Save Prairie Grove Park!

The Issue

COME TOGETHER TO HELP SAVE OUR GREEN SPACE

PETITION

The City of Waterloo has recently announced that it is considering the sale of a portion of the land in Prairie Grove Park. The undersigned homeowners, neighbors and taxpayers wish to express our adamant opposition to the sale or development of any of the land contained within Prairie Grove Park.

The decision to allow the private development of land within Prairie Grove Park is unacceptable for many reasons, some of which include the following:

This area of Waterloo is the fastest growing neighborhood in the city and the usage of the park by neighborhood children and families, as well as many others throughout our city is increasing dramatically each year. There are no other neighborhood parks anywhere in this part of the city.
The impact on pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic traveling on Shaulis Road would be substantial.
- The egress for any lots that would be sold on the south side of the park would be directly onto Shaulis Road, which is becoming a major east-west artery for Waterloo from the south on Highway 21 and Highway 63.
- Drivers approaching the park from the east encounter a blind spot due to the road topography which would inhibit a driver egressing onto Shaulis Road to see traffic coming from the east.
- There is a gas pipeline approximately 1 mile west of this area, directly off of Shaulis Road and takers are traveling on Shaulis Road continuously.
- Hawkeye Community college uses this route extensively to train semi drivers.
We have a first-class bicycle trail contiguous to the south edge of Prairie Grove Park which is increasingly becoming one of the major bike trail routes in the City and is heavily used by pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Many of the homeowners and taxpayers that have populated this neighborhood over the past 20 years made the decision to build their homes and live in this neighborhood based in part on the access to and the green space sight lines of this beautiful park with the expectation that the park would never be used for any purpose other than to provide green space to all of this area of south Waterloo and unobstructed sight lines for those that live immediately adjacent to Prairie Grove Park.
Substituting private development of any part of the park in exchange for the loss of treasured green space is unacceptable to an area population that has few, if any, alternatives to green space within walking or biking distance of their homes.
Prairie Grove Park is used extensively throughout all seasons of the year by families and children from the neighborhood and beyond for multiple purposes including: baseball, picnics, cross country skiing, sledding, and numerous other activities enjoyed by families throughout the city.

The undersigned homeowners that surround Prairie Grove Park and whose families constitute the highest utilization of the park throughout the year respectfully submit this Petition object to the sacrifice of any land within Prairie Grove Park for the purpose of private development for financial gain to the developers and potentially to the City of Waterloo. The green space contained within the Prairie Grove Park and the benefits derived therefrom transcend the potential financial gain to the City or the private developers.

Please contact the Waterloo City Council and other city representatives who may have input into this issue. We are providing you with contact information for the Waterloo City Council members and the relevant members of the Waterloo city administration.

NEWS STORIES

Waterloo eyes selling parts of city parks for housing development, April 19, 2019

Waterloo park sale opposition picks up steam, May 10, 2019

Petition Against Housing Development on Park Grows, KWWL, May 10, 2019

ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFORMATION

Waterloo City Council

Sharon Juon, At-Large, sharon.juon@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 232-0713

Steven J. Schmitt, At-Large, steve.schmitt@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 610-1938

MargaretKlein, Ward 1, margaret.klein@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 429-1907

Bruce Jacobs, Ward 2, bruce.jacobs@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 215-8267

Patrick Morrissey, Ward 3, pat.morrissey@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 232-7315

Jerome Amos Jr, Ward 4, jerome.amos@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 429-8504

Ray Feuss, Ward 5, ray.feuss@waterloo-ia.org, (319)-290-5082

Waterloo Mayor's Office

Quientin Hart, mayor@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 291-4301

Waterloo Planning and Zoning Department:

Noel Anderson, noel.anderson@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 291-4366

Waterloo Leisure Services

Paul Huting, paul.huting@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 291-4370, (319) 291-0165

Leisure Services Commission Board

Brenda Durbahn, Bdurbahn@hgcons.com, (319) 232-1742, (319) 230-2860

Donald Huff, email unknown, (319) 233-2404, (319) 404-1169

Sharon Samec, email unknown, (319) 231-6291, (319) 759-5442

Paul Huting, paul.huting@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 291-4370, (319) 291-0165

Steven J. Schmitt, steve.schmitt@waterloo-ia.org, (319) 610-1938

Tom Powers, Tom.Powers@VGM.com, (866) 940-8491, (319) 269-1553

Jadyn Spencer, email unknown, (319) 505-2720, (319) 404-9333

Bob Bamsey, Bamsey1@mchsi.com, (319) 233-5886, (319) 240-6101

Xavier Leonard, ifortalent16@gmail.com, phone unknown

Waterloo Courier

Tim Jamison, tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com

Jeff DriverPetition Starter

Media inquiries

996 The Issue

COME TOGETHER TO HELP SAVE OUR GREEN SPACE

PETITION

The decision to allow the private development of land within Prairie Grove Park is unacceptable for many reasons, some of which include the following:

This area of Waterloo is the fastest growing neighborhood in the city and the usage of the park by neighborhood children and families, as well as many others throughout our city is increasing dramatically each year. There are no other neighborhood parks anywhere in this part of the city.
The impact on pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic traveling on Shaulis Road would be substantial.
- The egress for any lots that would be sold on the south side of the park would be directly onto Shaulis Road, which is becoming a major east-west artery for Waterloo from the south on Highway 21 and Highway 63.
- Drivers approaching the park from the east encounter a blind spot due to the road topography which would inhibit a driver egressing onto Shaulis Road to see traffic coming from the east.
- There is a gas pipeline approximately 1 mile west of this area, directly off of Shaulis Road and takers are traveling on Shaulis Road continuously.
- Hawkeye Community college uses this route extensively to train semi drivers.
We have a first-class bicycle trail contiguous to the south edge of Prairie Grove Park which is increasingly becoming one of the major bike trail routes in the City and is heavily used by pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Many of the homeowners and taxpayers that have populated this neighborhood over the past 20 years made the decision to build their homes and live in this neighborhood based in part on the access to and the green space sight lines of this beautiful park with the expectation that the park would never be used for any purpose other than to provide green space to all of this area of south Waterloo and unobstructed sight lines for those that live immediately adjacent to Prairie Grove Park.
Substituting private development of any part of the park in exchange for the loss of treasured green space is unacceptable to an area population that has few, if any, alternatives to green space within walking or biking distance of their homes.
Prairie Grove Park is used extensively throughout all seasons of the year by families and children from the neighborhood and beyond for multiple purposes including: baseball, picnics, cross country skiing, sledding, and numerous other activities enjoyed by families throughout the city.