{"id":2517,"date":"2011-04-04T12:33:13","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T16:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=2517"},"modified":"2011-04-04T13:30:18","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T17:30:18","slug":"column-unionville-park-would-benefit-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=2517","title":{"rendered":"Column: Unionville Park would benefit thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"

If all township residents must pay, all should benefit, not just a few<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The draft plan for Unionville Park would offer township residents playgrounds, hiking and running paths and open fields.<\/p><\/div>\n

EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 A bright sun was shining, a light breeze blew through the local trees just starting to show a hint of buds. And my foot sank in about ankle deep right in front of home plate.<\/p>\n

Such is April at Abby Miller Field, the only dedicated softball field operated by the Unionville <\/em><\/strong><\/span>Recreation Association. Thanks to the kindness of neighbors to the URA complex, the organization was able to build this extra field some years back and give softball \u2014 and hundreds of Unionville-area girls \u2014 a permanent home.<\/p>\n

The field was built on top of a swamp and so each year, it\u2019s a dance we go through hoping the spring rains aren\u2019t too plentiful and we\u2019ll be able to get most of our games in \u2014 even on a bright sunny day like last Saturday, we had to cancel opening day because the field was too muddy.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/span>As a group, we make due, juggle and mostly get it done. Sadly, we still have to turn kids away from our sports programs because we don\u2019t have enough fields for games and practices \u2014 a frustrating fact at a time when we should be doing everything we can to get out kids out and active. We would love nothing more than to be able to build more fields, but despite some public perception otherwise, URA lacks the financial resources to do so. We depend on the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District for fields, and at least one public park, in Pocopson.<\/p>\n

Like many others involved in local youth sports, I hoped that the proposed Unionville Park would include a ball field. That now seems destined not to be, which is certainly disappointing, but I suppose somewhat understandable. However, the prospect that Unionville Park wouldn\u2019t contain, well, a park of any kind if some local residents have their way, boggles the mind. That could come to pass tonight if the board of township supervisors gives in to a few, loud local voices and kills or delays the park plan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>Here\u2019s hoping that the supervisors speak tonight for the many thousands of taxpayers who will benefit and not the few dozen loud opposing voices. If you look at the design \u2014 even without a playing field \u2014 it\u2019s hard to argue that it would not offer countless opportunities for recreation, walking, running, bike riding, play grounds and a natural gathering place, while much of the property would remain in a naturally wooded state.<\/p>\n

The expectation of this angry gaggle of residents seems to be this: that all of the township\u2019s taxpayers should foot the bill for the original purchase of the property \u2014 not cheap, as you might recall \u2014 and yet only the local residents should benefit from having it undisturbed. The local neighbors win and the rest of the township\u2019s residents? So what if their tax money prevented 80 townhouses or a trailer park \u2014 and let\u2019s not forget, that was the plan \u2014 from being built on the property.<\/p>\n

If someone wanted to build a park in my neighborhood, I\u2019d be doing handsprings, not just because it would be great for my kids, but because it would enhance my property value. And to be honest, long after my kids are grown and out of the house, I\u2019ll have the same attitude. Anything that helps the greater community ultimately makes all of our lives better.<\/p>\n

And yet, there are those who have this \u201chey, you kids, get off of my lawn\u201d mentality, Not In My Back Yard.<\/p>\n

The same thinking stopped a harmless cell tower from being built at the Po-Mar-Lin Fire Station \u2014 which would have netted the fire company $18,000 a year, most of which must now be made up by the township. Ironically, in future years if such a subsidy means a local tax hike, it\u2019s not hard to envision those same people screaming bloody murder about irresponsible government.<\/p>\n

Where would we be if we all had that attitude? And before you ask, let me tell you what\u2019s practically in my backyard: Chester County Prison. And while none of us here were thrilled about being strong armed by the county into an expansion and a new juvenile center a few years back, the prison has been a good neighbor.<\/p>\n

Just because someone is noisy doesn\u2019t make them right. In my experience, it is often the loudest voices that are the most misguided. I think that Unionville Park could benefit thousands of township residents without doing any meaningful damage to anyone.<\/p>\n

If you agree, you need to let the supervisors know and attend tonight\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If all township residents must pay, all should benefit, not just a few By Mike McGann, Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 A bright sun was shining, a light breeze blew through the local trees just starting to show a hint of buds. And my foot sank in about ankle deep right in front of home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,120,7],"tags":[38,57,24,273],"class_list":["post-2517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-columns","category-featured","tag-east-marlborough","tag-township-supervisors","tag-unionville","tag-unionville-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}