2000 01-17 Special Called Workshop Meeting

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Street Ends Report, page 3 ~. What We Hope to Accomplish As far back as 1989 there have been informal discussions to utilize some of these street ends as passive mini parks, serving the immediate neighborhoods. The usage of these as parks would have to be primarily as neighborhood mini-parks due to the lack of available parking for guests. Residents in the immediate walking distance would receive the most benefit from the proposed parks. Also, because the sites are clustered in three groups, it doesn't make sense to turn all of them into park sites. The current Comprehensive Plan Update will indicate a shortage of small mini-parks of less than an acre in size, designed to serve individual communities in the City of La Porte. The 1993 Bayfront Master Plan advocated the recreational potential for the use of street ends, both as waterways and as passive recreational sites, to provide additional bayfront access for citizens of La Porte. In addition, the Visions '89 Committee Report indicated the need to "...facilitate the access to the City' bay front area, by identifying concepts that will promote and develop this spectacular resource." A consideration for the retained sites is that the shorelines must be modified to create asemi-permanent bay frontage that will require minimum maintenance. There are several uses that can be contemplated. For example, the Garfield site has a fishing pier attachment that could be retained for use by the community. Its origin is unknown but there is apparently a homeowner's group in the area that maintains the property on an informal basis. There is also the need to work on the Cypress St. end. Whether it is retained as a park or closed to adjoining property owners, the existing riprap needs to be removed to allow bay access for maintenance, which will entail some cost to the City. These properties have been traditionally maintained by the Public Works Department as rights of way, or by adjacent property owners. Shoreline erosion has been an issue for a number of the site in the past and is a concern for future use. Most of the sites are quite narrow (40' or 60' R.O.W.) making parking as a parksite somewhat a problem. Most of the sites are fairly shallow (+/- 60' to 80') of useable property, which limits the type of development that can be accomplished. The sites are also clustered in three groups, with the central group having six of the eleven sites. In visiting with the City Attorney, we find the City can use the right of way for the benefit of the public. The street ends could only be closed to the adjacent homeowners by following the street and alley closing procedure.