Antioch Council Responds to Nelson Ranch Park Neighbors with Changes
By James Ott
At the March 13 meeting, the Antioch City Council voted unanimously to approve changes to Nelson Ranch Park including a new, eight-foot-tall masonry sound wall between the park and six homes near Menona Court and Menona Drive.
Led by resident Julie Young, whose backyard abuts against the park, several neighbors of the park had come to the council in February complaining that the nearly completed park would ruin the privacy and security of their homes.
In addition to the new wall the council approved the removal of two patio shade covers and their benches which the city hopes can be used at other city parks.
The 5.4 acre, $2.5 million park had it’s final development plan approved in 1998 and was supposed to open this June, but Young, who spoke for many of the other affected homeowners, said that she and her fellow neighbors were not made aware of the park until construction began.
Because several of the neighbor’s homes face rearward to the park, where several picnic benches are a claimed 13 feet away from their back wall, Young said that her and her neighbors fear they will suffer increased noise levels and crime as well as lose their current privacy and overall quality of life.
The neighbors originally asked for the agreed upon changes plus removal of a walkway to access the park that ran behind their homes and possible removal of a large children’s play structure as well.
Council members were sympathetic to the neighbor’s plight but said they wanted to provide a reasonable solution.
“What’s missing … is the fact that there is a 582-unit residential development for which homes were sold with the expectation that a park would be in this location,” said Council member Brian Kalinowski. “Furthermore Antioch has, per capita and percentage wise, the highest [number of] under 18 youth in Contra Costa County, so there is actually a need … for the build of the park.”
The new wall is estimated to cost $65,000 with the removal of the benches and shade structures costing a few thousand more.
The cost of the changes will be paid by city park in lieu fees.
The park access walkway behind the homes will be kept open for 45 days until it is determined what affect, if any it will have on the adjacent homes.
My two year old daughter and I often visit Nelson Ranch Park and I was distraught to find that complaints had been lodged against the park. I have read the City Council meeting agendas and I recognize the concerns of the neighbors living adjacent to the park. However, I do not believe that their concerns justify any adjustments to the facilities, structures, or amenities currently existing at Nelson Ranch Park.
In response to the neighbors concerns about safety, I firmly believe that the council’s offer to increase the height of the dividing walls would be a sufficient deterrent to any criminal activity. Very few perpetrators would be willing to scale an eight foot wall. According to the Antioch Police Department Calls for Service, the most severe Call for Service involved individuals in a car smoking what the caller believed to be marijuana. This type of criminal activity, though unacceptable and illegal, does not indicate aggressive or dangerous activity. A higher wall would certainly protect the neighbors from people sitting in cars after hours. In response to the concerns regarding privacy, adding height to these walls would also decrease the likelihood that any park patrons would infringe on the privacy of the neighbors.
It galls me to know that more than half of the neighbors who reside immediately behind the park have chosen not to respond to the request for permission to increase the wall height. This lack of response from the neighbors should serve as an indicator to the Council that the complaints are trivial and frivolous.
The neighbors adjacent to Nelson Ranch Park should be grateful that a wholesome, family oriented facility exists near their homes. They should be grateful that there isn’t a convince store or a gas station or an all night diner on the parcel of land behind their homes. They should be grateful that they don’t have further tracks of housing ten feet away from their backyards, infringing on their privacy, sending barbecue smoke over the walls every weekend, and loud music drifting through the windows every night.