Alderman Donates Park Arch

The Park has become the perfect stop for those looking to take in nature and history while walking along the I&; — much of which is thanks to Ken and his .

About two weeks ago a new addition was added to the park on Illinois Avenue. A was put up over the to the replica the Heritage.

The Serenos had it made by Crown Concepts Corporation, a metal and . Because is a repeat customer and Crown Concepts is part of the community, the company cut a break on the cost, he said. The Serenos purchased it for about $4,500.

The arch features cut outs of squirrels, birds and other animal and plant life that is natural to the area. The top of the arch has a cut out that states “Canalport Park.”

“I spent 48 years working and didn’t donate much then so I thought it’s time to give back to the community,” said.

The Serenos are doing more than enough to make up for lost time. Just they had a of a horse pulling a buckboard full of barrels made and put in the park. It represents what would have been seen along the canal 100 years ago. It cost the Serenos about $5,300 and was also made by Crown Concepts.

In addition helped with the cost of the mural near the park on the Cal’s printing building at 123 Illinois Ave.

“It’s coming along beautifully down there with the , stone (entry) and the things from Ken and Joan,” said Mayor Dick Kopczick during the June 2 Morris City Council meeting.

Several other community members have also donated to the park including Warren Olson, who designed a in memory of his wife . The park was dedicated September 30, 2006.

The Tom Delockery family also donated the garden between the bank wall (put in by the city) and the landscaping stone (donated by Olson) against .

said the park holds the memories of the city’s history and he hopes visitors take time to think of Morris’ past while enjoying the park.

Although most would say he has done more than his share of donating, said he isn’t quite sure he’s done yet.

“The more we have here the more people will come down and look at the mural and the boat,” said.

said he is working on a project for Jim and Carol Baum’s new Community Center. The Baums recently purchased the old Coleman Hardware Company building on the west end of Illinois Avenue. They plan to remodel the building and divide it into condominiums for the area’s non-profit organizations.

The building’s old concrete chimney sits on the side of the building right now. said he’d like to incorporate it into a flag stand for the building. The original part of the building is about 135 years old so the chimney is historic, said, and should be preserved.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Landscaping Stone No Comments

Valley cities help you get rid of Christmas trees

This year, Phoenix teamed with A to Z Equipment Rentals %26 Sales to provide dropoff points for single trees today through Jan. 6, free for city residents.

Trees should be placed in designated areas near special collection bins, officials said.

The sites are:

��Deer Valley Park, 19th Avenue and Utopia Road.

�� Park, 56th Street and Sweetwater Avenue.

��Paradise Valley Park, 40th Street, south of Union Hills Drive.

�� Park, 38th Avenue and Road.

��Mountain View Park, 7th Avenue south of Peoria Avenue

��Marivue Park, Osborn Road and 59th Avenue.

��Washington Park, Maryland and 23rd Avenue.

��Madison Park, Glenrosa Avenue and 16th Street.

��Los Olivos Park, Devonshire Avenue and 28th Street.

��Desert West Park, Encanto Boulevard and 67th Avenue.

��El Reposo Park, 7th Street and Alta Vista Road.

��Cesar Chavez Park, 35th Avenue and Baseline Road.

Single trees also will be accepted at Phoenix transfer stations at 3060 S. 27th Ave. (south of Lower Buckeye Road), and at 30205 N. Black Canyon Freeway (exit I-17 at Happy Valley Road, exit roundabout at East Frontage Road, north three miles).

Sites are open 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. The 27th Avenue site is closed Sundays. Both sites are closed New Year’s Day. The service is free to Phoenix residents.

A to Z Equipment will accept trees at no charge today through Jan 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Dec. 30 and 31, 9 a.m. to noon, and it is closed New Year’s Day. Phoenix stores are at 4050 E. Indian School Rd. and 15634 N. 32 St.

A sample of other cities plans:

Peoria

Peoria Solid Waste Services offers customers free curbside Christmas-tree collections beginning Jan. 4. Residents may phone the Solid Waste division, 623-773-7431, for pickup dates and other information. Only one stop will be made per zone, officials said.

Glendale

Glendale residents may drop off Christmas trees at seven sites until through Jan. 13:

��Acoma Park, 53rd Avenue and Acoma Drive.

��Fire Station 156, 67th Avenue and Deer Valley Road.

��Foothills Park, 57th Avenue and Union Hills Drive.

��O’Neil Park, 64th and Missouri avenues.

��Rose Lane Park, 51st and Marlette avenues.

��Sahuaro Ranch Park, 63rd Avenue and Mountain View Road.

��Western Area Regional Park: 83rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

Gilbert

Residents may donate living holiday trees for replanting in Gilbert parks and open space areas.

Residents can schedule tree dropoffs by calling 480-503-6400.

The town has also joined with A to Z Rentals for free holiday recycling for cut trees, which the city will turn into mulch for landscaping.

Free dropoffs are available through Jan. 6 at these locations:

��A to Z Rentals, 1313 E. Baseline.

��Gilbert Soccer Complex, 4260 S. Greenfield Road.

��Nichols Park, 700 N. Higley Road.

Ahwatukee

Tree drop-off locations are open from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends through Jan. 6. Trees should be placed in the designated areas where special collection bins are located

��Mountain Vista Park, 50th Street north of Ray Road.

��Desert Foothills Park, Desert Foothills Parkway and Chandler Boulevard.

Information: 602-262-7251 or phoenix.gov/publicworks.

Chandler

Christmas tree pick-up runs through Jan. 11. Trees can be collected on regular recycling collection day or residents may schedule a free curbside bulk collection by calling 480-782-3510. Trees must be placed at the edge of the driveway by 6 a.m. on the day of collection.

Residents may also drop off Christmas trees through Jan 13 at West Chandler Park, Desert Breeze Park, Arrowhead Meadows Park, Shawnee Park, Pima Park, Folley , Chuparosa Park, Snedigar Sportsplex, Tumbleweed Park and the Solid Waste Transfer Facility.

Mesa

Residents may bring drop off Christmas trees free for recycling 24 hours a day through Jan. 13:

��Solid Waste Management Department, 730 N. Mesa Drive.

��East Mesa Service Center, 6935 E. Decatur St.

��Superstition Springs Police/Fire Substation, 2430 S. Ellsworth Road.

��Mountain View Park, 845 N. Lindsay Road.

��Dobson Ranch Park, 2363 S. Dobson Road.

Residents may take trees directly to the Salt River Landfill at Gilbert Road and the Beeline Highway between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mesa residents need a current Arizona driver’s license. Curbside pickup also is available for $10 and must be requested by Jan. 4. Contact the Solid Waste Management Department at 480-644-2688 for more information or to schedule a pickup. More information: www.cityofmesa.org/waste.

Mesa also accepts donations of live potted trees, which will be planted in Mesa parks. Live trees 5 feet or taller will be accepted at any Mesa fire station.

Tempe

Trees can be dropped off through Jan. 20:

��Household Products Collection Center,1320 E. University Drive, open 7 a.m. to noon Fridays and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

��Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, 6111 S. All-America Way, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The city also will pick up trees as part of the scheduled monthly January collection for brush and bulky items.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

Landscaping No Comments

Neighborhood Councils as Change Agents

Local empowerment in the rough-and-tumble arena of big-time urban politics is hard-won.

More precisely, it is incrementally earned.

Successful community organizers know that passion for the cause is not

enough; people persuaded by walking door-to-door.. Significant campaigns last for years. Several recent neighborhood victories in the land use arena suggest the magnitude of the challenge and the sweetness of the rewards.

In the Sunland-Tujunga community, a two-year public relations assault and political campaign revolving around the decidedly esoteric definition of a planning %26lsquo;project%26rsquo; garnered enough support in Council to return the applicant to the drawing board (or the courts) for a full environmental review. In Northridge, Wal-Mart opponents also succeeded in forcing the retailer to undertake a full environmental review, which, according to the retailer, suggested that the business climate was rather more friendly in Santa Clarita.

In Northeast Los Angeles, the Glassell Park neighborhood council and the Glassell Park Improvement Association worked together to win City Council support first for a moratorium and then later a community design overlay that effectively put the brakes on a proposed Home Depot for San Fernando Road. Galvanized by the thought that another project might better serve the community, they succeeded in persuading the community and the policymakers that there may yet be a better use for this visible site.

Elsewhere in the Northeast, a clear victory was delivered by City Council to stakeholders in El in the longtime struggle over the proposed Elephant Hill development. After nearly 15 years of sustained community activism and pressure from a constellation of neighborhood councils and community groups, the project went back to the drawing board for a supplemental environmental review. Opponents claimed that the developer was expanding the project in an under-the-radar attempt to get by with an outdated environmental impact report (EIR).

More than merely a setback for Home Depot or the developer of the metastasizing 26-home luxury Elephant Hill project, these victories show that neighborhood councils and community groups when working in concert can be more effective than working independently. They also suggest how the balance of power in land use decision-making has changed in Los Angeles in just a few years.

Remember that the City not long ago debated long and hard before placing some limits on big-box grocery sellers? Well, grappling with powerful retailers and local quality-of-life effects is not easy for policymakers; the ordinance was limited in scope and would not affect Home Depot, for example. Yet the North Valley neighborhoods played by established rules to force a reexamination of two unwanted big-box projects. They gained an upper hand in influencing what gets built on those sites.

Consider, too, that neighborhoods in Northeast Los Angeles have helped establish hillside open-space protections and, more recently, an historic preservation overlay zone. Activists there with council office support are taking a lead role in determining how their relatively underdeveloped community will grow. Indeed, Northeast Los Angeles today is at the forefront of land use activism. Whether asserting their voice in Los Angeles River revitalization or campaigning for safe space for day laborers, the Northeast has put ecological and social-justice concerns at the top of the planning agenda %26ndash; the new front of local empowerment.

How do these individual cases fit into the larger planning picture? First, they illustrate opportunities for citizen planners to take a more assertive role to ensure that developers play by the rules. These neighborhoods worked through partnerships to highlight problems in the process and demand required EIRs. They also called into question department approvals. The City Council responded in each case by revisiting the meaning of %26lsquo;project%26rsquo; (Sunland Tujunga), reexamining triggers for environmental review (Northridge and El ), and reconsidering the need for additional planning tools (Glassell Park). The strategy was by-the-book door-to-door organizing but the victories came in planning policy %26ndash; an arena where traditional participation typically has less purchase. For the first time there is an opportunity for neighborhoods in Los Angeles to be change agents.

Second, there is an opportunity for neighborhoods to help to define the %26lsquo;vision%26rsquo; thing. When Gail Goldberg proclaimed %26lsquo;do real planning%26rsquo; as the new approach, she seemed to prescribe a central role for planning professionals in the articulation of the new vision that the Mayor has described. The community plan update process and new design guidelines from the department%26rsquo;s Urban Design Studio, for example, underscore the department%26rsquo;s hands-on approach. But there is an opportunity to better define the role of neighborhoods to shape that vision, too, but the structure for this kind of substantive neighborhood participation has not been defined.

A directive role in shaping the vision remains fragmented among policymakers, professionals, and even stakeholders, yet on the ground neighborhood council committees author design standards and specific plans. They work from the grassroots to flesh out the particulars. But there is an opportunity to more formally incorporate public input into the vision and the arena of professional planning practice. Otherwise, the community will continue to demand a seat at the table via piecemeal insurgent actions (as described here).

In a City of four million people, one hundred neighborhoods, and 400+ square miles of opportunity, there will be concessions, too. If there is a lesson it is that networked and knowledgeable stakeholders who work through ad-hoc partnerships can be agents of change from below. In my next column, participants in each case will describe how they forged cross-sectoral partnerships (neighborhood councils and community groups) to move beyond incremental gains such as voluntary developer concessions or subdivision conditions. They wanted a greater measure of control over land use and they achieved it the way City Charter framers envisioned: in the political sphere. (Mark Elliot is a Graduate Researcher at the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development and an occasional contributor to CityWatch.) _

Tags: , , , ,
0

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

Hillside Landscaping No Comments


website counter