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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-07-27 PRC Regular Meeting Agenda PacketV AGENDA PALM DESERT PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1994 9:00 A.M. - COMMUNITY SERVICES CONFERENCE ROOM 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE ***************************************************************** I. CALL TO ORDER: II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: June 8, 1994 III. DISCUSSION ITEMS: A. UPDATE ON INTERACTIVE FOUNTAIN B. UPDATE ON AQUATIC CENTER C. PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION/RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: 1. Any person wishing to discuss any item not otherwise on the agenda may address the commission at this point by stepping to the lectern and giving his/her name and address for the record. Remarks shall be limited to a maximum of five minutes unless additional time is authorized by the commission. 2. This is the time and place for any person who wishes to comment on non -hearing agenda items. It should be noted that at commission discretion, these comments may be discussed. Remarks shall be limited to a maximum of five minutes unless additional time is authorized by the commission. V. ADJOURNMENT ***************************************************************** DECLARATION OF POSTING I, Donna C. Bitter, of the City of Palm Desert Community Development Department, do hereby declare that the foregoing agenda for the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting of Wednesday, July 27, 1994, was posted on the bulletin board by the outside entry to the Council Chamber, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, on Friday, July 22, 1994. e July 22, 1994 e e�� DONNA C. BITTER Senior Office Assistant City of Palm Desert, California Om r E1 isak:>et1-i A . White 73-186 Somera Road Palm Desert, California 92260 July 11, 1994 Er. EIVED 13 1994 Parks and Recreation Commission "OMMWTY DEVELOPMENT DEPIRFMEN` City of Palm Desert 'ITY OF PAEM DESERT 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, California 92260 Dear Commissioners: I would like to commend you on the installation of Ironwood Park. When it was opened last winter, there was a tranquil aspect to this desert sanctuary. The tot lot and small area of grass lent an aura of just the right amount of activity to the passive park. The pathways and bridge are attractive and useful (though some hardpacking would be nice). Notwithstanding the small signs recommending common decency, it is evident that there are a number of dog owners who have chosen to allow their animals free reign to relieve themselves in the park, without regard to sanitation or appearance. Two possible solutions spring to the mind: a) prohibiting domestic animals in the park, or b) a fenced area strictly for dogs with receptacles for sanitary disposal. Some other concerns have been expressed by many users. The foremost of these is the present (and longstanding) lack of a green grassy area. For several weeks, the small grassy area has been an ugly, dead brown. If anything, this area should be somewhat leveled and expanded for the use of the neighborhood. The overwhelming size of the rarely -used parking lot (which should be primarily grass with blocks) seems rather wasteful. The use of pea gravel rather than river rock is also messy. On the whole, with its conforming landscaping and sweeping vistas, the park is a pleasant, open and inviting area. If some more large desert trees were planted, it might even approach the ambiance of the Living Desert Reserve. cc: City council Sincerely, t "�7, K Elisabeth A. White Park & Recreation Commission Members, Ray Diaz, ana DicK Kelly: I HF some interesting information on relationship of parks to people. LOS ANGELES TIMES � �— 5 / lw ford National Perspec *Group Hopes sGreener Cities r- Will Be Safer A nonprofit organization 'hopes to acquire 250 parks. Experts have long linked recreation, crime prevention. 'a ,..,By By MELISSA HEALY 'TIMES STAFF WRITER , �T 7ASHINGTON—Habitat isn't just �/�/ for wildlife. People need some green too. To traditional environmental groups, the notion of conserving land for people might be a little strange. But to Martin Rosen, a self -described "old warhorse' ' "from a host of environmental battles, the idea has a kind of self-evident wisdom to it. And a growing number of lawmakers, prompted by the perceived link between declining urban parkland and rising crime, are beginning to think so too. Rosen is president of the Trust for Public Lands, a conservation group that is launching a $2.5-billion effort to make 12 American cities greener and, they hope, safer places for humans. Using money raised through private donations and public bond bills and working with community activists, Rosen's group hopes to acquire as many as 250 properties for parks in cities nationwide over the next five years. He hopes the group's activities will help leverage new federal funds aimed at fighting crime through prevention. Sociologists and law enforcement experts have been drawing a connection between urban parks, recreation areas and crime prevention for several decades. After Watts erupted in violence in 1965, an investigation linked urban violence to the decay of city recreation facilities. More than 25 years later, South -Central Los Angeles residents came to the same conclusion: In the wake of the 1992 riots, 77% told pollsters that the absence of parks and recreation facilities was among their top concerns. The evidence doesn't demonstrate clearly that deteriorating parkland and recreation facilities cause an upturn in crime, but the two do appear to be inextricably linked. And if crime and the demise of urban parks go together, then the revitalization of urban parkland, FRANCIS GARDI.ER / Ws Angeles Times Frank Sutton of the Trust for Public Lands stands before a rendering of the Uhuru Garden, a public space being planned for Watts by his nonprofit group. Rosen and other experts reckon, will contribute to a decline in lawlessness. Many South -Central residents cite compelling evidence for the idea: In the 1992 riots, buildings on Union Avenue were torched, windows were shattered and businesses looted. But a community garden in the heart of Pico -Union, cleared several years before and tended by members of the 10th Street Mothers' Club, stood untouched by the rampage. "People had cleaned up those lots themselves," said Brenda Funches, who leads the grass -roots gardening organization, Common Ground. "Anyone who has a history in the neighborhood remembers what these places looked like before, and the truth is, everybody knows somebody who is involved with the garden." Not all crime -busters see the connection. Steve Twist, director of the National Rifle Assn.'s Crime Strike program, called the idea of fighting crime with parks "hopelessly naive." "The problem of the collapse of the juvenile justice system is a problem of the revolving door. There are no significant consequences for chronic violent offenders." Anecdotal evidence from across the nation abounds. In Philadelphia, police helped neighborhood volunteers clean up vacant lots and plant gardens, and burglaries and thefts in the precinct dropped from about 40 per month to about four. In the summers of 1991 and 1993, Phoenix parks stayed open until midnight for basketball, swimming, volleyball and dancing, and police calls on juvenile crime dropped up to 55%. With Congress focusing on the causes of crime, the link between violence and degenerating urban parks is receiving new scrutiny —and possibly new funds. The crime bill, now in House -Senate negotiations, is expected to establish a $23-billion trust fund from which initiatives for city parks could draw. "Urban recreation and sports programs are a proven, common-sense and cost-effective means of preventing crime and delinquency," said Rep. Bruce F. Vento (D=Minn. ), co-sponsor of an amendment to the crime bill that would earmark crime prevention funds for urban parks and recreation programs. "Our urban crime rate would be different if these programs had not been neglected in the past decade." When the Trust for Public Lands conducted an inventory of parkland last year, it found that parks were concentrated in affluent neighborhoods in two-thirds of the cities it studied. In 16 out of 23 cities, the trust said parkland in poor neighborhoods was crowded and inadequate. That kind of neglect, Rosen said, "sends a signal to troubled communities and youth that they're not worth the investment." And they will almost surely repay the nation with more hostility and more indifference, he added. Green areas in cities, he said, "aren't (just) nice; they're urgent, critical, vital areas that people require."