Mr. Dunn,

Thanks for the call the other day.  Threading a line between promoting necessary growth and preservation of needed greenspace is not easy, but everyone is honestly hoping that the BOC can hold the line and keep the access road for emergency access only.  

Ms. Stallard at DOT has told me that under the applicable Development Regulations, and in particular to this situation, the access road counts as an ingress/egress point thereby satisfying those requirements.  

And before I go any further let me say that in my previous communications I posed a lot of questions because there's just so little information out there- the Park is getting bulldozed and that's the way it is.  Why?  How?  What?  This is the typical response from most people, and when the next question is 'what now?' you can only shrug because who knows.

When I first saw the clearing behind Tabor, I thought to myself how great it would be to live right next to my favorite park.  But as I learned more about how things went down I became disgusted with the whole idea- not least because of the lousy reputations that Pearson and various Riverwood builders have earned themselves over the years, but also the access road debacle.  What a mess.  But you can bet that Pearson will be heavily promoting Mount Tabor as a selling point and charging premiums for the adjoining lots.  He's already making money off the Park's reputation and accessibility so there should be no reason to grant another paved entrance when the gravel access will do.

You mentioned the other day that the BOC is looking at other amenities for Tabor such as pickle ball courts, and that sounds great, but what people really need is what Tabor already has- woods and hills to roam around on shaded paths.  And what would happen to the September 11 Memorial if the access road becomes a thoroughfare?  Is that going to be relocated along with the pavilion and playground?  That would be a terrible shame.

Personally, I think it would go a long way if the BOC could provide some honest background on how we  actually got here- to the extent you can, share some of the under pressure deliberations that went on.  Give an idea of how it is trying to deal with Pearson or developers.  It couldn't have been that simple to just grant an easement access for 10 bucks.  Tell people the truth, but at the end of the day be sure they know that the access road will remain for emergency use only.  

Please email me if you have any kind of a statement or message from the BOC regarding the access road.  The list from last week had approx 440 names, and the petition has now grown to 542 as of Sunday afternoon.  You can see the petition and all updates- even copies of the correspondence I've sent- at www.change.org and look for the title 'Help Mt Tabor Park by keeping access road Emergency Use Only'.  Also, go to www.Savemttabor.com for the original effort at stopping the access road, which also has links to the meeting minutes and as well as info on Pearson.

Sincerely,

Tim Steininger