Meeting on Redevelopment of Cedar Lane East Park - Howard County's Dept. of Public Works - Bureau of Facilities conducted a virtual meeting to discuss the development of a new Fire Station as well as new pickleball courts and outdoor exercise equipment on the turf field adjacent to Rt. 108. The Fire Chief explained the need to develop this fire station to assist in the renovation of the older Banneker Fire Station and the need to have a station located on the northern side of Columbia. Then Jason Thompson from Howard County Recreation and Parks spoke on the plans for the development of eight lighted Pickleball Courts and the exercise equipment. Afterwards, there was a Q&A period where questions and concerns were voiced by local community members. We had the opportunity to speak in support of the pickleball courts. Duane captured two photos of the plans developed for this project as seen below.
Although these documents look promising, this project is not a done deal and has to go through a process of another hearing for the community as well as some funding approval. As you can see in the proposed schedule below, there is another community meeting scheduled for June 1st. If this were to get approval and move forward, the courts would be ready sometime in late Fall of 2023.
There seemed to be a lot of negative views voiced at the meeting complaining about the Fire Station and recreational development in the park. Some of the complaints included: noise from the fire equipment, road congestion, light pollution, the extending of the time the park will be open, etc. The neighbors on either side of the park were fairly vocal on their objections. There were some positive voices promoting the need for the fire station and the new recreational features of the park but they were not as vocal and passionate. It will be interesting to see how this process and project works out.
Thanks to all our members who joined the meeting in support of the planned pickleball courts!
