Subject: [NEXTEL-1] EDITORIAL: CELL PARKS?

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:43:58 -0400

Posted on Wed, Oct. 15, 2003

EDITORIAL: CELL PARKS?

Priority should be preserving open space The Wichita Park Board made the right
decision Monday by unanimously rejecting a cell-tower proposal for Cypress Park
near Kellogg and Edgemoor.

Park space is a limited commodity in this city. Let's add to it and preserve it,
not encroach upon it.
Cell-tower proponent and former City Council member Greg Ferris argued that the
public's de-mand for wireless technology such as cell phones and laptops will only
increase; another tower, he said, is needed somewhere along the Kellogg corridor
to meet that need.

That's right. But as Wichita grows, the demand for park space will only increase
as well. And parks are intended for people, not cell towers and commercial use.

Parks in themselves constitute a high and essential use of public space. As
neighborhood residents pointed out at Monday's meeting, Cypress Park is the scene
of Scout day camps, Easter egg hunts, soccer practice, picnics, walking and
jogging, kite-flying....

These are important community needs as well. The label "park" should not be
treated as a provisional-use designation until something more "productive" or
profitable comes along. This is the second site in the area that's been rejected
because of neighborhood pressure; a competing proposal to locate a tower across
from Cypress Park on Veterans Affairs property seems acceptable to both the VA and
the neighborhood, and should be pursued as an alternative.

True, cell towers have been placed both in Herman Hill Park and on MacDonald Golf
Course. In fact, the city's wireless master plan encourages this trend, by
including "large park areas" in its list of acceptable sites.
Cypress Park, a small 11-acre park, wouldn't seem to fit that guideline.

Even so, we don't like the idea of siting cell towers in any public park, large or
small. The city should remove all parks from its list of acceptable cell-tower
sites. Wichita offers plenty of other siting options, including public spaces such
as airports, maintenance yards, government buildings and so on. But the city has a
shortage of park space as it is. And parks are, by definition, open space. Let's
keep them open.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/editorial/7013401.htm

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