um packer park is the lovely community immediately adjacent to fdr park i'm also the co-president of
the friends of fdr park along with lindsey stanapikio who will be next we are firm supporters
of the parks and rec system for decades and i am probably the leading advocate for the fdr parks
revival over the last 25 plus years i have volunteered thousands of hours spent thousands
of dollars and this case is ripping my heart out and stomping on it. I can summarize this plan in
two words and save you all this reading. Bad karma. I can summarize it in three words. Very bad
karma. Of all the places in 360 acres to dump toxic turf fields and
Of all the places and 360 acres to dump toxic turf fields, and that's another subject for another day, the experts picked in the midst of 64 huge, gorgeous heritage trees.
Heritage trees means they're old, they're 25 inches in diameter or more, multiple branches, and usually at least 30 feet high.
And this is the difference between BookSmart and StreetSmart.
Pay attention.
BookSmart, StreetSmart.
Street Smart should win.
Whoever goes along with this bad decision will forever ruin the nature and flow of this beautiful, peaceful park.
My neighbors say they moved here to be next to the park, not a noisy, bright lights and ball field activity center.
Just because of the time, energy, good faith, and volunteer efforts that the two RCOs have made, we did not get a lawyer.
We did not want to be adversarial to the Parks and Rec and Fairmount Park systems.
We naively believed that they would respect us, all of our hard work, our nights, our weekends, meetings, meetings, meetings, cleaning the park on Sundays, and respect our position in the community, on the street, and literally boots on the ground in this community with park users and neighbors.
After all, we are the people who get the complaints.
We're the first line of defense.
We object to Mr. McCuller's continued characterization that the RCOs delayed this matter.
Once we received the exact plans, which was mid-November, we immediately asked Fairmount Park and Parks and Rec for a meeting to discuss the many questions that we had.
We know from our constituents what questions people will ask.
So in order to get those answers first, we had to meet with them.
Very important issue. Traffic, security plan, why only 170 parking spaces, et cetera.
We got no response. We wrote again. We are always polite and courteous. Always. We requested a meeting. Finally, the date for that meeting was set, not by us, but by the Fairmont Park and Parks and Rec, and it was January 26th. So we did not delay. We asked then, we asked now for a modification of the current plan so the delay was not on our part.
packer park civic has already voted to appeal this decision if it goes against us
friends of fdr park has not taken that vote yet there are many environmental groups also opposed
to this and its plans in the current state that it's in i hope that you please read those heartfelt
letters as well especially from the bird people on behalf of packer park civic only our neighbors
vehemently do not want more traffic noise and lights it's not like we don't have a lot going
on down here already. We do. Fairmont Park is giving us fields, yet cutting down the very trees
that protect us from the noise, the lights, the music that these fields on the northern portion
of FDR will generate. So we're getting the fields and they're killing our buffer. Makes no sense.
The neighbors were adamant about that and I put forward their opposition. In my role as co-president
of the Friends Group, I have tried to compromise with Parks and Rec. This plan for the sake of the
neighbors now my neighbors are not happy about that compromise but i am trying to work with
everybody the friends have been trying since november to modify this plan very simply and
save a huge number of these large gorgeous trees that serve as buffers it's a lose-lose for packer
park and it's also a lose-lose for the park um we have we have tried to get a meeting with the
new head of parks and rec the new commissioner we had a meeting scheduled for four o'clock yesterday
it was canceled right before with no explanation and no request to reschedule if there's an
emergency you usually say well let me reschedule this that did not happen so i believe the hard
working volunteers who have kept this park clean and beautiful deserve better than the disrespect
and demissive attitude from both parks and rec and fairmont park conservancy for us volunteers
This whole process has been one of marginalizing the RCOs, and that's very sad, because these are the people who care so much.
To summarize, the applicant did not show that there's no reasonable alternative to this plan.
We tried and got nowhere.
We do have a reasonable alternative.
All we ask is a slight shift, same footprint.
I know it's already been surveyed.
Just shift it over to the West.
Lose one field, lose two courts, save the beautiful championship tree,
save the clubhouse where the friends operate their volunteer activities out of children's
library etc the applicant also did not show that there's no harm to the park and to the neighbors
a traffic study was never done um it was offered to us january 26 i'm sure that it has not commenced
there's also been no security plan and we've had an endless vandalism routed scenes and issues
ungodly uh in the last in this last week it was heartbreaking the beautiful new anna c verna
playground was taken over by bullies last weekend and my phone rang off the hook from parents very
last weekend and my phone rang off the hook from parents very very upsetting yes they call me not
very upsetting
Fairmount Park or Parks and Rec they have no idea how to reach those boats in the ivory tower
please know that the park already has to be closed six to seven times a year on Sundays
closed for further people coming in because it's too packed and that's not Eagle Sundays that's
other spring Sundays. And it's also many other Sundays are too close for comfort, but it's not
closed. The ZBI, this process, not personally to you, but this process is stifled advocacy
and we did not get a lawyer, which was our mistake. The witnesses went in untouched and
that's unfortunate. It's almost impossible to advocate over Zoom. So please bear with me,
I'm almost done. The master plan was a framework. We had no idea the specific placement of the first
fields until November 2023. We asked many questions, the parking spaces, the traffic,
the security. We had no idea these large gorgeous trees would be cut for ball fields. No one at the
multiple planning meetings in 2018 ever advocated for tournament play or killing trees, just the
opposite. However, after COVID, and I'm sure you all know this, times are far different now.
There's a decline in civility, a decline in respect, and what looked benign in 2018
is now toxic, controversial, flammable, combustible. No one behaves anymore. There is no respect. So
the thought of having all these fields here and no trees to buffer it are pretty upsetting.
One of the trees alone is a state champion, 122 inches in diameter and 40 feet high, many, many branches.
It's slated to come down.
Believe me, if you saw it in person, you would weep.
We have shown an alternate plan, and we advocate for its acceptance.
And there is harm to the community, and we advocate for the plans and the traffic study to show that.
Finally, I have to say this, that we are very, very disappointed at Fairmount Park and the parks and rec and the disrespectful and dismissive attitude they have had toward their biggest advocates, the volunteers.
Thank you so much for listening.
Any questions?
Thank you.
Could the representative for FDR, RCO, please come on?
That would be Lindsay, last name beginning with S. I don't want to butcher. Yes, I see her at the bottom. There you go. Thank you.
Lindsay Scannapico has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Chairman. Good morning. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Lindsay Scannapico. That's L-I-N-D-S-E-Y. Last name is Scannapico, S-C-A-N-N-A-P-I-E-C-O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you very much, Chairman.
Honorable members of the Zoning Board and everybody else who has gathered here today, thank you so much.
I stand here today as the co-president of the Friends of FDR Park alongside Barb Capozzi.
I am not a paid staff member or paid consultant.
This is just a park that I love dearly and decided to get more involved in about eight years ago when I joined the Friends of FDR Park.
It was clear at the last hearing that we were unable to ask questions of the experts, clarify statements that were made, or participate without legal counsel.
Therefore, we found legal counsel today. Unfortunately, they were unable to join the meeting today, which is why we requested continuance.
It is not to further delay this process. It is really to allow us to have representation at the table.
let me be clear we are not opposed to the master plan in fact we are exceedingly enthusiastic about
the opportunity for investment and support within fdr park however our concerns lie with the lack
of community input in this specific zoning application and the removal of heritage trees
when we believe that there is an alternative plan that would be better for all while we recognize
the thoroughness of the public engagement process in 2018, five years ago, prior to the pandemic,
we have found ourselves unable to share concerns in the process today now that details and designs
have been developed. When we saw the master plan in 2018, one of the big questions the Friends of
the FDR Park Board had, and was well documented, was regarding the traffic and security plans in
was regarding the traffic and security plans in the park the investment sounded great but the
the park.
The investment
salary
operational impacts were critical master plans are a framework and we understood this but we
were told continually that our concerns and questions would be answered in the design phase
this has not occurred fdr park has experienced a significant uptick in visitors with the number
soaring from 2.75 million visitors recorded prior to the pandemic to over 4.5 million visitors last
year. The population of the city of Philadelphia, as we all know, is only around 1.5 million people.
So this is a really significant regional park. Regular closures already happen in the park due
to unsafe conditions caused by excessive traffic. We've had fatalities in the park due to this.
We are currently closing the park six to eight times a year in the spring and autumn due to too much traffic.
In this zoning application, no traffic or security plan has been presented,
and we believe there is a specific detrimental impact by the traffic and congestion this skilled facility will bring to the park and surrounding roads.
We support the master plan, but we do have concerns about this application.
We implore the zoning board to consider a requirement for an alternative that would mitigate these concerns.
We have a plan that we believe would save 30% of the heritage trees, 14 to 15 of the trees specifically.
It would give four high-quality multi-use courts, three basketball courts, and this parking provision as detailed.
I also wish to just address some misconceptions and statements that were made on the record that
I believe were inaccurate. Contrary to the accusations that were made, we have only
actively sought information and engaged in dialogue since receiving the plans. We only
received the plans on November 14th. We asked questions on November 20th and again on December
18th. We received an email from Fairmount Park Conservancy on January 3rd saying that it would
require them until mid-January to get us a response. On January 11th, they asked for a meeting on
January 27th. We had that meeting and accommodated their schedules and we hosted our public RCO
meeting two weeks later. We are committed to transparency as a community group.
I would also like to clarify for the Zoning Board our process at the public meeting.
We have been accused that our process was exclusionary as we only permitted paying
members to vote and allow members to be from the city of, and we allow members, I'm sorry,
we allow members to be from beyond the city of Philadelphia. As a park that attracts 4.5 million
visitors per annum, it's probably actually higher than that because it's just based on cell phone
data, it is clear that we are a regionally significant park and we have many supporters
from all over the region. We also follow the guidance as outlined in the Park Friends document
issued by the Fairmont Park Conservancy, which recommends that you charge people a membership fee
in order to be part of a friends group. This is exactly in line with their guidance and
recommendations. Otherwise, things would just become a popularity contest depending on specific
issues that were raised. Lastly, I urge the board to recognize the true value of the area under
discussion. It was stated in the previous hearing that it was, quote, an informal dog park,
I'm sorry, an informal dog run or soil stockpile. That is frankly just not true. This area is used
by thousands of people for various recreational activities, birding, picnicking, playing,
walking. There's organized walking groups that use this area each and every single week. I was
THIS AREA ON SUNDAY AND RAN INTO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THIS PART OF THE PARK. THIS IS NOT JUST
A DOG RUN OR STOIL STOCKPILE. WE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN THAT HONORS THE
SPIRIT OF THE MASTER PLAN, A DESIRE FOR HIGH QUALITY SPORTS FIELDS AND ALSO THE CONCERNS OF OUR
COMMUNITY. AND WE URGE THE ZONING BOARD TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION IN TODAY'S CONVERSATION.
So thank you very much for the time for us to share our concerns.
Thank you for your comments.
Go to the virtual audience, please.
Chair, we have Cynthia O'Keefe.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Yes, it's Cynthia, C-Y-N-T-H-I-A.
o'keefe is o apostrophe k e e f e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do are you a neighbor uh i'm not a neighbor i live in bergen county new jersey and
Uh, I'm not a neighbor. I live in Bergen County, New Jersey in Ridgewood, and I'm an interested party.
And, um,
All right. So, so, so let, so let me ask you this. Are you for this or against the project?
I'm against it.
Okay. And give us, if you can, give us something different than what we've heard from the last two people, if that's possible.
Sure. I certainly will.
Thank you.
As a resident of Ridgewood, New Jersey, I'm increasingly concerned about the many parallels that are projects within not only New Jersey.
Obviously, it's the very same situation that is happening with this park.
And as one of the earlier callers spoke before, it's bad karma.
The Fairmont Park Conservancy website says you believe in the power of open spaces and the importance of nature to urban communities.
But from the what I understand about this project is that you're taking nature away.
And so leveling trees that provide clean air and then installing plastic playing fields, which we all know have been, you know, understood to be toxic.
And every day information comes out about the toxic nature and forever chemicals.
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on a minute, please.
We've had testimony about that.
So could you concentrate on what you think is different that you know about this project?
Well, what I know about this project is that, well, I don't know if there's a stormwater runoff plan related to the toxic turf fields.
I also, you know, I'm against the leveling of the heritage trees.
And so I wanted to state my objection for the record.
and um obviously you seem like you want to cut me off so if that's the case no i don't want to cut
you off but what i'm trying to do is concentrate on other points that have already been made
so no i don't want to cut you off okay well to sum it up i don't agree with leveling that amount
of trees we obviously need them for our environment it's part of what should be considered
important in an open space plan. And again, I believe turf is toxic, and you should reevaluate
those plans. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to calls.
Next hand, please. Chair, we have Candace, last name beginning with an L. They have been unmuted
and allowed to speak. Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the court's stenographer?
Good afternoon, everyone.
It's Candice, C-A-N-D-I-C-E.
My last name is DeTore, D-E, capital T-O-R-E.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?