Politics & Government

Belle Road Park Bathrooms Back on City Agenda

Residents can speak in favor of, or against, proposed bathrooms near Kopf Reservation at April 24 meeting.

A public meeting concerning whether to add bathrooms to Belle Road Park is back on the city agenda.

Councilman Rob James said a public meeting will be held April 24 at 7 p.m. at the Lake House to discuss the issue.

Whether action will be taken has not been decided James said.

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The city will eventually decide whether to add restrooms in Belle Road Park, which joins two wooded sections the 162-acre Kopf Reservation.

The issue has detractors and supporters.

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In November, one person called the concept “kind of creepy.” At a Nov. 5 council meeting where more than a dozen detractors said they didn’t support bathrooms. Another detractor said the park did not generate enough traffic to warrant bathrooms.

Other park goers support the idea of the bathrooms, which would be housed in a garage-sized building.

A group, including Terry and Diana Wyrock and Jan VanWagner, collected more than 2,000 signatures supporting bathrooms, on a petition they submitted to council and the mayor. Terry Wyrock and Jan VanWagner, were involved in helping the Kopf Reservation years ago.

Wyrock added it was a sanitary issue.

Wyrock said bathroom detractors were not considering the many homes surrounding the rest of the park who are forced to view people adhering nature’s call on park property that adjoins theirs.

VanWagner said bathrooms were part of the park plan, from the beginning.

Constructing bathrooms, which would consist of a men’s, women’s and handicap bathrooms, would cost approximately $100,000. The expense would be borne by the MetroParks, who have indicated they would not move ahead with the project without the city’s approval.

Council president Martin O’Donnell said in November the bathrooms would need to go through council’s Public Service Committee, the Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Commission

“It could be built, if it happened, in 2014-15,” O’Donnell said at the time. “People can raise concerns to council and the mayor.”

The April 24 meeting provides another chance for those in support or against the bathrooms to address city leaders. The Lake House is the small ranch-style building in Veterans Park.


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