New debate brewing over Naperville park district garden plots

It turns out gardeners aren't the only ones opposed to moving some of Naperville's garden plots to the south side of town.

Some residents near DuPage River Park say putting garden plots close to their homes will be an "eyesore" and increase traffic in their neighborhood.

While their concerns come months after the plan was approved by the school board, park board and city council, the residents say they were not properly notified about the issue until recently.

"Responsibility for communication is on the part of the person talking, not on the part of the person who should be listening," resident Gary Conkright said.

Planners say they have listened to the residents' concerns and modified their plans accordingly. Their latest concept for the park will be on display for public comment from 6 to 7:30 p.m. today in the municipal center, 400 S. Eagle St.

The proposal in question is a $250,000 plan to create 332 garden plots in the northwest corner of DuPage River Park off Royce Road.

The park district is installing the plots as part of a deal that will allow Naperville Unit District 203 to put two athletic fields on part of the existing garden plot site on West Street near Naperville Central High School.

The issue caused a large stir in the community last fall when park and school officials released four options for addressing Central's shortage of athletic fields.

Gardeners opposed relocating the garden plots because they didn't want to lose the land they had spent years cultivating and were concerned about traffic and safety. Parents of athletes, however, supported the move because it meant their children wouldn't be bused across town for practices.

After three community engagement meetings and numerous discussions at park board, school board and city council meetings, all three government bodies approved the plan to move some of the plots.

But Conkright said homeowners near DuPage River Park were never directly notified about the meetings the way the gardeners were and thus did not get a chance to give their input sooner.

Residents are now banding together to do just that.

Some question the need for any additional garden plots. Despite the fact that 112 plots are being removed from the West Street site and that all plots have been rented this year, Conkright said 69 plots belong to nonresidents and others get abandoned during the summer.

Before the park district goes any further, he'd like more discussion as to how many plots are really needed and whether they can be spread throughout the city.

Residents also are concerned about increased traffic in their neighborhoods, especially on Apple River Drive not far from River Woods Elementary School.

In addition, they say the plots could hurt their property values.

"We all think it's an eyesore," Conkright said. "If you drive by the West Street garden plots you see whirly gigs and every kind of contraption people put in gardens to keep birds away."

Roughly 90 of his neighbors attended an open house on the issue last month after receiving direct notification from the park district, he said.

Brad Wilson, director of recreation, said while there may not have been direct mailings to these residents for prior meetings, there was a "significant amount of public notification" from all three governing bodies.

The latest concept plan attempts to ease some of their concerns, he said, by adding landscape buffers between the garden plots and Royce Road. Planners also have moved portable toilets and compost areas so they can't be viewed from the street.

Wilson said the plots themselves can't be moved much further south because it would be too close to the flood plain.

Although a study found traffic impact would be minimal, park district planners also are exploring whether they can change the access point to the proposed garden plots to minimize cut-through traffic on Apple River Drive.

Wilson believes the additional plots are needed.

"We're ... anticipating with the addition of the southern location we will have new demand for garden plots now that they are in a more desirable location for residents on the south side of Naperville," he said.

The park district will take tonight's feedback into consideration in creating a final plan and could begin construction this fall in hopes of making the new plots available in spring 2010. Plots at the West Street site will not be removed until the new plots are complete.

After tonight, the latest plan will be available at napervilleparks.org and people can send their comments to info@napervilleparks.org.