Daryl,
I respect the position that you are stating. But I find it odd that we would use the land of a family friendly park and commericialize it for the use of non-taxing paying residents and private business. These are the calls, emails and text messages that I am getting. Ultimately the question for residents is, what is in it for me? How will it IMPACT my everyday quality of Life? How will this Impact my already depressed home value? When the housing market turns upward, will my value turn with it or remain flat because a new dynamic has altered the assessors office when assessing the area.
These are real questions, that have real residents feeling like the intrusion on their location is being invaded. Some residents have an expectation that after dark the park goes dark and the noise and hustle and bustle of the park dies down. Now we are going to extend that noise and activity to 11pm at night. Those are real concern's. I personally live deep enough in Sharon Meadows that I can avoid that, but my home value will be effected if this has a negative impact.
The sense that I get, is that the real fly in the ointment is that a neighboring community is motivating our elected officials to support a project for a private high school and the privatization of softball leagues. In response to welcoming residents into our community, goto some surrounding parks in a community and unless you are a resident you are not welcomed and signs are posted telling you this. So, it cuts both ways. I appreciate your perspective. Continue the good work.