Following several months of public input, Chardon City Manager Ben Young and Parks and Recreation Director Adam Rogers presented an informal update on the city’s proposed pocket park to Chardon Planning Commission Jan. 27.
Following several months of public input, Chardon City Manager Ben Young and Parks and Recreation Director Adam Rogers presented an informal update on the city’s proposed pocket park to Chardon Planning Commission Jan. 27.
Young opened the presentation with background on the project.
“The city is attempting to build a new pocket park … at the corner of Cherry (Avenue) and Water Street, and also the intersection with Wilson Mills (Road),” he said. “This land came to the city, actually, through a donation by one of the neighboring businesses and it does have some restrictive deed covenants on it that mean that a public park is probably the highest and best use that property is going to achieve.”
A McDonald’s franchisee previously owned the property and it cannot be used for any competing business, Planning Commission Chair Andrew Blackley added.
The city has been engaged in a public input process to determine what residents would like to see in the park, Young said.
“It was a very wonderful process and we got a fantastic wishlist of ideas, but as with many large public projects, you can’t afford the entire wishlist of ideas,” he said. “What we have for you tonight is a scaled back design that doesn’t have the full wishlist we heard from the public, but we feel has the core elements that were the common thread throughout the public engagement of what the people wanted to see.”
Many residents expressed an interest in a backlit or low-lit “Chardon” script sign, similar to the one in Cleveland, Rogers said.
At this time, the city is leaning toward block lettering, which Young said is easier to fabricate and more durable long term.
“The secret they don’t tell you about the script Cleveland sign is that because it’s only mounted by the base of the C, it’s highly prone to bending and they actually have to maintain it quite a lot, apparently,” he said.
Plans for the park include a 6-foot-wide concrete walkway running from one end of the property to the other, along with a veterans memorial.
The design also featured a green space that could be developed in the future. Rogers noted a picnic area could potentially be added there, though nothing has been finalized.
Trees would partially ring the park to provide a solid backdrop, Young said.
While the original concept included more floral plantings, Young said the updated design features cherry trees meant to mimic the National Mall and serve as a tribute to Cherry Street’s name. Several flower beds would also be placed around trees and near the sign.
Vice-Chair Mary Jo Stark noted a significant amount of unused space behind the ring of trees and asked whether the arch could be pushed farther back.
Rogers said the city does not yet know how large the trees will grow, as officials still need to discuss plantings with the city arborist.
“Trust me, I would agree, you probably would agree, we would like to push it back as far as we can just to keep even the maintenance behind it very low,” he said.
The original design was much denser and included less grass, Young said, later noting elements such as a shade structure, poles for a hometown hero banner program and a seat wall were removed due to budget constraints.
The city has applied for five grants and has been rejected by two so far, Rogers said.
Additional amenities could be added in the future as funding becomes available, Blackley said.
“Correct. And part of why there’s some admittedly strange green spaces on here is we’ve tried to, in the final design, have, ‘Okay, if we were going to add a shade structure later, where would we put it,’” Young said.
With no major objections from the commission, the project is expected to appear on Chardon City Council’s February agenda, Young said, adding bidding on the project could begin as early as April.
