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ENGINEERING SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Date: March 19, 2012 Resolution#: By-law#:
Report#: EGD-012-12 File#:
Subject: HAMPTON SKATEBOARD PARK SITE SELECTION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee
recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report EGD-012-12 be received;
2. THAT the Hampton Skateboard Park be located at the Darlington Sports Centre at the
north/east corner of the parking lot; and
3. THAT interested parties be notified of Council's decision.
Respectfully by,
N
Submitted by: A.S.'Cannella, C.E.T. Reviewed by: Franklin Wu,
Director of Engineering Services Chief Administrative Officer
May 20, 2011
ASC/PW/jo
CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 F 905-623-9282
REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12 PAGE 2
1.0 BACKGROUND
In November 2010, a number of letters and a petition were submitted to the Community
Services Department requesting a Skateboard Park for the Village of Hampton. The
Community Services Department responded to the letters and forwarded the information
to the Engineering Department for follow-up.
Since that time, Engineering Services staff has been assisting community members with
fundraising and evaluating potential sites for a skateboard park. Over $36,000 has now
been raised to purchase modular skateboard park equipment, including $15,000 from
Hydro One's PowerPlay grant program, and $20,000 from Halminen Homes, Gay
Company Ltd. and MiniCom Millennium Realty, St. Marys Cement has offered to supply
the cement for the pad free of charge.
In the 2012 Capital Budget funding was approved for the construction of a concrete pad
for the modular skateboard equipment, but the location has yet to be determined.
2.0 ANALYSIS
On November 24, 2011, a Public Open House was held to obtain feedback from the
residents of Hampton about the location for the skateboard park. Thirty three residents
signed in at the open house. Nine comment sheets were submitted and three e-mail
comments were received in the days following the meeting. Constable David Swaine, the
youth liaison officer for the Durham Regional Police, attended the meeting and provided
his input on the potential sites.
An ideal site would have the following attributes:
• located close to potential users
• accessible by foot and by car
• visible for public surveillance
• have no negative Impacts on adjacent land uses
• close to parking
• close to public washrooms, concession areas and public phone
REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12 PAGE 3
Staff and community representatives assessed four potential sites in Hampton
(Attachment 1).
1) Land north of the Hampton Post Office
2) Hampton Hall-west side
3) Elliot Park
4) Darlington Sports Centre
All of the assessed sites have some attributes but no single site had all of the desired
attributes.
The land north of the Hampton Post Office and the land on the west side of Hampton
Hall are close to potential users, but they are small sites with poor setbacks from
adjacent houses. The Local Area Superintendant from Canada Post also e-mailed his
concerns about developing a skateboard park north of the post office. His primary
concerns were the potential for graffiti and vandalism.
Elliot Park is a 2.5 ha Neighbourhood Park that contains a variety of park features such
as a soccer field, playground, trails and a half basketball court. Its main attribute as a
potential site for the skateboard park is that it is close to potential users however there
is insufficient space within the existing park to locate skateboard equipment without
impacting on existing uses. There were also concerns expressed by residents about
locating the skateboard park close to rear yards. The poor visibility into the park from
surrounding streets was noted by Constable Swaine and several residents as a
potential problem.
The Darlington Sport Centre site contains an arena and a soccer field north located of
the arena. M.J. Hobbs Senior Public School is located along the east side of the site.
The location assessed for the skateboard park is the N/E corner of the parking lot
(Attachment 2). This location would be approximately 30m (260feet) from the rear
fence line of the homes on McCallum Street. The main concern expressed by residents
REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12 PAGE 4
about the Darlington Sports Centre site was its distance from the central area of
Hampton. When following local roads the Darlington Sports Centre site is,approximately
1.2 km from the centre of Hampton (Hampton Hall). Some residents were also
concerned that children would travel along Taunton Road as a shortcut to the
skateboard park.
3.0 COMMENTS
The principal of M.J. Hobbs Senior Public School, Marguerite Masterson, provided
comments on Darlington Sports Center site to Melanie Blakely of the Hampton
Skateboard Park Committee (Attachment 3). Her main concerns are the possibility of
increased litter, graffiti and vandalism and the safety of her students. She was also
concerned about users distracting Hobbs students during instructional time.
The Community Services and Operations Departments were also asked to provide their
input on the assessed sites.
The Operations Department has indicated that regardless of which site is selected for
the Hampton Skateboard Park there will be an increase in litter and the potential for
graffiti and vandalism.
The Community Services Department who are responsible for the Darlington Sports
Centre have indicated that a skateboard park could lead to increased after hours
activities behind the facility which could result in vandalism to the building and increased
litter. They also point out that little or no staff will be at the building during the spring and
summer.
Constable David Swaine, the youth liaison officer for the Durham Regional Police,
participated in the assessment of the four potential sites. He provided his assessment of
sites to the community at the Pubic Open House. His professional opinion is that the
Darlington Sports Centre site is the best site in Hampton for a skateboard park.
REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12 PAGE 5
4.0 CONCURRENCE
This report has been reviewed by Fred Horvath Director of Operations and Joe Caruana
Director of Community Services who concur with the recommendations.
5.0 CONCLUSION
Based on the assessment of Clarington staff, comments received from the community,
and input from Durham Regional Police, the Darlington Sports Centre site is the
recommended location for the Hampton Skateboard Park.
The attributes of the site Darlington site include:
• accessible by foot and by car
• reasonably visible for public surveillance
• ample setbacks from adjacent residential
• close to parking
• close to public washrooms (but only when the Darlington Sports Centre is open
for hockey or lacrosse)
While the recommended location is the farthest site from potential users, it is anticipated
that users travelling to the site on foot will follow the same route that they would walk to
M.J. Hobbs School. The distance of 1.2km from the centre of Hampton was not
considered excessive to most of the residents who commented.
Concerns about vandalism, litter, and graffiti are very common when proposing new
skateboard parks. Based on the size and type of equipment proposed for the Hampton
Skateboard Park, it will attract mainly local users, and those concerns are not
anticipated to become a significant problem in the future. A similar size skateboard park
was constructed in Orono in 2009. That park has been well used by local
skateboarders. The Operations Department has seen only a slight increase in the
amount of garbage on site due to the skateboard park and very few public complaints
have been received.
REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12 PAGE 6
While no individual site in Hampton perfectly meets all of the desired criteria, the
Darlington Sports Centre site has been assessed as the best location to construct the
Hampton Skateboard Park.
CONFORMITY WITH STRATEGIC PLAN
The recommendations contained in this report conform to the general intent of the following
priorities of the Strategic Plan:
_ Promoting economic development
Maintaining financial stability
_ Connecting Caarington
_ Promoting green initiatives
X Investing in infrastructure
_ Showcasing our community
Not in conformity with Strategic Plan
Staff Contact: Peter Windolf, Manager of Park Development
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Assessed sites
Attachment 2 - Recommended site
Attachment 3 - E-mail from M.J. Hobbs School
Interested parties to be advised of Council's decision:
Melanie and Dan Blakely
Monty Wheller and Michael Convery
Shane Blakely
P.C.David Swaine
Marguerite Masterson
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DRAWN BY: E.L. DATE: February 27, 2012
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REPORT EGD-012-12
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ATTACHMENT NO.:3
Windolf, Peter REPORT NO.: EGD-012-12
To: Windolf, Peter
Subject: FW: Hello from Hobbs
-----Original Message -----
From: Marguerite Masterson
To: dan.blakely,
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 1:29 PM
Subject: Hello from Hobbs
Hi Melanie,
As you know, I think it is a wonderful idea to have a safe place for youth to skateboard within this
community and the efforts of a number of people, including some of my students, is most
impressive in terms of initiative and perseverance! I do want to thank you for sharing with me that
the Skateboard Park might possibly end up being located behind the Arena, and in close proximity
to the school. I appreciate that the Police Representative was interested in my feedback regarding
this. If the park were to end up behind the arena, I would hope that it would have excellent lighting
and would, as necessary, be monitored by the Police. In terms of how this might affect the school,
I am certainly concerned about litter, including broken bottles and drug paraphernalia, that might
end up in the vicinity of the school and cause issues around safety. I would also want to make sure
that older students who do not attend school during the hours that my students do would not be on
our school property as they take a short-cut across our field to the park or distracting the Hobbs'
students during instructional time (which is sometimes outside) or during recess. There is of
course also the concern of potential vandalism and/or graffiti. If the Police rep involved with helping
to make a decision around location of the skateboard park would like to contact me, please forward
my information to him as I'd be happy to speak with him to discuss these initial thoughts that I'm
passing along through you. I am also curious as to the other potential locations for the skateboard
park.
Thanks,
Marguerite
Marguerite Masterson
Principal
Hampton Junior Public School
43 Orminston St., Hampton, ON, LOB 1JO
(905) 263-2252 Fax (905) 263-4759
Marguerite Masterson
Principal
MJ Hobbs Senior Public School
2296 Taunton Road, RR #1, Hampton, ON, LOB 1JO
(905) 263-2204 Fax (905) 263-4760
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