| Skateboard
Park Doesn't Pass Test |
|
To the editor:
|
| One doesn't have to be opposed to skate parks or live in
West Market to oppose this proposal. |
| Small Tax District Five was created more than 20 years ago
for the purpose, we thought at the time, of building the community
center facility in Hunters Woods. We were told this was a
way--the only way--to have such a center any time soon. Most
of us thought then that once the original úmortgageî of the
center was paid off, which happened a few years ago, the extra
costs borne by the tax district would go away. |
| How naÎve! The expansion of the Community Center into Lake
Anne a few years ago at least was within the general mission
of the center as citizens of Reston and the tax district understood
it. |
| The skate park proposal, however, does not meet this test.
Small Tax District Five simply was not constituted to have
anything to do with outdoor recreation. Further, Fairfax County
Park Authority is about to build a skate park in Wakefield
Park off Braddock Road. These facilities are funded out of
county general funds, the proper source for funding of a skate
park that might be constructed in either Baron Cameron or
Lake Fairfax Park. |
| Not once in this study is the tax district mentioned or
its geographic limits shown. According to the studies, at
least 50 percent of the projected attendance will be from
outside the tax district; that is, beyond a three-mile radius
from the site. |
| Much is made of the YMCA location and the school shuttle
bus. The bus doesn't run weekends or summers, serves Langston
Hughes and Herndon Intermediate only, and school policy absolutely
prohibits the bringing of skateboards to school. |
| Younger kids are most likely to be driven to the park; driving
age youngsters may also come by car. Parking is not adequate
for the present use of the YMCA. Additional parking would
come at a cost of about $15,000 per car and take down trees
and destroy wetlands. |
| Finally, if the skate park truly would generate the positive
cash flow which is projected, a private operator would be
willing either to develop one, or do a public-private partnership
to accomplish this objective on county parkland. If no such
operator is interested, this tells you something about the
projections. |
| Robert W. Howard |
| Reston |
