The latest design of Duck Pond Park will be discussed at tonight’s Community and Library Services Commission meeting — 7pm at City Hall. The elements of the park have been refined since the previous design was released and commented on, most notably, the horseshoe pits have been relocated away from the adjacent sidewalk along Sycamore Avenue and replaced with a larger, more attractive picnic area.

The parking lot has also been reconfigured (the wasteful traffic loop has been removed), but the size of the lot remains rather alarming. The latest plans show 15 parking spaces (approximately 6000 square feet of pavement), including two handicapped spaces, however no spaces are required by zoning since the future park building will be unstaffed. (The Queen Anne, temporarily staged at the end of Willet Street, will be the centerpiece of the proposed park as a multi-use community building for meetings, events, etc.)

Instead of a rather large parking lot, the City could make use of the ample on-street parking that is and will be available along Sycamore Avenue. Parked cars along Sycamore would also serve an organic traffic calming measure (drivers would slow down resulting from the decreased road width). Additionally, when the proposed elementary school is eventually constructed across the street, the parking lot as currently designed would likely become an overflow parking lot for the school, ultimately reducing its effectiveness for the community.

In order to accommodate loading (young children, park events), maintenance, and the handicapped, a form of driveway could be designed to relate with the Queen Anne building — instead of a typical parking lot — providing enough room for two handicapped spaces and a maintenance truck (a loading zone), however accomplishing the required parking needs with a lot less pavement.