Neighbors decry litter, plowing in Lansing parks — and some tackle upkeep themselves

Sandra Finley loves spending time at Hunters Ridge Park, a small parcel of city land near her home in southwest Lansing.

"It looks like you're someplace up north," she said. "Who would believe you're actually in the City of Lansing?" "You'll see deer. You'll see birds. It's beautiful."

But Finley doesn't feel Hunters Ridge gets the care it deserves. There's frequently trash in the park, and people party on the property. The entrance has been plowed over after winter storms, and in the summer, the grass isn't regularly cut.

The shoddy maintenance makes it harder to enjoy the park, Finley said.

Hunters Ridge isn't the only Lansing park with problems. Residents have raised concerns about upkeep at Fulton, Regent and Bancroft parks.

In January, lights were removed from Bancroft and Regent parks, sparking concern among those who use them at dusk during the short winter days. Neither Lansing City Council nor the Park Board — an eight-member citizen advisory group — was aware of the decision until residents brought it up.

More: Why the lights were removed from Lansing's Bancroft Park

Don Dean lives blocks from Bancroft Park and brought his concerns to City Council.

"Why are you limiting people's access to places that have traditionally been available?" Dean said. "I just don't feel that the city actually wants people to use the parks in any reasonable fashion."

Residents decry irregular plowing, bad lighting

The lights aren't the only problem at Bancroft Park, Dean said. He's been disappointed by irregular plowing at the park this winter, saying it took nearly a week for some entrances at Bancroft Park to be cleared, specifically North Street, Oak Street and White Street.

Although Dean acknowledged it's important to make sure residential streets are cleared, he said people need to be able to access the park.

"I went down there and I checked it out, and I got stuck," he said. "They're not plowing the access points. Why?"

Dean has also noticed less mowing during the summer, a concern due to the increase in ticks and mosquitoes.

"Last year was a banner year for ticks," he said. "We want people to be able to use the parks without having to worry about that kind of stuff...there should be [space] in each one of the parks that people can use without having to wade through weeds."

The volunteer group Friends of Bancroft Park has gotten more active as concern mounts about what might change next.

"We're nervous about what they're going to do with the lights and everything," Dean said. "We're wondering what dictated that move. Why did you go and remove the lights?"

Lansing Parks Director Brett Kaschinske said the lights were originally removed to keep the space above power lines in the park clear and because vehicular traffic is no longer allowed on the Bancroft Park loop.

The city eliminated vehicular traffic there a few years ago to reduce illegal dumping.

"We've had feedback on both sides of the [lights] issue," he said. "The Park Board has heard those and we're still in the process of seeing what, if anything — are we going to put the lights back? What would that look like? Or are we leaving it out? Because we're receiving comments that individuals like the lights out."

City Council members have made it clear that public engagement on the topic is important to them, including new 1st Ward Council Member Brian Daniels, who serves on the Park Board.

"I've been advocating for a solar light option as a way to facilitate change and keep people safe in Lansing," Daniels said. "There are ordinances within the parks that I think have to change as well, and I want to be a part of making sure that people are able to access our park and these green spaces."

Parks open after dark bring new issues

The parks department is considering extending park hours beyond dusk, Kaschinske said. But that may not have the intended effect everywhere.

Closing city parks before dark can help prevent people from using them inappropriately, said Linda Appling, president of the Lansing-Eaton Neighborhood Association.

"I definitely understand the issue of trying to make sure the parks are closed at a certain time," she said. "People will go back there and engage in various activities and unsavory behavior."

That behavior can include wild partying, motor sports, fires and drug use, neighbors said.

"We have a problem with people on ATVs and dirt bikes coming through the park," Finley said. "We've had people building fires."

There have even been occasions when people from the neighborhood have gone out with fire extinguishers, buckets of water and shovels to put out flames, Finley said.

"If some idiot starts a fire, leaves it and walks away — and they have done this — do you have any idea how much damage could be done?" she said.

A growing corps of volunteers

Volunteers perform much of the maintenance at Hunters Ridge Park. Finley regularly visits in the morning to open the gate, something the city can't do due to staffing issues.

Volunteers also open the gate at Fulton Park, and have led the charge on park upgrades such as a new swing set and picnic tables, Appling said.

Officials increasingly rely on volunteers like Appling to run certain parks, lending out keys to neighbors willing to open and close the gates.

"We have to have hundreds and hundreds of acres of land maintained by neighborhood organizations," Finley said.

The city oversees 111 parks, thus the reliance on volunteer upkeep, Kaschinske said.

"We have 2,000 acres of parkland, so there is plenty of space out there for residents," he said. "We want appropriate recreational activity to be taking place out there. We are also obviously looking throughout the city at ways that we can patrol that differently with our police department."

Ideally, none of the city parks would need gates, Kaschinske said. But they're necessary to keep people from dumping trash or setting fires, he said.

Other cities often ask park staff to close gates or work with the police or private security. Decades ago, Lansing employed park police to close the gates. Now, the parks department solicits volunteers.

"We have neighbors that close those gates in the evening and then open them up in the morning," Kaschinske said. "We do have five gates for parks that are set automatically, meaning they open at dawn and they close at dusk, but obviously there's a cost to those that are pretty significant."

Of Lansing's 51 parks with parking lots, 17 have gates, including the five automatic systems.

Daniel Hernandez is one of the volunteers who opens the gate at Hunters Ridge. It's a responsibility gladly bears in exchange for a quieter park.

Ever since the city added the gate a few years ago, the park has improved, he said.

"There was a ridiculous amount of dumping going on — couches, lots of trash, lots of hanging out going on down at the other end," he said.

Still, he said, a little more maintenance would be nice.

After a recent winter storm, a pile of snow was plowed directly in front of the Hunters Ridge gate, making it impossible to open. Parking spots were also filled with snow. And last summer, mowing fell by the wayside.

"They used to keep it mowed down along the road, but it hasn't been mowed," Hernandez said. "Whether that's the pandemic-related staffing things or whatever...I don't know."

Park use spiked during pandemic, drawing attention to upkeep

Hunters Ridge and Fulton parks may be small, but Appling believes more could be done to make them accessible to residents, such as clearing out brush or adding benches.

"I'd really like to see them upgrade the parks, make them more walkable," she said. "...I know it can't be done all at once, but we can do something."

Finley suggested the city seems to care more about developing new parks than improving the ones that already exist.

"If you go down over to Fulton Park, you're going to see one little set of playground equipment in the park and you're going to see a parking area with a gate that is also manned by volunteers," she said. "All that lawn is taken care of in the summer by volunteers."

Appling wants to see the city be more responsive to residents' concerns about the parks, especially in the Lansing-Eaton area.

"Our parks don't seem to get as much attention and care," she said.

Kaschinske said maintaining green spaces is a priority for the parks department, especially now. Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 19% increase in the use of the river trail due to the pandemic, he said.

"We're very aware of access to parks and how people use that," Kaschinske said. "Individuals can go to any one of our 111 parks 365 days a year, and I would encourage them to do that."

He also encouraged concerned citizens to attend Park Board meetings or reach out to him directly at brett.kaschinske@lansingmi.gov. Residents can also submit concerns through the Lansing Connect app.

"Our parks were the saving grace during all of COVID, and that is still going on," he said. "We see more people getting outside. Parks have always been a fabric of this community, and we look forward to future growth in that in the years to come."

Contact reporter Elena Durnbaugh at (517) 231-9501 or edurnbaugh@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing parks beset by litter and plowing problems, neighbors say