy Silberstein

Read-up on the Expansion Plans & Take the Survey

(November 5, 2003) The drawings up on the easel at Monday night’s Village Board meeting were familiar to those who have been following the months of study sessions devoted to the Flint Park Expansion project. Now, though, the plans were ready for public review, after having been vetted by representatives from a large number of government, parks, sports, and environmental organizations. And what was new – for the public and most of the Board members - was the close to $1 million price tag announced by Mayor Ken Bialo.

Large-scale drawings are at Village Hall and Larchmont Library. Colorization in this illustration is by the Larchmont Gazette.

The Mayor served as presenter and provided a historical review, a description of project goals, and an overview of the major features of the current draft. The themes he stressed were balance (between athletic and environmental interests) and flexibility (needed to get through the planning and implementation process).

As previously discussed, the plan balances community interests in accessing water views and water-side recreational activities with the increasing need for ball fields to accommodate the large number of children engaged in baseball, soccer, and, most recently, lacrosse. (See Balancing Athletics and the Environment.)

An additional balance will be between costs and access. No work would start on the fields until after the soccer season ends in late October, said the Mayor. That’s a bit late to finish construction and get grass seed sprouting. Using sod would get the fields back in service sooner – maybe an entire year sooner – but at a much higher cost. There will be other, similar trade-offs, suggested the Mayor.

If the current plan is implemented, East Creek, the Long Island Sound inlet that runs behind the park, will become accessible, after years of obscurity behind a berm, a chain-link fence and a massive compost pile – all of which will be removed. Some sort of pathway will run alongside the water, behind the ball fields and the stone-covered structure that will cap the County’s Sanitary Sewer Overflow facility still under construction. In the long run, the path could connect with the nature area that sits behind the Hommocks School in the Town of Mamaroneck. Details of the path and plantings are still open, but the current design sets aside more space for environmental activities than did earlier drafts.

The design also offers more space for ball fields. The plan calls for shifting the existing regulation-sized “Babe Ruth” field to make room for a new Little League field. The soccer and lacrosse fields receive more space and better placement. “The overall plan for the park is terrific,” said Michael Jacobson, Vice-President of Baseball. “It represents great cooperation between the sports leagues and the conservation people. Everybody benefits.”

Traffic flow and parking would also benefit, with new diagonal parking spaces carved out on the street across from the playing fields. Cars could reverse direction in a new turn-around at the end of the road, thus avoiding the need to make difficult three-point turns in the narrow lane. To make room for all the new features, the Village will be moving and reducing space allocated to its Department of Public Works functions and replacing the two-sided tennis backboard with a single-sided version.

Implementation of the project will require community flexibility to cope with having the ball fields out of service for one – or maybe two – growing seasons. The idea is to dig up the fields, install new drainage, irrigation and grass, and then add amenities such as fencing to corral errant baseballs and movable bleachers to serve spectators at the various ball games. Using sod, rather than grass seed, would speed up the process, but add extra expense. A sprinkler system would greatly enhance turf maintenance, but also add significantly to the budget.

“The plan itself represents only minor changes from earlier drafts,” said the Village’s park consultant Monroe Eberlin. “But the budget figures include more specific items such as irrigation, drainage, sod and other construction costs.” Future discussions should reveal more about those figures and what the Board and the community are willing to spend on the expansion project. Additional conversations will focus on the playground renovate being planned for another section of Flint Park (See: Playground).

For now, the Board is interested in hearing from the community at upcoming public hearings, or in letters, emails or telephone calls. The Flint Park Conservancy, a private organization that supports the park, also wants to know what you think and is conducting surveys in conjunction with the Gazette.

Take The Survey