City appeals to federal agency for parks plan changes
City officials have formally appealed to a federal agency for permission to make changes to a parks plan intended to mitigate the impacts of Harbor Bridge construction.
Sent Friday, the letter requests that the Federal Highway Administration accept modifications to specific components of plans listed in the original agreement between local, state and federal agencies that enabled the project to move forward.
The 2015 agreement had settled a Civil Rights complaint that alleged the Hillcrest subdivision – historically a Black and Hispanic neighborhood – would disproportionately sustain negative impacts from bridge construction.
One of the reasons for the request is an interest in tailoring amenities to align more closely with a larger-scoped parks development plans, which city officials wrote was “a strategy that accurately responds to today’s needs of the impacted community.”
The disagreement largely revolves around the redevelopment of a pool in T.C. Ayers Park and whether the city was required to resurface and maintain the since-demolished pool on a permanent basis or just for a timeline of two years. The existing pool was closed in 2019, and demolished in 2022 due to the construction of a new highway loop.
A pool is not shown in the city’s draft parks mitigation plans, which encompass improvements to Ben Garza Park, the former Washington-Coles Elementary School site, HJ Williams Park and TC Ayers Park.
Instead, a splash park is shown at TC Ayers Park.
CAB Letter to FHWA by callertimes on Scribd
City officials have argued they have already met the requirement related to the pool, while some of the membership of the Citizens Advisory Board – a group intended to represent residents of the Hillcrest neighborhood – have argued that without construction of a new pool, the city has not met those requirements.
Redeveloping the pool would cost about as much of the budget as all the improvements at the four parks combined, according to city officials.
The city’s letter was sent about four days after the Citizens Advisory Board mailed a similar letter to federal authorities, in which members contended that the city wasn’t meeting its obligations by not including the pool in its parks plans.
City Letter FHWA by callertimes on Scribd
The city’s letter also disagrees with a request made by the Citizens Advisory Board that would grant members review and require agreement via a vote in three different stages of design plans: 60%, 90% and full design.
In the city’s memo, it describes fulfillment of the board’s request as “potentially obstructive to the city’s goal to meet the completion deadlines” outlined in the agreement.
The request that the board review design plans at 60%, 90% and full completion was made because the city doesn’t always follow through with its agreements, said Citizens Advisory Board Chairman Lamont Taylor on Monday.
The city’s parks plans reflect what the city had in mind, not the community, Taylor added.
The purpose of reviewing the designs, according to the letter by the Citizens Advisory Board, is “to ensure that all mitigation requirements are met in compliance with the Agreement and that all improvements and enhancements otherwise agreed upon are implemented.”
The City Council recently approved a $1.2 million contract to finalize the plans, which have been modified several times and are expected to be modified further before adoption.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Request goes to federal agency to approve Harbor Bridge park changes
