Follow up from Airport Heights Community Meeting

The City appreciates the engagement and feedback from residents through this site, emails, phone calls and the virtual information session held on August 18th. Below is a summary of what was heard and how it is being addressed in the path forward for the Denis Lawlor Park in Airport Heights.

Residents agree that:

• Natural areas provide important environmental and site-specific benefits, i.e., wind-blocking and shading.
• Naturalization and tree planting create benefits.
• An area behind the washrooms can be naturalized. Residents asked for consideration to refrain from blocking lines of sight towards the ballfield, and retain adequate sliding hill space.
• The naturalized areas developed as part of the project should be protected and additional treed areas created.
• Naturalized areas should be retained where possible in development process.
• The City should continue to implement trees/naturalization projects (especially on trailways).

Residents ask the City to:

• Respect informal pathways.
• Not to reduce existing seating (e.g., benches).
• Understand and do not limit educational and recreational use.
• Consider the inclusion of fruit trees, fruit shrubs, and flowering plants in the natural spaces.
• Work with specialists to ensure best practices.
• Consider sight lines from parking lot as some parents park and watch games in inclement weather.
• Consider maintaining the line of sight from the parking lot to the dog park.

Residents’ feedback was incorporated in the City’s envisioning of the naturalization site plan including designation of naturalized areas that won’t be planted with tall trees to retain lines of sight, and changes to set-backs. Check out the updated plan map and sightlines photos here.