Politics & Government

Residents Speak Out About Expansion of Longview Farm Parking Lot

Thursday night a public forum was held in Town and Country. It was an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions about the proposed expansion of parking at Longview Farm Park.

Thursday night a public forum was held in Town and Country at the city's . It was an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions about the proposed expansion of parking at .

The Longview Farm Park Ad Hoc Committee, appointed by Mayor Jon Dalton, is studying the parking issue and held the forum seeking input from the community.

The committee consists of the following members:

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  • Former Town and Country Mayor and St. Louis County Councilman Skip Mange
  • Chairman of Parks and Trails Alderwoman Lynn Wright 
  • Alderman Fred Meyland-Smith
  • Resident Henry Vogt who lives adjacent to the park
  • Resident and police commission member Carolynne Huether 

At the committee's first meeting last month, former Town and Country Mayor Skip Mange revealed the following ideas under consideration:

  • Utilizing the land across Clayton Road from the park for a new parking lot
  • Moving Clayton Road south and using the space where Clayton Road currently sits as additional parking
  • Using the field next to Clayton Road where the horses graze as a parking lot during events
  • Making some adjustments within the park, near the tennis courts and one entrance, creating 21 additional parking spots
  • Making no changes at all and leaving the current number of parking spaces as is

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Thursday night, Mange shared those ideas with Town and Country residents. After Mange's presentation, residents had the chance to to speak to the committee.  

Michael Fuller lives off Clayton Road on the land directly across from Longview Park. Fuller said his family has lived there for 50 years and they do not want to see land around them used for parking.

"I do encourage  you to think of green alternatives and other ways to avoid asphalt expansion," Fuller said. He said his family sometimes allows the valets to park on their property during events and would be interested in discussing an option with the city to regularly allow valet parking on their property during events. 

Clarie Chosid is the president of Longview Farm Garden Club. She told board members she spends much of her time at the park and would like to see 15 to 18 additional parking spots in the name of safety.

"If 15 to 18 spots can be added without grossly affecting the park, then I support it, but that should be it, Chosid said. "It will keep visitors safe and maintain the character of the park."

Town and Country Resident John Camillo said he wants a more thorough study on why the need for more parking.

"In all the years I've visited the the park , I 've never seen a problem parking," Camillo told board members. "I hear the options for additional parking, but I'm not hearing this board say why we need more parking."

Richard Jensen has lived in Town and Country for decades. He said he's in the park every day, and he also does not see the need for additional parking. He said the park was packed earlier this week, but when he walked around the parking lot and there were at least 12 empty parking spots.

"This is not a park you stay at for two hours. This is a park you come in for 45 minutes and you're out," Jensen said. "My concern is green space, " he said. Town and Country has strict green space guidelines that residents have to live by and he wants that to stand strong in dealing with this issue, he said.

Resident Bruni Perec said of all the plans proposed, she supports the one that makes changes to the current parking area and entrance, adding the 21 additional spots. However, she suggested another option to the board which is for the city to work with nearby churches or businesses along the park's trails and use their lots for additional parking. Mange said some churches are allowing parkgoers to use their lots now, but have told they city they do not want to continue doing so.

Most said they'd prefer to keep the park a passive park as they were initially promised and that they want no additional parking for more people.

Terry Gast lives in the Wheatfield subdivision, which backs up to park. She supports the option of not expanding parking at all.

"I don't know how this whole idea got started or where we're going with it, but I think we need to stop this whole thing, " Gast said. "I think we need to do nothing with the park and leave it alone."

Her husband, Doug Gast, agrees.

"The parks only been there 11 years, this is the second proposal for parking. What is going on?" Gast asked committee members. He said he does not want more noise or more people from outside Town and Country at the park.  "We don't need to add more spaces and we don't need to add more asphalt."

"If we build it they will come," Denis  Bolazina said. "I suppose we have to allow anyone to use the park, but perhaps we don't have to give non-residents prime parking."

Some residents, like Kathy Fienup who lives in the nearby Wheatfield subdivision, said they do not want additional parking citing safety.

"If you put more parking spaces in there, you are putting children in more danger," Fienup said. "Please leave the park the way it is."

Stephanie Peterson, a trauma surgeon who is also on the Town and Country Parks and Trails Commission, said she created one of the options in an effort to actually make the park safer. She said her idea of putting the parking spaces at one of the already paved entrances and closing that entrance has two benefits. It would not affect green space, because the area is already paved, plus it would make the parking lot safer because there would be more spots for people to park properly, while the closed entrance would force all park traffic to go one way. Peterson said she is opposed to putting parking across Clayton Road.

"What I think is most important is safety, because I take care of those people," Peterson said. "It's just not a safe situation."

Chairman of the city's Parks and Trails Commission Alderwoman Lynn Wright is also on the Ad Hoc Committee. She said residents have not expressed much concern over safety to her, other than over a blind spot when exiting from one of the two park exits. 

"Looking at it, it is such a blind spot, I really think we should consider having one entrance and one exit," Wright said.

Resident and Police Commission member Carolynne Huether is on the Ad Hoc Committee to review information from a safety standpoint. After the meeting, she told Patch that she is remaining objective, but found the forum informative.

"I thought it was terrific. I loved hearing what people had to say and that people felt they could say what's on their mind, " Huehter said. "I'm interested now in moving forward in recommendations to the board."  

Mange said this committee is an advisory committee and will not make any decision, but its findings and recommendation will be given to the Town and Country Board of Aldermen. 

"The input from tonight will be very important to what we do," Mange said. "Our report will go to the board of alderman. All the information will be in their hands."

Mayor Jon Dalton addressed the committee Thursday night, reminding members how important Longview Farm Park is to Town and Country and that the board is relying on this committee's recommendation to make a decision.

The city's Parks and Trails Commission met immediately after the meeting to discuss the public forum.  The committee went over the public's comments, including whether more parking is even needed, managing parking with ticketing and resident parking permits and whether a survey may need to be taken to show that there is a problem with parking. Members also discussed the fact that they have to look at the parking from a safety standpoint, but most importantly, they have to evaluate what the residents what from the park and make a parking recommendation based on that.

The Parks and Trails Commission will give its recommendation to the Ad Hoc Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee will then take that into consideration when giving its recommendation to the Town and Country Board of Aldermen who will ultimately make the parking decision with a vote.

Parks and Trails Commission members agreed Thursday night that they do not support either of the Clayton Road parking solutions or using the horse pasture. Members now need to decide whether to support making no change to Longview parking or creating the 21 spaces without expanding the parking area. Commission members said they want to futher study the need for parking spaces. They said ultimately it comes down to what residents want from the park, to keep it a passive park and provide spaces for parkgoers only or to provide enough parking to help during events.

The Longview Farm Park Ad Hoc Committee meets again April 26 at the Longview Farmhouse where members will likely eliminate some options. Mange said he expects the committee to meet at least one more time after that.

"We're not going to waffle on this, we're going to make a decision one way or the other and that may mean let's do a five month parking study and make a decision after that," Mange said.

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